Showing Up Episode 10: Nature-Based Experiences

This episode discusses how culturally sustaining nature and land-based experiences can support positive identity development and support our nervous system. We cover some of the ways that nature-based programs can incorporate trauma-informed care principles and include culturally sustaining practices. Our guests for this episode are 14-year-old Arwen, a youth participant at the Environmental Youth Alliance, and their program director Erica. Rae from EarthGen also joins us to talk about their research on nature-based experiences and trauma informed care.

Guests: 

Environmental Youth Alliance

Earth Gen

Additional Resources: 

Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93–97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12441244

CDC's 6 Principles of Trauma-Informed Care

Mental Health Hotlines: 

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 

NAMI HelpLine

Transcript

ELO podcast Showing up Episode 10 Nature Based Learning

[00:00:00.00] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:00:09:02] SOPHIE: Please note that Showing Up features themes of trauma mental

health and resilience, which may be triggering for some. So please listen to your body's

cues, take breaks, and use self-regulation strategies. Don't hesitate to ask for help. No

issue is too big or too small.

[00:00:26:04] REBECCA: You can always reach out to the Substance Abuse and Mental

Health Services Administration or SAMHSA's national helpline at 1800-662-4357 or text

988 for support. They will be available to talk with you and connect you to local mental

health resources.

[00:00:49:02] Hi, everyone. I'm Rebecca. And I use she/her pronouns.

[00:00:52:15] SOPHIE: Hi, I'm Sophie. And I also use she/her pronouns. We're both part

of the Trauma Informed Care Team at Cultivate Learning at the University of

Washington. Welcome to Showing Up. This is a time where we talk about trauma

informed care practices for Expanded Learning Opportunities or ELO programs.

[00:01:09:12] ELO programs include basically anywhere young people spend time

outside of the school day classroom setting, like afterschool care, summer camps, and

skill-based programs. Before we dive into our topic for today on nature-based

experiences, we have an exciting pup date to share an update about our dogs. Rebecca,

would you like to tell our listeners what major event happened?

[00:01:31:19] REBECCA: Yeah, so it's been a long time coming. But our dogs met for the

first time.

[00:01:41:20] SOPHIE: We had an official Gus and Monty get together.

[00:01:45:15] REBECCA: Yeah, it was so fun. We brought them both to the office to take

some photos. So, check out Cultivate Learning social media for maybe a picture or two

of the pups together at some point soon. But yeah, we brought them both to the office.

And they both brought each other some toys to play with. And I think it went really well.

[00:02:11:04] SOPHIE: I think it went great. They got along really well together. We got to

walk along the river. We got to get outside with them. And they both really loved chasing

each other around. Also, shout out to Cultivate Learning staff for being very

accommodating and enthusiastic. We had quite a little team trying to lull-- or not lull,

lure all of the dogs and people into looking at the camera at the same time. Which is so

fun.

[00:02:38:21] REBECCA: Yeah, such a task.

[00:02:43:06] SOPHIE: Especially because Gus kept getting on the table, which was very

funny.

[00:02:47:03] REBECCA: I know. Gus is a little impatient sometimes. He's like, all right, I

sat. Where's my treat?

[00:02:52:03 ] [LAUGHTER]

[00:02:54:11] SOPHIE: Poor Monty was just like, I'm getting a little warm under these

lights.

[00:02:59:01] REBECCA: Oh. For those who don't know Monty is all black. And so, when

we were outside too, I was laughing so hard when he just started melting into the

ground because we were in the sun.

[00:03:11:08] SOPHIE: Yeah, he was like, I'm quitting. I'm going back to the earth.

[00:03:15:19] REBECCA: I'm done now. I'm a puddle. Oh.

[00:03:20:04] SOPHIE: It was wonderful. And we had a blast. So that's our co-pup date

for this week.

[00:03:26:03] REBECCA: Yeah, so exciting. Sophie, do you want to tell us what our

episode is about today?

[00:03:32:04] SOPHIE: So today, we're talking all about how culturally sustaining nature

and land-based experiences can support positive identity development. Nature-based

experiences also support our nervous system. So, nature is a sensory rich but not

overloading environment, where our brains and bodies can receive many cues that they

are safe and ready for learning and connection. This connects to many trauma-informed

care principles.

