ReconnectING: Imagination, Nature, and Gratitude is a two hour outdoor workshop designed to help students reconnect with nature and to equip them with an understanding of gratitude and imagination as tools for restoration and resistance.
The goal of this workshop is to provide space for participants to explicitly and purposefully cultivate joy, gratitude, and positive imagination about the natural world. Youth, especially those residing in urban areas, can often feel disconnected from the land. This workshop aims to help youth reconnect with the natural world, giving them time to be present and mindful in the outdoors. The activities in this workshop will help students recognize some of their emotions related to environmental crises/changes, practice gratitude for what they already have, and imagine a just and sustainable future.
The workshop will include:
- An activity where students are asked to explore the greenspace they’re in to find & reflect on an Indigenous written story about connecting to the land.
- An opportunity for students to explore & connect with the greenspace in a new way.
- A guided art-based imagination practice.
- More activities to encourage students to connect to the land/environment they’re in!
How are gratitude and imagination connected to restoration and resistance?
- Climate change is causing an emergent mental health crisis–known as eco-anxiety–amongst youth. Gratitude and imagination are tools for addressing this mental health concern, as they help youth to avoid doomism and find a positive way to look at the situation at hand. This doesn’t mean practicing toxic positivity or denying the distress we feel, but finding happiness in community, the climate movement, and the environments we inhabit. By practicing gratitude and imagination, we counteract extractivist and oppressive systems and move towards building the world we want to live in.
Location: An outdoor space of your choosing! This is an outdoor offering as it is our goal to provide students with an opportunity to connect with both their eco-emotions and local environment. If you have a specific outdoor space in mind, let us know! Otherwise, we can work together to choose a setting that will work best for your class. Please note at this time we can only offer this workshop within Metro Vancouver. Let us know if you’re located elsewhere and interested in us expanding to your location!
Accessibility Accommodations: Please let us know if you have any accessibility requests, we do our best to accommodate all learners. We may not be able to accommodate all needs, but will always try our best to make our programs accessible to all students. Potential accommodations include: Adjusting activities for students with limited mobility, preparing a list of key terms in advance for ELL students or those who need more time to process, and more!
Grade Level: We can offer this workshop for all grade levels. For grades 9-11 we make connections to the science curriculum by encouraging students to apply concepts they’ve learned in class while exploring the greenspace.
Preparation: No preparation is needed for this workshop, although we can provide some resources in advance or afterwards to deepen your students' learning. We do ask that you fill out and return a waiver in advance.
Disclaimer: We cannot currently offer to cover transportation costs for this workshop. However, we will update this page if and when we are able to secure transportation funding. If this is a major barrier for your participation, please reach out to [email protected] and we can try to find a solution together.
