An opinion piece by pediatrician Robert Zarr and TLN Founding Director Naomi Sachs was published yesterday in The Hill, titled “Prescribing nature for improved health makes an economic case for the Land and Water Conservation Fund.” Here are a couple of snippets, and you can read the full piece here.
(more…)Children
“Ecoliteracy Under Our Feet” – Greening Cleveland Elementary School
December 30, 2014
For the last Therapeutic Landscapes Network Blog post of 2014, we want to share an inspiring story of one of many schools that that is “greening” its schoolyard. The six gardens and overall ecoliteracy program at Cleveland Elementary School in Oakland, CA were spurred by Mary Schriner, who interviewed for a position there. When they asked her why she wanted to work at Cleveland Elementary, she responded, “Because your school looks like a prison yard, and I’d like to change that.” And she has changed both the school and grounds, and the lives of those who learn and teach there. One of the first conversations with her students began with the question, “What is a weed?” The project has been a tremendous success. Says Schriner, “I’ve had many, many moments when I’ve almost wanted to cry because I can feel the community happening, not because of me, but because of the natural world that we’re trying to create conditions for at the school. There’s been so much magic around the garden that I just have a lot of gratitude.”
Click here to read the full article by The Center for Ecoliteracy‘s senior editor Michael Stone, “So Much Magic Around the Garden.”
Nature School Conference: September 23-25, 2013
September 22, 2013
Nature play in a schoolyard (Courtesy: ISGA)
Our sincere apologies for getting the word out about this conference this late. However, it’s an important one for the record, so I’m posting it anyway. If anyone is going, please report back!
Join Evergreen Brick Works and the International School Grounds Alliance for three days of inspiration and idea sharing with visionary leaders of the green school ground movement. The Nature School Conference takes place in Toronto, Ontario, September 23-25. Attendees are coming from as far away as Japan, Norway, and Australia.
Some of this year’s breakout sessions include Food and Gardens in Schools, The Need for Beneficial Risk (in school- and play yards), and Cultural Considerations in School Ground Design. The International School Grounds Alliance (ISGA) is a global network of organizations and professionals working to enrich children’s learning and play by improving the way school grounds are designed and used. Open year-round, Evergreen Brick Works is a community environmental centre that inspires visitors to live, work, and play more sustainably.
Along with plenary speakers and inspiring breakout sessions, a pre-conference tour of three local educational spaces takes place Sunday, September 22. To learn more about the conference offerings, plenary speakers, and presenters, visit the Evergreen web site. For even more information, Amal Musa, Conference Coordinator at amusa@evergreen.ca or 416-596-1495 ext.248.
ASLA online learning opportunities for landscape architects
September 16, 2013
ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) is pleased to announce five new Professional Practice Network (PPN) Online Learning live presentations: September 16 – 26, 2013. The PPN Chairs have provided a variety of topics from speakers across the United States. Upcoming presentations are listed below, but full descriptions are located on the PPN Online Learning website.
Free to everyone, but space is limited, so register soon!
The ones in plum will be those of particular interest to this group.
Monday, September 16 at 2pm (eastern)
What’s More Efficient, ET (Weather Stations) or Soil Moisture Sensors in Controlling Irrigation Systems?
Hosted by the Water Conservation PPN
Tuesday, September 17 at 2pm (eastern)
Healthy Youth Development Through Design
Hosted by the Children’s Outdoor Environments PPN
Thursday, September 19 at 4pm (eastern)
Bioretention Policies, Practice, and Research
Hosted by the Water Conservation PPN
Wednesday, September 18 at 2pm (eastern)
Landscape Architecture and Healthcare Reform: What the Accountability Care Act Means for Your Healthcare Project
Hosted by the Healthcare and Therapeutic Design PPN
Thursday, September 26 at 4pm (eastern)
SCUP Excellence in Planning and Landscape Architecture 2013 Awards
Hosted by the Campus Planning and Design PPN
Professional development hours (PDHs) will be available free to registered ASLA members. Nonmembers can receive PDHs for a nominal fee.
For more information and to register, visit the PPN Online Learning website.
Free to everyone, but space is limited.
Professional development hours (PDHs) will be available free to registered ASLA members. Nonmembers can receive PDHs for a nominal fee.
Nordic Adventure: Connecting Children with Nature
August 23, 2013
International Conference in Copenhagen and Malmö, September 2013
No matter the weather or the season, Nordic children can always be found playing outdoors. The upcoming conference, Nordic Adventure: Connecting Children with Nature, will feature keynote addresses and workshop presentations on the myriad opportunities for connecting children to nature in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The conference takes place September 10-13, 2013 in Copenhagen and Malmö. The registration deadline was August 20 (sorry, we’re a little behind on our blog posts) but if you act fast, you can probably squeeze in there.