[00:03:56:11] REBECCA: Yeah, so nature-based learning experiences can help promote

trauma informed care principles of self-regulation, community care, and connection

empowerment and collaboration across ages. Connecting with traditional and

indigenous lands is especially powerful for those communities who have experienced

forced displacement.

[00:04:15:02] SOPHIE: There are many different types of nature- or land-based learning

experiences. And we'll talk to guests representing several of them today. Some

examples of nature-based learning opportunities include forest preschools and

kindergartens, which Washington State is newly licensing. Woo-hoo.

There are also summer and after-school programs available for young people along

with community-based environmental justice efforts for people of all ages.

[00:04:40:15] REBECCA: Our guests today are 14-year-old Arwen, a youth participant at

Environmental Youth Alliance, and their program director Erica. We'll also talk with Rae

from EarthGen about their research on nature-based experiences and trauma informed

care.

[00:04:53:16] SOPHIE: Let's jump in with our interview with Arwen.

[00:04:55:21 ] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:05:04:14] SOPHIE: Hey, Arwen. Can you introduce yourself, share your pronouns, and

tell us about your work with the Environmental Youth Alliance or EYA?

[00:05:11:21] ARWEN: Yeah, I'm Arwen. I use all pronouns. And my work with EYA, well,

we mainly focus on just a lot on gardening and rewilding. So sometimes we'll go out into

usually, one specific park because we do a lot of their work there, which is Renfrew

Ravine.

So, we usually go to that park. It has a historical record of being used as a sewage place

or a dumping ground. So, we go there. We focus on rewilding, which is we weed out

these invasive plants that take over like Himalayan blackberry, morning glory, and

English ivy mainly just because those completely dominated our ecosystems right now.

[00:05:51:00] SOPHIE: Yeah, those invasive species.

[00:05:52:11] ARWEN: Yeah, so we have to rewild-- we have to weed those out. And then

we focus on replanting in their place indigenous species. So, anything from Oregon

grape, sage, snowberry. So that's mainly outside of the garden.

But when we're at the garden, we focus a lot more on knowledge base. So, we're taught

about the different medicinal properties. And they'll get speakers in to teach from within

the community to teach us about different types of jobs in the environmental sector. So,

like ecologists, microbiologists, biology, marine biology, gardening, botany.

So, we learn about different jobs that are available to us if we choose to go in that route.

And we learn about like planting and just correct ways to keep a garden. We learn about

native birds and native bugs, native plants.

[00:06:50:24] REBECCA: Yeah, that's great. I love that there's so much connection of

ways to use different plants that are in your environment. And it connects you with the

land that you sit on. What has participating in these land-based programming taught

you about yourself and your community?

[00:07:07:04] ARWEN: I've always had a kind of a background in gardening a little bit just

because my school used to focus a lot on indigenous teachings, indigenous planting.

And I myself am Indigenous.

So when I saw EYA, Environmental Youth Alliance, you'll be working a lot with plants

outside, I was just chose to do it just because I was like, well, beats having to do this

myself, you know? I struggle a lot with just like-- I procrastinate. So I was like, OK, well,

they take my attendance. And they're going to be like, hey, where were you? Then I'll feel

guilty if I don't go.

So, I joined it. And so originally, I just was like, OK, I like gardening. I’ll do this. But then

just slowly over time, I just enjoyed it more. I think this fall was my fourth—no, third

session, I guess. And each session is about 10 weeks. So, I guess that's 30 weeks I've

done with EYA already.

[00:08:05:04] REBECCA: Wow.

[00:08:06:10] ARWEN: And so, I just grew-- like, I love meeting people my own age. I love

gardening. So over time, I just gained a lot more confidence, you know? I would be

freezing cold. And I don't know.

I remember this one specific time where big, baggy pants. And it ended up pouring rain.

And my pants were wet. And all my clothes are wet. And I remember still having the

funniest conversation and just losing it at these jokes and just connecting with

someone on a deeper level just while gardening, you know?

And so, I realized, like, why should I be worried about asking for help in a class or telling

someone, complimenting someone, or just asking them if they want to be my friend.

Why even worry about that? Come on, I'm gardening in the coldest-- my hands are

freezing. And these couple pairs of gloves won't fix that, you know?

