Press Release

Dr.

Sometimes, one of the greatest barriers to using the outdoors as a space for learning is simply knowing what natural resources your community offers.  When framed in the context of natural or environmental resources, community gridding engages participants in visualizing their community’s space with a fresh perspective. 

This activity, “Talking the Talk,” was one of the most effective and popular activities from the Learning Group Meeting.  It engages participants in actively learning about the principles and process of both collective leadership and service-learning.

Working in collaboration requires bringing different groups together.  Bridging gaps is a central feature of collective leadership; the gap most often bridged while using this approach is one of age.  This work is sometimes difficult and always requires intentionality.  Defining “youth” and “adult” – or at least discussing varying definitions of the terms – can ease the process.  How do you define “youth”?  How do you define “adult”?

Community work is strengthened when we involve a rich mix of people and organizations in our efforts.  However, in recruiting partners for community work, we too often look only to the usual suspects– companies, corporations, and formal volunteer organizations.  These are strong partners to enlist, but we should also consider the many informal sectors and networks that are also a part of our communities – recreational sports leagues, parent networks, high school clubs, even social media networks like those on Facebook.  This activity encourages you to include all