Scandinavian nations have long since worked with adventure and nature playgrounds, school gardens and green school grounds, forest and outdoor preschools, education for sustainable development, and many other nature-based initiatives for children. The English-language conference will be a mixture of plenary sessions, presentations, site visits and social experiences.
For details and information on registration, contact the planning committee: nordicadventure2013@gmail.com, and visit the conference site.
Children & Nature Network’s Grassroots Gathering
August 8, 2013
Outdoor Free Play
The Children and Nature Network is holding its annual conference, Grassroots Gathering 2013 in San Diego on September 4-6. This year’s conference features great speakers, practical tips, and opportunities to network with leaders committed to connecting children to nature.
C&NN co-founder and Chairman Emeritus Richard Louv will lead a discussion about creating the future of the children and nature movement. Feedback, ideas, and suggestions are needed on big questions such as “How do we overcome barriers to children ‘s access to nature and the outdoors? What community opportunities can we take advantage of? And what does the movement need right now versus in the future?”
The conference begins Wednesday, September 4th at 2:30 and closes at noon on Friday, September 6th. Registration includes all meals and meeting materials. To register, go to Eventbrite. For more details about presentations, varying conference rates, and accommodations, view the complete agenda.
Children & Youth Garden Symposium: Register by 7/23!
June 21, 2013
The American Horticultural Society’s 2013 National Children & Youth Garden Symposium takes place at the Denver Botanic Gardens July 11-13, 2013, with pre-symposium garden tours on July 10 and 11.
In addition to a host of seminars, attendees will have the chance to participate in tours of the Denver Urban Gardens, The Gardens on Spring Creek (Fort Collins, CO) and Cheyenne Botanic Gardens (Cheyenne, WY). The event’s prime sponsor, The American Horticultural Society, has organized more than 50 workshops in six categories including Curriculum, Garden Design and Maintenance, Horticultural Science, Horticutural Therapy, Literature, and Policy.
Keynote speakers
The first of three keynote speakers is environmental psychologist Louise Chawla, Professor of Environmental Design at the University of Colorado.
As Associate Director of the Children, Youth and Environments Center for Community Engagement. Marcia Eames-Sheavly is a senior lecturer as well as children and youth program leader for Cornell Garden-Based Learning in Ithaca, NY.
David Sobel, Senior Faculty in the Education Department at Antioch University in Keene, NH. He is the author of seven books and more than 60 articles focused on children and nature for educators, parents, environmentalists and school administrators.
Pre-symposium garden tours July 10 and 11
Denver Urban Gardens supports one of the largest school garden networks in the United States. In this tour you will see three school gardens and learn how they foster community, health, and education. A youth-led farmer’s market at Fairview School Community Garden, a schoolyard farm at Denver Green School Community Garden supplying the cafeteria salad bar managed by Sprout City Farms, and integrated nutrition and science classes at Bradley International School’s Heather Regan Memorial Garden will be some of the dynamic aspects of youth gardening we will encounter.
The Gardens on Spring Creek and Cheyenne Botanic Gardens are public gardens that serve as models for children’s gardening due to their dedicated interest in making gardens a safe, enjoyable, and educational environment for children and youth. Staff at each location will give personalized tours while highlighting the history and development of these children’s gardens, as well as their hands-on methods of educational programming.
A sampler of symposium workshops
- Benefits of School Gardens
- Cross-Curricular Cooking
- Slow Food in the Garden
- Little Budget, Big Impact! Hands-on Lessons, Few Supplies
- Sensory Gardens that Maximize Play
- Learning Gardens: Making Outdoor Education Irresistible, Relevant and Resilient
- Your Garden Toolkit: The Right Tools for a Children’s Garden
- Lessons for Today’s Children’s Garden Educators
- Discover Fun and Interesting Fruits and Veggies for the Garden
- Teachable Landscapes: Using Gardens for Informal Science Learning
The symposium is also offering three Horticultural Therapy sessions:
- Operating a Greenhouse with Special Needs Students
- Horticultural Therapy and Junior Master Gardeners
- Horticultural Therapy: Gardening with Pediatric Patients in a Hospital Environment
In 1993 the American Horticultural Society saw a need to reconnect children with nature, and created the first Children & Youth Garden Symposium. If you wish to register the July 2013 conference, visit the registration page. Learn more details by visiting the overview page which offers a day-by-day schedule of workshops and activities. If you have specific queries, contact the American Horticultural Society, 703.768.5700 or webmaster@ahs.org.
Tomorrow! Center for Health Design Webinar Series
May 15, 2013
ICONS and Innovators Webinar Series:
The Center for Health Design is offering three online learning opportunities this week through its ICONS and Innovators Master Webinar Series. The series offers an exclusive line up of the industry’s leading healthcare thought leaders, providing quality programming through the convenience of your desktop as well as fresh perspectives to inform work strategies.