So, it's just like, overall, I just became a lot more confident in myself and my abilities,

you know? And especially in my community, it just makes you just a bit more like, oh,

there are people out here who want to-- who want to help our city, who want to make it a

better place, who want to encourage rewilding native plants and want to learn about

these specific methods used, you know?

So it's just like, it makes you just be a lot-- I don't know. It made me feel a lot better just

about the people care in this city, you know? Like, people want to do good.

[00:09:44:12] SOPHIE: Totally. I mean, it seems like those are two really profound things

to take from an after-school program about finding confidence in yourself and abilities

to not worry so much and connect more with your peers and other people, and then also

connecting with your community and feeling hopeful about people's engagement that

other people care to learn more about gardening and healing and connecting with our

world. Can you speak a little bit more about how the relationships you've made at EYA

impacted your sense of identity? I know you were talking about making a lot of friends

there.

[00:10:20:19] ARWEN: Yeah, so I've made quite a few friends from EYA at this point. Or

even, I've just connected with older, queer people; older Indigenous people too. It was

just like, these relationships help me learn more about the different nations that are on

the coast. Because personally, I'm interior Native, interior Indigenous.

So, it's just like meeting a lot-- knowing a lot more about the nations. After meeting all

these people, it's just like, you start to think more deeply, I guess, about these human

connections. Like, before I started EYA, I was very shy. I wasn't very shy. But I was a bit

timid at times.

And it's just like, after meeting all these people, after meeting all these people with very

unique stories, diverse lives, it adds variety, I guess, to my life.

[00:11:13:08] SOPHIE: And it sounded too that there were like older, queer people, and

Indigenous people that are through the program that help-- like, you sort of understand

yourself more too.

[00:11:22:09] ARWEN: Yeah, it's like meeting these queer people, meeting those

Indigenous people, it's just like, it helps you just put everything into context, you know?

Instead of my life being a single sentence, it kind of just like-- it makes it into a full story.

[00:11:38:16] REBECCA: I love that.

[00:11:39:23] ARWEN: It adds just a profound meaning, you know? I'm like, what am I

doing with my life? I'm like, I'm 14. I mean, I'm like, I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't

be saying this. But what am I-- what am I going to do once I graduate? Or what should I

do-- what should I do for life?

But it's just me. People I'm learning about all these different STEM, environmental field

of job field like ecology, ecologist, biology, microbiology, just all these different things

that are open to me. It just gives-- it feels like there's more choice, I guess, in my life

now.

[00:12:17:07] REBECCA: Yeah, do you have any advice for adults looking to involve

young people in land or nature-based programming?

[00:12:23:02] ARWEN: I cannot say this enough. OK, the thing about EYA that makes it

so fun, it's just like-- it's not always just sitting there gardening in the same place again

and again, planting the same plants again and again, you know? The coordinators and

your group leader tries to connect with you. They play fun games with you.

It's not like we're just like goofing off. But it's still like, you get the work done. We're

rewilding. We're gardening. But they still leave enough time that you could-- I don't know-

- play a game of Mafia or play a game of tag just like, we're teenagers.

We're youth, you know? We aren't adults who are doing this for a day job. It's just like,

we're doing this in our free time. Most of us have a stressful week. We want to have fun,

shake it up. Reach out to people in your community. Ask them if they would like to

speak.

If they're established people in your community where you're trying to set it up and there

are-- and there are gardeners. Or they're beekeepers. And they list very great knowledge

of beekeeping. And just see, like, would you like to talk with my group youth, you know?

Add variety to what you're planning, you know? Humans are very good at picking up on

tone. So, it's just like, if you people-- if you have people that are genuinely excited about

their job, about what they want to do with these youth, then it is going to make it 10

times better for everyone else there.

[00:13:46:04] SOPHIE: Yeah, I love that. I think that that's really a great takeaway of

having staff who are there that are passionate and excited about not only the topic but

connecting with the kids that are there too. And then also, I really hear variety, trying a

lot of different skills, having time for play. And that's important for everybody. But we

sort of forget about it as we pass age 5.

[00:14:13:09] ARWEN: Oh, yeah.

[00:14:14:07] REBECCA: I also want to bring that to just our workspace too, yes, afterschool

programming. But also, just in general, that's great advice just for anybody to

build in some time for play. And that's where a lot of relationships do happen too,

relationship building.

[00:14:31:00] SOPHIE: This is just Rebecca's way of saying that she wants to play Mafia.

