Unexamined cultural and personal narratives erode our capacities for connection with nature and silence diverse voices. Participants will learn and practice identifying and interrupting harmful narratives and replacing them with values-driven leadership stories that foster healthy group cultures and support work across boundaries of racial, economic, gender/sexuality, and power disparities. The power point and presentation are covered under an open source copyright. They can be used and redistributed freely, but require the acknowledgement of the original source. Any significant changes to the presentation need to be cleared with the original creators. The second page of the hand out contains all pertinent information about this copyright.

Unexamined cultural and personal narratives erode our capacities for connection with nature and silence diverse voices. Participants will learn and practice identifying and interrupting harmful narratives and replacing them with values-driven leadership stories that foster healthy group cultures and support work across boundaries of racial, economic, gender/sexuality, and power disparities. The power point and presentation are covered under an open source copyright. They can be used and redistributed freely, but require the acknowledgement of the original source. Any significant changes to the presentation need to be cleared with the original creators. The second page of the hand out contains all pertinent information about this copyright.

Gardens have a growing importance in urban areas nowadays. They serve as spaces for recreation, education, and reconnection with nature. It is important to examine the educational and environmental roles of these spaces considering their colonial history and potential to serve as conducive spaces for inclusion and transpersonal more-than-human relationships.

I will present an analysis of the unspoken role of environmental violence in EE practice, and offer suggestions as to how EE practitioners can deal with environmental violence in their classrooms and/or programming. The term ‘’violence’ has never appeared in the titles or abstracts of NAAEEC conferences over the past seven years, and virtually never appears in our published literature. My theoretical lens is based on the work of Norwegian peace scholar Johan Galtung, who contrasts direct (the outcome of an actor with intent to commit violence), structural (the result of human systems that cause violence either through intent or unintentionally) and cultural violence (the result of social legitimization and justification of direct or structural violence). Environmental educators can address all of these forms of violence through appropriate acts of environmental non-violence, anti-violence, and contra-violence (working to undo violence we all are complicit in).

As we realize our deepening ecological crisis is a spiritual problem requiring a shift in our relationship to the earth, spiritual retreat centers are uniquely positioned to engage in this work. This session profiles how three Canadian environmental adult educators working at three different spiritual retreat centres are engaged in this important work in environmental adult education.

Director Sylvie Rokab will share clips of the film Love Thy Nature - narrated by Liam Neeson - which takes viewers on a cinematic journey through the beauty of our relationship with nature. She will discuss how her team and partners are igniting a nature-connecting movement in schools and beyond.