The seminars offered tomorrow include:
A Culture of Inquiry Drives the 50-Year Odyssey of an Iconic Father-Daughter Team
James R. Diaz, FAIA, FACHA and Lari Diaz, AIA, LEED AP, EDAC
9:00 am PDT/ 12:00 pm EDT
Among the icons of healthcare planning and design, the odyssey of Jim and Lari Diaz of KMD Architects coincides with 50 years of “radical transformation.” Their careers have been nurtured by a culture of inquiry that fostered innovation and creative approaches to meet ever-evolving industry needs resulting from social changes, cultural revolutions and advances in medicine and technology. In this session, Jim and Lari look back over the past 50 years and describe the chemistry between them and their accomplishments.
The Effects Of Positive Distractions In Pediatric Environments
Anjali Joseph, Ph.D, EDAC
11:00 am PDT/ 2:00 pm EDT
Positive distractions have been found to reduce stress and improve healthcare outcomes. However, research on this topic is generally lacking in certain pediatric settings. This webinar will detail recent studies that examined the effects of positive distraction interventions on pediatric patients and their families but used different methods in different settings. The research findings from two studies will be shared and discussed.
2014 Guidelines for Residential Care Facilities
Jane Rohde, ACHA, AAHID, LEED AP
1:00 pm PDT/ 4:00 pm EDT
For the 2014 cycle of the Facilities Guidelines Institute’s health care design guidelines, a brand new volume is being developed for residential and senior living facilities; entitled the Guidelines for Residential Care Facilities: Design & Construction of Health, Care, and Support Facilities. This guideline includes nursing homes, hospice, assisted living, independent living, adult day care, and wellness/diagnostic facilities. The vetted approach to the guidelines is to provide design information, as well as parameters for Authorities Having Jurisdiction to evaluate and incorporate culture change and resident-centered approaches to the residential-based care.
When you register for one or more webinar(s), you will receive an email confirmation with a link to submit your payment. Upon completing this step, you will be sent an access code for the webinar. Tuition per webinar is $90 for individualsand $180 for organizations. To register, visit the Center for Health Design’s webinar page.
The next series of three will be on June 13, with more to follow after that.
A great book for Autism Awareness Day!
April 2, 2013
April 2nd is Autism Awareness Day, and what better way to mark it than to showcase Natasha Etherington’s great new book, Gardening for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Special Educational Needs.
There is scant literature and research in this field, so Etherington’s book is a welcome and timely addition.
The TLN encourages everyone interested in this subject to also join our Austim and Special Needs group on Linked In.
Here’s a blurb about the book from Jessica Kingsley Publishers:
A garden or nature setting presents the perfect opportunity for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and special needs to learn, play and strengthen body and mind. This book empowers teachers and parents with little gardening know-how to get outside and use nature to motivate young learners.
Using a mindfulness approach, Natasha Etherington presents a simple gardening program that offers learning experiences beyond those a special needs student can gain within the classroom. The book outlines the many positive physical, cognitive, sensory, emotional and social benefits of getting out into the garden and provides specially adapted gardening activities for a variety of needs, including those with developmental disabilities and behavioural difficulties, as well as wheelchair users. With a focus on the therapeutic potential of nature, the book shows that gardening can help reduce feelings of anxiety, provide an outlet for physical aggression, build self-esteem through the nurturing of plants and much more.
With this practical program, teachers and parents can easily adopt gardening activities into their schedules and enjoy the benefits of introducing children with special needs to nature and the rhythms of the seasons.
And here, also from JKP, is an interview with the author.
Special Needs Book Review also did a great write-up about the book and an interview with the author, which you can find HERE.
TLN recommends: Healing garden book picks 2012
December 13, 2012
This is the fourth year for TLN Blog book recommendations (!). If you’re still looking for the perfect gift for someone special (including yourself), here are some recommendations for beautiful books with a healing garden theme that are sure to inspire you and your giftees. These are all books that I own and refer to again and again. There are more academic and educational books out there, which are listed on the TLN’s References page. When you buy from any of the Amazon links on this post, you’ll be supporting the Therapeutic Landscapes Network as well. Through the Amazon Associates program, the TLN receives a percentage of each book sale. This is true for Amazon purchase at any time of the year, so please bookmark the link and use it when you shop there. Of course, if you can find the books locally, all the better.
My new favorite book is Patty Cassidy’s The Illustrated Practical Guide to Gardening for Seniors: How to maintain your outside space with ease into retirement and beyond. It is so richly illustrated and will be useful to all gardeners and aspiring gardeners. However, the emphasis is really on gardening for seniors and others who have difficulty with the more physical challenges of gardening. It’s a valuable and beautiful addition to the gardening book library.