[00:14:34:22] REBECCA: I want to play board games with all of my coworkers.

[00:14:38:08 ] [LAUGHTER]

[00:14:42:03] SOPHIE: But, Arwen, thank you so much. I think everything that you

outlined is really helpful for folks even that are just sort of thinking about starting a little

indoor garden in their own program or something. There's lots of really great wisdom

there.

[00:14:55:05] ARWEN: Absolutely. Thank you.

[00:14:57:18] REBECCA: Thank you.

[00:14:58:15 ] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:15:14:21] REBECCA: All right, it's time for our Word of the Week.

[00:15:18:04] SOPHIE: We're going to share a vocabulary word every episode to help

build shared terminology for talking about trauma informed care practices. Today, we'll

share our definition of the term culturally sustaining teaching practices.

A culturally sustaining teaching practice seeks to go beyond just knowing about other

cultures. This practice aims to center, celebrate, and support all the cultures that young

people and families bring into a program. In a culturally sustaining program, all people

feel a sense of belonging by encouraging students and families to bring in their cultural,

community, and linguistic practices into the program.

[00:15:55:06] REBECCA: An example of this would be inviting Indigenous young people

in Washington to share about native plants such as camas or huckleberry and a cultural

significance of the ceremonies and foods prepared from these plants. A culturally

sustaining provider would then extend this knowledge and incorporate it into their future

learning opportunities for all people in the program.

[00:16:16:00 ] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:16:29:04] ERICA: The Environmental Youth Alliance supports youth-facing barriers to

connect with nature and develop the skills and confidence to become environmental

stewards. Learn more at www.eya.ca or on Facebook at enviroya or Instagram at Enviro

Youth Alliance. See you there.

[00:16:48:03 ] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:16:54:15] SOPHIE: Hi, Rae. Can you introduce yourself, share your pronouns, and tell

us about your work with EarthGen and your PhD research?

[00:17:02:05] RAE: Absolutely. Hi, thank you so much for having me on this show. I'm

really grateful to be here. My name is Rae Jing Han. I use they/them pronouns. And then

in Mandarin, I also use ta pronoun as well. And yeah, I'll start with my PhD research

since that came first chronologically.

So I was really grateful and happy to work in my dissertation project on a really

collaborative research project with the educational leaders that are a part of the

ClimeTime network here in Washington. So, for folks who are not familiar, ClimeTime is

a statewide effort to support professional learning for teachers throughout K-12 and

help them to think more about climate change and bring that more into their classrooms

as well. So, I actually connected with EarthGen through this research. EarthGen is a

statewide nonprofit that does a lot of work to support environmental education by

working with teachers as well as directly with youth.

The other big category of work that I've been up to is thinking about how to design

curricular programs. So that includes learning materials as well as professional learning

support for teachers that focuses closely on culturally sustaining practices as well as

connections to social and environmental justice. So going through all ages of public

school and thinking about how we can bring in curricular units that support the students

at those different ages.

I think that I try to bring a strong focus on creativity and storytelling and playfulness as

well as arts-based approaches that I think are really powerful and important for both

youth and adults in engaging with some of these complex topics and doing some really

deep learning and sharing with each other about them.

[00:18:47:16] SOPHIE: Thank you so much, Rae. That's so cool that you were able to

start this research in community and then continue this work with that community and

are bringing all of these really impactful tools to students and teachers across

Washington. Can you tell us what it means to be culturally sustaining? And how can

providers be more culturally sustaining when doing nature-based programming?

[00:19:08:24] RAE: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so I think this framework of culturally

sustaining pedagogy has been really transformative for me personally and

professionally and thinking about the way that we support young people through

educational spaces. So, when I think about culturally sustaining work, what that means

to me is really centering and actively sustaining the lifeways or the ways of being of

Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and Pacific Islander communities in our learning

spaces.

So that might include the cultural practices, the linguistic practices that young people

bring and that their communities and their families bring as well. And I think it's

important to focus on doing that kind of supportive and sustaining work in a way that's

responsive to the dynamic-ness, dynamism of young people's cultural lives. So making

sure that the self-determined by the young people that we're supporting rather than

what we might think as adults or as cultural outsiders are the practices that they should

be doing or that they might be doing in their communities.

