EdenAcres Environmental Education
EdenAcres is a learning community that explores sustainability education best practices through the development of model learning environments
There are many known benefits to exposing students to outdoor learning environments. Some examples include:
Using the environment as an integrating context for academic material can enhance academic achievement.
Outdoor activities and garden-based learning can encourage students to adopt healthy exercise and eating habits
Place and project-based learning activities such as planting trees or cleaning up a streamed can foster a sense of empowerment, develop connections to community, and promote civically-engaged attitudes for participants
Connection to nature can lower stress levels and induce a sense of well-being
Recognizing these benefits, many states have adopted environmental literacy standards and encourage outdoor activities for students. In 2010, Oregon published an environmental literacy plan and is currently working towards requiring environmental literacy for all students in the k-20 school system. This plan lists five elements of an environmental literacy education and suggests that outdoor learning activities can contribute towards student development in each of these areas:
Systems Thinking
Physical, Living, and Human Systems
Interconnectedness of People and the Environment
Personal and Civic Responsibility
Investigate, Plan, and Create a Sustainable Future
Despite widespread support for the idea of bringing students outdoors on a regular basis, there are significant barriers that work against making outdoor classrooms a reality for most students. These barriers include:
Teacher inexperience with the outdoor environment and with developing curriculum that connects outdoor activities to required academic standards
Lack of transportation to outdoor sites
Lack of infrastructure and programming that supports a diverse range of learning activities at outdoor sites
EdenAcres was formed to address those barriers in a systematic way for all learners in our community. EdenAcres is a learning community that explores sustainability education best practices through the development of model outdoor learning environments. Our mission is to engage participants in active learning for transition to a sustainable future. Our goal is environmental literacy for all learners in our community. We aim to be our community’s one-stop shopping center for outdoor education! To achieve our goal, we will employ the following strategies:
Work with site providers to open dialog and to develop infrastructure and use protocols that support outdoor learning activities within the context of site attributes and site provider mission and interests.
Work with educators to develop curricula and activities that integrate outdoor experiences with academic content
Work with both site providers and clients to develop funding sources to cover program costs and transportation
Develop outdoor programming for the general public outside of the K-20 school system and schedule
Work with community partners to develop a stand-alone full-service destination model outdoor classroom
Connect with organizations and individuals to develop a broad base of support for the EdenAcres mission and outdoor education across the community
In order to achieve our mission, EdenAcres needs to demonstrate support from across the community. A brief endorsement from your organization would be a powerful indicator to funders and constituents that our initiative is in line with the best interests of the Forest Grove/Cornelius community. Should you choose to write one, your endorsement would be posted on our website and listed alongside those of other supportive organizations and community members in our marketing materials and funding requests.