If you haven’t already, save the date for the 2022 Nature Connection Leadership Conference. The conference will be online on Wed, Thurs, Fri, Feb 23, 24, 25, 2022. Our theme this year is Re-root & Rise.
We welcome our members and the public to propose sessions or to suggest session topics and potential presenters. Click here to submit a session proposal or to suggest session topics for the conference. Submissions are requested by Monday, December 6, 2021.
Nature Connection Leadership Conference ’22: Re-Root & Rise
The time is now. Peoples across the globe are rising to regenerate communities and contribute to a world in which all beings thrive.
As practitioners in the field of (re)connecting humans to the natural world, we have a unique respons-ability to share our collective knowledge and land-based learning deep into the hearts and minds of our local communities. How can we help transform the many systems which intersect with our work: economic, educational, healthcare, and more?
To do this honorably, it will be necessary to continually reconcile our lineage, especially as it is entangled in systems of oppression and culturally appropriative roots. Indigenous peoples, lands and lifeways must remain centered in these conversations as we create greater integrity, unity and impact in our work.
We invite you to journey with us as we:
- Acknowledge and understand our individual and collective lineage;
- Honor Black, Indigenous and other historically marginalized leadership;
- Redefine and recommit to organizational excellence;
- Explore the vital role of our work at this time; and,
- Strengthen our network to amplify our collective impact as leaders in building resilient, regenerative, and just communities.
We invite you to Re-root and Rise.
Click here to submit a session proposal or to suggest session topics for the conference. Submissions are requested by Monday, December 6, 2021.
Suggested areas of focus are included below:
Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion: JEDI Practice. Whether woven throughout all of our conference topics, or spotlighted for a deeper dive, you can expect to widen and wisen your capacity to design for equity and justice.
- How can we communicate/translate our core routines and practices in service to equity?
- How do we design our organizations and programs for equity?
- How do we talk about injustice with our teams and participants?
- What is the role of rematriation and landback in reconciliation?
- How does Decolonization differ from JEDI work, and what role does it play in our programs and practices?
Deep Nature Connection: Past, Present & Future: Central to our work, essential for our times. Let’s look back with humility, assess our current state/next steps, and envision a collective future firmly rooted in alliance with human and more than human relations.
- Why is nature connection important at this time and what is our collective role?
- Can we face the grief and gratitude of the individual and collective lineage of our schools and programs?
- How can we collectively influence education and reshape it? How do we move resources (money, power, influence) to center nature education in every school?
- How do we level up our own practices of nature connection?
- What role does nature/connection play in healing from trauma?
- What do kids and their adults need after two years of Covid trauma?
Organizational Excellence & Beyond. Resourcing ourselves and our organizations is key to the health of our collective voice.
- How can models of shared leadership and democracy transform our workplaces?
- How can we reshape our programs and organizations to reflect regenerative and values-driven design?
- How do we foster impactful feedback?
- How do we support our staff through these changing times?
- How do we connect to a broad group of stakeholders?
- What do we need to change in order to expand and deepen our impact?
Connecting to Others, Community-Building. Let’s invest in our mycorrhizal networks.
- Who are your colleagues regionally and beyond? What can you share and what can you learn?
- What opportunities are there for collaboration and resource sharing?
- What is our unique expression/offering in our local communities?
- What role can the Nature Connection Network hold in supporting the growth of our organizations and our movement?
Click here to submit a session proposal or to suggest session topics for the conference. Submissions are requested by Monday, December 6, 2021.
And be sure to save the conference dates: Wed, Thurs, Fri: February 23, 24, 25, 2022