So, I think this culturally sustaining pedagogy work is really trying to resist and push

back against the assimilation-focused models that have been really, unfortunately,

common throughout our educational systems historically and currently and that tend to

focus more on the deficits that are present in communities or that students need to

learn certain things in order to succeed in our society. So really focusing more on the

assets, the strengths, and then the students' own visions of who they want to be and

what they would like to do in their communities.

And I think also, that the culturally sustaining work that I hope to support and to do is

really political work. I think that it has ties to anti-racist work, to anti-colonial work, to

abolitionist work. All those things are wrapped up together.

And I think that's especially true in the current context of backlash that's happening in

school systems against things like critical race theory. Or any mention of race and

racism is kind of a touchy subject. Or it can get complicated in a lot of schools.

So, I think that it's especially both important but also can be challenging. Or that it has

to be navigated with intentionality in our current school systems. And I just wanted to

give a little shout-out. When I'm talking about culturally sustaining pedagogies, I've been

really grateful to learn from this work from Dr. Django Paris and Dr. H. Samy Alim as

well as the many other amazing scholars who are doing critical work related to this.

[00:21:39:13] SOPHIE: And then I was also wondering how providers can be more

culturally sustaining when doing nature-based programming.

[00:21:45:21] RAE: So, I think what that means in terms of facilitating or offering naturebased

programming means to center the cultural- and community-based practices and

the knowledges and relationships with land that are present in a lot of global majority

communities and have often been erased or marginalized in more mainstream

environmental movements and in environmental education spaces as well.

And then I think another big component for me that I like to think about is centering the

leadership of those global majority communities, the ways that they have been taking

action through environmental and climate activism and advocacy and education, and

that those are really things that youth of all ages can learn from and also be a part of.

So really centering on youth activism as well.

[00:22:32:22] SOPHIE: And we know, too, that youth-led programming is often the

highest quality and really helps promote engagement and development for the adults

and the kids involved. So I love that suggestion-- to really focus on all the different ways

of knowing and our global majority cultures and the ways that young people can really

bring those forth and shine.

And then we certainly can't talk about nature-based learning without talking about

environmental and climate justice, which you've already hit on some. And I know that

that brings up a lot of feelings for people. What are some strategies that providers can

use to create spaces where they and young people and their families can process

emotions about nature and relationships with land? Climate change is a really big

stressor for young people, especially, and other environmental issues.

[00:23:23:13] RAE: Yeah, totally. I think for me, a really important key part of

environmental justice and climate justice frameworks is thinking about the

disproportionate impacts of those environmental and climate issues on certain

communities as well as the different kinds of relationships with land that are present in

global majority communities as opposed to white communities.

So, thinking about how that might be shaped by different processes like migration and

displacement as well as systems like colonialism or settler colonialism. So, I think all of

those things come into play when we think about environmental and climate justice and

the ways that emotions might emerge. And so, in terms of some strategies or specific

practices, I think just starting basic like naming and validating the emotions that might

be present.

I think also that arts-based activities and storytelling can make a really big difference.

And they can open up space for us all to be as youth and as adults vulnerable and be

able to share some of the things that we're experiencing that might not be otherwise

very easy to talk about. I think also, in terms of foundational work that should always be

going on in learning spaces, but I think creating a sense of deep trust and belonging in

the community of learners is a really important way to open up space for them to be

honest and be authentic in sharing some of those emotional experiences.

And then I also think that connecting with the broader community with families and with

community members who have relationships with youth and have potentially some of

the similar lived experiences and contexts to share as well and bringing them in or

connecting with them in different places and different areas of the community as

experts can be really important as well.

So I think throughout all of these different strategies, thinking about how we can really

honor emotions as an important dimension of learning and not as a hindrance or an

afterthought or something on the side that we have to deal with and get through in order

to get to the learning, that it's really a core part of how we learn and how we show up in

our learning spaces together.

[00:25:31:22] SOPHIE: That's so beautiful. Like, I think that emotions can be a really

strong motivator. And I love your suggestion around using arts and storytelling. I mean,

A, those are grounded in so many different cultural practices. And B, meaning making

together can help ameliorate and buffer major stressors and trauma, if you can be able

to talk about it. I think those are really practical suggestions. Thank you.

[00:25:54:14] RAE: Yeah, of course.

