The barriers that prevent most Canadians from fully engaging with their outdoor environment are many, but they can be overcome.

We are primarily interested in systemic change. so we proceed carefully to develop valid solutions seeking the input of many. We work mostly at the grass-roots, but check in regularly with partner organizations and institutional leaders so that we can better anticipate the usability of our solutions. We achieve this through specific projects that test-drive ideas and a growing network of diverse organizations who share our passion for outdoor education and activity in its many forms.The first project we tackled was the absence of a validated training and certification program for teachers and other youth leaders who wanted to lead minors into low-risk outdoor environment for educational or activity purposes. Today we offer a comprehensive program of training called the Field Leader Training‘ that empowers teachers, and others, to lead high-quality experiences in outdoor environment with a degree of safety that more than matches our expectations. This program is so successful it is being adopted across Canada for all kinds of program including adults leading adults.

Powerful as the training program is, it only reaches its full power when it is matched to a risk-management program that utilizes its strengths to create a cycle of learning and continuous improvement that prevents the sort of systemic failure that characterizes most serious accidents. Developing this program was our second project.

For schools, our focus now is to explore how we can overcome the cultural and organizational barriers that prevent schools from employing our system and offering more outdoor programming. This lack of innovation by schools is particularly acute in low income urban communities. Our involvement with the Community Sport Hub is a very exciting pilot project led by the City of Calgary that offers the potential for big improvements in how communities can better support opportunities for all children and youth to get regular physical exercise in and out of school.

We are also increasingly involved in facilitating the development of a national network of organizations with an outdoor education and activity focus. These would include professional organizations, colleges delivering training, community organizations, school communities, and commercial interests. We hope to be able to make an announcement about our progress on this soon.
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• We are seeking a Board Chair who can help us reach the next level. As we grow in reach and influence the demands on our Board are changing.  We need an exceptional individual who can guide our current Board through these changes and recruit other high value individuals to strengthen our Board.
• We are particularly interested in forming partnerships with individuals and organizations that share our belief that it is the birthright of every Canadian child to have access to high-quality outdoor education and activity and are interested in investing in long term relationships that will bring transformative change.
• We are looking for individuals excited about the opportunity to make real and meaningful changes to Canadian society and are willing to support us with philanthropic donations.