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Salzburg Global Fellows Luis Camargo, Raphaëlle Thiollier, and Nella Lomotan demonstrate ways to bring people closer to nature

Luis, Raphaëlle, and Nella spoke to Salzburg Global during "Global Lessons on Greening School Grounds and Outdoor Learning." This program took place between November 14 and 18, 2022.

In November, Salzburg Global Seminar hosted "Global Lessons on Greening School Grounds and Outdoor Learning," where experts worldwide were immersed in resplendent deep conversations and explorations into the art of education.

Fellows are building a global movement to create a world where every child – especially the most vulnerable – connects meaningfully with nature every day.

We are now at a pivotal moment in history, with a growing momentum worldwide to transform education systems and increase climate change resilience. This opens up the possibility of shaping a different human condition – one of radical collaborative creativity, curiosity, and - most importantly - movement and growth in nature.

"For me, a movement is associated with flow. Flow, movement, water, wind, activating our qualities and creative capacities. In this case, it is a social movement. So, it is activating those potentials and capacities of flow within groups of people," says Luis Camargo, founder and director of the Organization for Environmental Education and Protection (OpEPA) in Colombia.

"We need more movements and flows that guide us towards harmonizing or coming into the right relation with life. It brings hope and [the] capacity of transformation. It reminds us we are nature," he adds.

Luis is one of several experts who came together in Salzburg to discuss how education systems worldwide can be reinvigorated to bring children closer to the environment.

At the heart of this initiative lies the Greening School Grounds and Outdoor Learning movement, which Luis sees as a powerful instrument to improve global education and address climate change and sustainability issues.

"As mammals, we evolved in natural landscapes. Our way of learning and interpreting the world has always been associated [with] our experience in nature and in the world. If we give people a space of silence, a landscape, a sunrise, a sunset, a mountain, an ocean, [or] a horizon, they will feel replenished. So, that is where replenishing really happens all the time. But we do not have the attention to recognize it."

In Paris, France, an initiative has been underway for several years to build "oasis schoolyards." These spaces aim to curb extreme temperatures of heat waves by replacing asphalt with green areas and newly planted trees.

"We need to restore that link between humans and nature. It is everywhere in the world, and it is not related to some short-term political will," says project manager Raphaëlle Thiollier who has worked for the City of Paris since 2009. 

"We need passionate activists, people that are deeply convinced and that are eager to convince the older people, as well. We also need funding because [the] information has some cost. We can try to do low-tech amenities. We need to continue to showcase and highlight useful examples of what is working so that we continue and further develop this movement of transformation in schoolyards." 

In the Philippines, Nella Lomotan's environmental enterprise - Eco Explorations - shows the socioeconomic impact of grassroots communities. Her organization brings people back to nature through sustainable tourism, science-based education, and citizen engagement.

"How I see people falling in love with nature is you really bring them to nature, through experiential learning experiences, you create the opportunities for them to be there," says Nella.

By creating different kinds of events in and outside the city - urban parks, native tree walks, biodiversity camps, marine reserves, or forest-protected areas - Eco Explorations aims to create direct linkages between people and nature and expose them to the biodiversity around them.

For Nella, movement building starts by meeting people where they are; from there, powerful connections with nature can grow.

"Sometimes people just do not know where to start. So why not create maps that showcase it? For instance, family-friendly trails that families can take within the communities, but also adult people. You need to give them all these prompts and opportunities so that they will be more aware."  

Learn more about Greening School Grounds and Outdoor Learning