[00:25:56:02] SOPHIE: Well, Rae, thank you so much for being here with us today. I

learned a lot. And I'm just so excited to start implementing some of these practices too.

[00:26:04:21] RAE: Awesome. Thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure.

[00:26:07:22 ] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:26:09:00] [INDISTINCT SINGING]

[00:26:17:14] SOPHIE: Hi, Erica. Can you introduce yourself, share your pronouns, and

tell us about your work with the Environmental Youth Alliance?

[00:26:24:18] ERICA: Hello. My name is Erica. I use she/her pronouns. I'm a secondgeneration

Japanese on my mother's side and sixth-generation mixed European on my

father's side. And yeah, grateful to be calling in today as an invited guest on unceded,

squamish nation territory, which is a place just north of a place we now call Vancouver,

BC.

Environmental Youth Alliance, EYA, is a small environmental nonprofit that operates out

of East Vancouver, BC. And we support youth-facing barriers to connect with nature and

develop the skills and confidence to become environmental stewards. We provide free

land-based environmental education and paid employment training programs that braid

Western and Indigenous perspectives on land stewardship.

Our programs are centered around three main themes, including native plant

horticulture, habitat restoration, and indigenous food and medicine plants. And we

explore these themes through engaging youth in hands-on stewardship projects in

urban green spaces and building skills in our youth-led native plant nursery.

[00:27:25:17] REBECCA: That's so awesome. I know we talked with Arwen earlier, who's

a youth participant in your program. And they just had lovely things to say about it. And

they also told us a little bit about the specific population EYA works with. So could you

tell us more about why does EYAs work with the specific population it does and also

why land-based programming?

[00:27:47:22] ERICA: Yeah, big question. I'll try to be succinct. But yeah, as I mentioned

and as Arwen would have mentioned as well, EYA works with youth-facing barriers. So,

this means our participants identify as BIPOC, as LGBTQ2+ living with disability,

racialized new immigrants, in foster care, living on low incomes, or targeted by other

systemic barriers.

At EYA, we recognize that youth-facing barriers are disproportionately impacted by

environmental crises but also systemically excluded from environmental advocacy and

careers. So, distilling this down, our work is guided by the principles of intersectional

environmentalism, which is basically an inclusive version of environmentalism that

advocates for both protection of people and planet and identifies the ways in which

injustices are happening to marginalized communities. And the crisis impacting earth

are actually so interconnected and interwoven.

Yeah, so our program center the voices of youth-facing barriers and land stewardship to

help build a more inclusive environmental movement and acknowledging those

intersections of social and environmental justice. We strive to make our programs as

accessible as possible to the youth we work with. And we do this through reducing

financial barriers.

All of our programs are free as well as paid in some form, whether honoraria or a paid

wage. We provide lunch and bus tickets as well as really work hard to create a culturally

relevant and safe space in our programs. And then in turn, the youth bring just incredible

brilliance and diverse-lived experience into our shared spaces.

And to answer the second part of your question, why land-based programming? So,

there's a couple sides to this. One is from the perspective of the land or the

environment. We're currently admits intersecting crises, including a biodiversity crisis

and a climate crisis.

So, we believe it's important for young people to grow connection to the land and grow

skills and confidence to become stewards and advocates for the land. When we look at

indigenous cultures, there's a clear and powerful relationship with land. And seeing land

as a relation supports an understanding and care for the land, whereas our colonial

society is quite disconnected from the land.

So, we feel like it's important to decolonize this relationship and support youth on their

journeys of becoming connected with land and becoming environmental stewards. But

it is reciprocal. And there is important reasons as well as beautiful benefits as to why

we engage youth specifically in land-based programming.

To name a few, one is mental health benefits. Learning on the land is a calming and

healing space to learn from. Many of the youth that we work with are going through a lot

in their everyday lives. And they've shared that coming to programs can help them feel

calm, relaxed, and connected to purpose and community. And yeah, land-based learning

is also accessible and student led. It's inherently trauma informed and student centered.

Finally, being outside is just good for your health. Land-based programs get youth

outside. They're breathing fresh air. They're getting their hands dirty in the soil. And

they're doing physical activities. And that's just good for us and we need to do more of

that.

[00:31:07:22] SOPHIE: And I know earlier, we talked about how there's a traumainformed

care framework that the Environmental Youth Alliance uses to intentionally

plan programming. Could you tell us a little bit about that and the process that you all

use?

