Experiential environmental education in urban parks: building sustainable connections to the nature around us
Session Type
Presentation
Room
Physics and Astronomy, room 117
Start Date
16-7-2025 3:30 PM
End Date
16-7-2025 4:00 PM
Keywords
urban nature, environmental education, access to nature, scoping review
Primary Threads
Curriculum
Abstract
How do youth in differing circumstances and socioeconomic communities perceive nature? In the body of research on environmental education and youth access to nature, there exists a need to better understand this question (Adams and Savahl, 2017). While urban parks represent an opportunity for youth in cities to access nature, few studies have investigated how they experience these spaces (Daskolia and Chouliara, 2024). We are completing a scoping review to map the current state of the literature on urban environmental education (Munn et al., 2018) using the framework outlined in Arksey and O’Malley (2005). Our research questions are: 1) What is known about outdoor environmental education in urban settings? 2) How can urban parks provide opportunities for locally relevant outdoor environmental education programming in cities? 3) What elements must be included in urban outdoor environmental programming to create an authentic learning experience? Through this session, participants will be able to examine the results of our review, and consider how these results fit within their own pedagogical context. We will also share our plans for an experiential education initiative in which undergraduate students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds will learn to deliver environmental programming to elementary students in urban parks in Windsor, ON. We aim to develop a model for community-engaged learning that deepens the relationship urban youth have with the nature in their neighbourhoods. Such programming has the potential to increase youth engagement in STEM, promote the benefits of urban parks for all residents, and encourage conservation of urban green spaces.
Elements of Engagement
Through think-pair-share activities, we will invite participants to share their experiences with outdoor education, urban parks, and experiential education more generally, whether as teacher, learner, or observer. We will invite those who are interested in continuing this conversation to join a new community of practice focused on the topic of urban outdoor environmental education.
We will also demonstrate an activity we may incorporate in the urban environmental education program we are developing, such as a reflection prompt for learners or an instrument we may use to evaluate program outcomes.
Participants will be invited to participate in the discussion or share ideas anonymously via Mentimeter. Please bring a device if you prefer the latter.
Experiential environmental education in urban parks: building sustainable connections to the nature around us
Physics and Astronomy, room 117
How do youth in differing circumstances and socioeconomic communities perceive nature? In the body of research on environmental education and youth access to nature, there exists a need to better understand this question (Adams and Savahl, 2017). While urban parks represent an opportunity for youth in cities to access nature, few studies have investigated how they experience these spaces (Daskolia and Chouliara, 2024). We are completing a scoping review to map the current state of the literature on urban environmental education (Munn et al., 2018) using the framework outlined in Arksey and O’Malley (2005). Our research questions are: 1) What is known about outdoor environmental education in urban settings? 2) How can urban parks provide opportunities for locally relevant outdoor environmental education programming in cities? 3) What elements must be included in urban outdoor environmental programming to create an authentic learning experience? Through this session, participants will be able to examine the results of our review, and consider how these results fit within their own pedagogical context. We will also share our plans for an experiential education initiative in which undergraduate students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds will learn to deliver environmental programming to elementary students in urban parks in Windsor, ON. We aim to develop a model for community-engaged learning that deepens the relationship urban youth have with the nature in their neighbourhoods. Such programming has the potential to increase youth engagement in STEM, promote the benefits of urban parks for all residents, and encourage conservation of urban green spaces.