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Welcome to the 2025 Outdoor Learning Conference
Venue: 203 (Indoor Space) clear filter
Thursday, May 8
 

9:00am MDT

Beading is Medicine FULL
Thursday May 8, 2025 9:00am - 11:30am MDT
Join in conversation with fellow educators and colleagues around the intersections of land-based learning, art and community, while you work with your hands to learn the basics of beading.

This 2.5-hour introductory workshop will be led by Indigenous artist, outdoor/environmental educator and founding member and national manager of a land-based learning charitable organization, Theresa Westhaver.

All levels of beading experience welcome! Please note that there is a $15 supply fee that can be sent to mountain.steklep@gmail.com.
Thursday May 8, 2025 9:00am - 11:30am MDT
203 (Indoor Space)

3:15pm MDT

Ani to Pisi - Creating Community on the Land FILLING
Thursday May 8, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT
You will learn to facilitate an embodiment of the traditional Blackfoot story, “Ani to Pisi,” by Clement Bear Chief. This activity promotes Decolonization and Truth and Reconciliation. It is a powerful story, rooted in Indigenous teachings, offering universal lessons that resonate across everyday life, centring on caring for one another, creating community and connectedness. Mount Royal University students, working alongside and with permission from Siksika Elder Roy Bear Chief have developed a toolkit to create a holistic and interactive learning experience that according to Roy, must take place on the land. Participants will have the opportunity to bring this to life through a collaborative outdoor activity known as the Human Spider Web, a creation by Roy Bear Chief. Participants are invited to access the toolkit (which is free of charge) for their own schools and settings. Elder Roy Bear Chief will be attendance and has a dream of Ani to Pisi being shared throughout turtle island.
Speakers
MB

Michelle Bamford

Calgary Board of Education
Michelle Bamford is an experienced teacher with the Calgary Board of Education. She has been devoted to learning about Indigenous ways of knowing and being through creating relationships with intent on Truth and Reconciliation. Having authored a chapter in the 2023 release "Truth... Read More →
TW

Therese Wiart Jenkinson

Mount Royal University
Therese Wiart Jenkinson served for 18 years as primarily a kindergarten teacher in Alberta schools. In partnership with her sister, they renovated a 1912 historic home in Red Deer to open an early childhood preschool childcare in which she was a director and early childhood educator... Read More →
Thursday May 8, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT
203 (Indoor Space)

8:30pm MDT

Indigenous Perspectives: Short Film Showcase on Environmental Issues Across Canada FILLING
Thursday May 8, 2025 8:30pm - 9:30pm MDT
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) Education and Ocean School invite you to a screening of four short films that highlight Indigenous knowledge and perspectives on environmental issues across Canada.

Experience the Haudenosaunee Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen (Thanksgiving Address) delivered by Akwesasne youth, witness the Haíɫzaqv people's call for sustainable ocean harvesting, explore the Inuit's innovative adaptations to rapidly changing ice conditions in Nunatsiavut, and delve into a visually striking Mi'kmaw animation chronicling the history of cod fishing.

Educators will receive accompanying classroom resources for each film, and both an NFB producer and an experienced teacher will be present to discuss the films and answer questions.

Join us for an evening of learning and dialogue as we engage with stories that connect cultures and generations, emphasizing our shared responsibility to the environment.

  • The films are about 7 minutes each. This session include some time for q&a / discussion to bring the session to 60 min.
  • Popcorn will be provided!

Speakers
avatar for Heather DeLangran

Heather DeLangran

Education Producer, National Film Board of Canada
Thursday May 8, 2025 8:30pm - 9:30pm MDT
203 (Indoor Space)
 
Friday, May 9
 

11:00am MDT

Empowering Schools: A Comprehensive School Health Approach to Climate Change
Friday May 9, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm MDT
Climate change poses a severe threat to the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents. Research indicates that extreme weather events and the stress linked to climate change can negatively impact young people's mental health, academic performance, and levels of physical activity. Schools can play a crucial role in tackling these issues. One model to utilize is the Comprehensive School Health (CSH) model, which is built on four essential pillars: teaching and learning, social and physical environment, healthy school policy, and partnerships and services. In this workshop, participants will brainstorm innovative programs, policies, and practices aimed at addressing climate change within each pillar of the CSH model. Using a CSH model can help alleviate climate anxiety and empower students with the skills needed to face environmental challenges.
Speakers
BB

Brenton Button

Assistant Professor, University of Winnipeg
Brenton Button is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Winnipeg, Canada. He is also a qualified K-12 teacher. His research interests include factors influencing children’s health during the school day, outdoor education, and rural health. Brenton... Read More →
Friday May 9, 2025 11:00am - 12:15pm MDT
203 (Indoor Space)

2:00pm MDT

School Ground Solutions at The Intersection of Health, Education and Nature LIMITED
Friday May 9, 2025 2:00pm - 3:15pm MDT
This workshop is centered around how building nature spaces on school grounds at scale ensures that all youth are educated and empowered to act for climate change, biodiversity, health benefits of nature, and positive actions they can take for a nature rich future for all. Participants will explore the impacts of equitable access to nature on youth mental health, learning outcomes, and stewardship values, discuss the Learning By Nature initiative which aims to grow and scale nature-based solutions nationally, and will discover how this initiative can foster relationships, inspire and support the wider community to learn in and by nature.
Speakers
avatar for Laura Hergott

Laura Hergott

BC Parks Foundation
Laura Hergott is the Manager for the Healthy By Nature initiative at the BC Parks Foundation. With a background in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Laura was drawn to the Healthy By Nature initiative by the evidence-based research backing spending time in nature for health. As... Read More →
Friday May 9, 2025 2:00pm - 3:15pm MDT
203 (Indoor Space)

3:15pm MDT

How Outdoor and Environmental Education Empowers Participants to Address Climate Change & Other Global Environmental Challenges LIMITED
Friday May 9, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT
We will start this session in Room 203, using an LCD projector to show a variety of outdoor activities that engage and empower participants of different ages. We will explore the critical link between having positive and repeated outdoor experiences and developing the will and empowerment to address climate change and other pressing environmental problems. Grant will email an opinion piece "On Activists and  Bystanders" to those who preregister for this session. He will also draw from his recently published and highly praised book, "Outdoor Magic: The Power of Nature Connection". Activities for the outdoor component will depend upon Grant's pre-walk near our outdoor meeting place.

Please this session will end outside at Bee. 
Speakers
avatar for Grant Linney

Grant Linney

Presenter (1100+ presentations), Climate Reality Project Canada
Grant Linney is an actively retired outdoor and environmental educator. In a career spanning six decades, he has connected children of all ages (+ adults) to nature through hands-on experiential education in all four seasons. He has won numerous teaching and environmental awards at... Read More →

Friday May 9, 2025 3:15pm - 4:30pm MDT
203 (Indoor Space)
 
Outdoor Learning Conference 2025
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