[00:31:20:03] ERICA: So, EYA has always been youth led. We were founded in 1989 by a

group of high school students. And that being youth led and youth safe space has

always been at the forefront of what we do.

But I guess a couple of years ago, we put a bit more focused attention into traumainformed

practices and how they can be woven into all aspects of our work, including

program delivery. And going through this process really helped us to put into words

some of the work that we're already doing as well as integrate new practices and hold

ourselves accountable and strive to be better as well.

I do totally need to give credit to a past colleague, Hailey Bird from Peguis First Nation,

who's a social worker that was on our team and really led us through this work, which

was amazing. But yeah, in terms of trauma-informed practice frameworks, as I think

you've talked on the podcast before, but they shift thinking from what's wrong with you

to what happened to you.

And working through a trauma-informed lens means that you may not know and you're

also not privy to know the trauma or past lived experiences that a person has or is

experiencing. But you are still responsible to create an environment that actively works

to avoid retraumatizing the individual. Trauma-informed practice frameworks include

principles. What they're specifically named and how many there are, I think, vary a little

bit but boil down to the same thing. The framework that we use follows five principles

of safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness, and empowerment.

So basically, when we're looking to integrate and uphold these principles, a super basic

exercise of just going into each of those principles and just dissecting it and a bit of

reflection and team brainstorming on what is and what can be happening when we're

really just looking at that specific principle and how can we integrate it into our program

delivery from staff training to facilitation strategies to daily routines, community

agreements, et cetera.

So, for instance, we looked at the principle of safety. And I think before even going into

safety, we really needed to create that common ground and understanding that safety

looks and feels different for everyone. And then we also wanted to look into the many

facets of safety as well, including physical or emotional safety, et cetera.

So, for example, emotional safety, a lot of this training I think comes from before we

even hit programs and staff training in LGBTQ2+ plus inclusion and awareness, cultural

competency and awareness training, how to be an ally for youth, accessibility training,

things like that. And then for program delivery practices, this comes up. And we start

every day in a welcome circle and being in a circle as equals and checking in on where

everybody's at and actually being responsive to where folks are at before we dive into

our day's activities.

We co-create community agreements on every single program that we're in so that the

youth can each be accountable and co-create what a safe environment looks like for

them. We're a nurturing peer connections through activities and games and building

safe relationships between peers. We check in a lot. EYA loves check-ins. So amongst

staff as well as with participants, we're always checking in.

And then yeah, also, when challenges come up in youth lives that are beyond our

capacity, we're also well aware that that isn't necessarily our role in their lives. So we

have some frameworks with referrals as well as long lists of community partners that

we trust that we will support youth in accessing. And then going into physical safety as

well, et cetera.

So basically, as a team, we went and just dove down like that into every single principle

to really flesh out how we can uphold each of the principles. And I think with traumainformed

practice and these kinds of frameworks, they can feel really overwhelming.

There's a lot of theory. There's a lot of opinions. And you also just really want to do a

good job at it.

So, it can feel really intimidating. So, I definitely encourage anybody who's thinking that

they want to integrate this practices is just do what we did and sit down as a team and

just go principle by principle, have a little brainstorm, and go from there to really distill

down what you are doing and what you can be doing. And it just felt a little bit more

tangible and accessible to us that way.

[00:35:37:23] REBECCA: I think our last question is kind of like, what advice do you have

for providers looking to involve kids in land-based learning opportunities?

[00:35:44:18] ERICA: I think going outside can sometimes feel intimidating. There's

logistics. There's perceived risk. There's other barriers to access. The most important

thing is just making it accessible to you. There's no need to dive into extravagant field

trips out of the city or multiple logistics, multiday, whatever it is. Just keeping it super

simple and starting with your local green spaces and starting with a few simple

activities. And just have fun with it.

Being outside is so nurturing for humans. And more and more so, we are less so

spending time outside and reaping those benefits. So, it can feel chaotic to have a

bunch of little ones running around outside. But the trade-offs are worth it.

And you might find too that outdoor learning is inherently accessible and student led

and really a space that a lot of our young people need and aren't able to access that

much these days. Start with something simple like nature walks or nature journaling,

scavenger hunts, and just ease into things. Take a walk around your neighborhood and

find the little pockets of urban green spaces.

EYA really utilizes urban green spaces. And we do that intentionally to let young people

know that there is nature just right outside your door. You don't need to go to a place

out there. And that goes for all of us service providers as well.

We do need to understand that there's those little pockets and those teachable

moments in green spaces just right around the corner. So yeah, find those little spots.

[00:37:17:17] SOPHIE: So thank you so much Erica for being here with us.

[00:37:20:10] ERICA: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. And just yeah, grateful for

the space you provided me. But also yeah, Arwen and young people and hearing all

those voices having this platform, I feel extremely grateful for.

[00:37:33:05 ] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:37:43:02] SOPHIE: Strategy spotlight is a time for us to share one thing you could

implement in your ELO program or classroom. Today, we're going to focus on ways to

bring nature based and cultural experiences into your program through gardening.

[00:37:56:11] REBECCA: Gardening can happen indoors or outdoors. So, some form of

this is accessible across a wide range of program settings. Plants are deeply connected

to cultural practices. They're included in everything from religious ceremonies to

medicine to our food.

[00:38:10:04] SOPHIE: First, speak with the young people in your program. Learn from

them about what plants they have an existing connection with. Consider their cultural

heritage and identities when thinking about plant selection.

[00:38:21:19] REBECCA: Next, consider your environment and possible program

partnerships. If you have a consistent indoor space, reach out to your local library and

garden centers to see about partnering for an indoor garden setup. Include young

people in this whole process.

[00:38:35:02] SOPHIE: If you have access to an outdoor space, amazing. You can

consider building raised garden beds or working directly in the soil. If your program is

nomadic or share space, consider partnering with the local community to establish a

community garden. Increasingly, schools and parks and recreation departments are

working with the community to establish community gardens if one is not already

available.

[00:38:57:13] REBECCA: Happy gardening!

[00:38:58:15] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:39:04:07] SOPHIE: As we wrap up this episode, we'll leave you with a few key

takeaways and reflection questions. Part of building a trauma-informed care practice is

building our own self-awareness so we can better show up for the young people in our

lives. What were some of your key takeaways, Rebecca?

[00:39:17:12] REBECCA: One of my key takeaways is how impactful having nature-based

experiences can be for youth in your program. I really loved hearing from Erica how EYA

built their program with a lot of trauma-informed care principles in mind and how it

really positively impacted Arwen's experience there. And it sounds like there's just so

much fun built in with all these hands-on experiences that really allowed for so much

connection across all ages to happen.

[00:39:41:23] SOPHIE: Yes, absolutely. I loved hearing about how EYA's leadership has

turned trauma-informed care principles into action steps. This whole episode is just so

special to me. Gardening became a real mental health lifeline for me during the early

days of the pandemic and continues to be a really major source of community and joy

for me. I'm excited to hear about how nature-based experiences are positively impacting

other sense of empowerment and connection.

[00:40:08:22] REBECCA: So as we close we invite you to take some time and reflect on

our first reflection question is, what is your relationship with nature? How do you learn

about yourself and your community through the natural environment?

Next, think about the young people you work with. What is their relationship with nature?

How is their culture and identity supported through the natural environment?

And lastly, how do you sustain young people's culture in your program? What ways

might you deepen your culturally sustaining teaching practices?

[00:40:39:20] SOPHIE: For those of you listening that are working directly with young

people either professionally or in your personal life, we see the really important work

you're doing. And we hope that this episode gave you some fuel to continue. Remember,

some form of nature-based experiences are accessible to all of us. If we partner with

our community and think creatively, anything is possible.

[00:40:59:05] REBECCA: Definitely. Having more nature-based experiences in your

program can have so many benefits for young people. It can calm their nervous system

by giving them something physical to do. It can be a great vehicle to tie in culturally

sustaining practices. And it's just fun.

[00:41:14:01] SOPHIE: Thank you so much for joining us today.

[00:41:17:02] REBECCA: Bye!

[00:41:17:18] [MUSIC PLAYING]

[00:41:21:01] REBECCA: This podcast was produced by Cultivate Learning at the

University of Washington with funding from the Washington State Department of

Children Youth and Families. We'd like to thank our media producer Tifa Tomb and our

graphic designer Tami Tolpa. You can find more of Cultivate Learning's work by going to

cultivatelearning.uw.edu.