Who’s Been Here.

On Sunday, February 26, I had the privilege to speak on the importance of diversity & inclusion with respect to time spent playing in nature. The Canadian Mental Health Association invited me to address an audience at their Mood Walks Summit 2017. Mood Walks is a province-wide initiative that promotes physical activity in nature, or “green exercise,” as a way to improve both physical and mental health. You can discover more about this wonderful program here:  http://www.moodwalks.ca

Any opportunity where I can talk about the importance of nature-play for children, is one that I deeply appreciate. Add to that, the chance to explain why diversity and inclusion are so critically important in the outdoors, and I am profoundly grateful.

The Mood Walks Summit was a well organized, well attended, informative and fun event. And I hope the program continues to be a success as it has already helped many, many youth live better lives. Beyond being able to speak on issues that I care deeply about, an unexpected highlight was seeing the story board that was produced by an artist at the event, that highlighted aspects of my speech as well as issues from the three other speakers. The artist (I wish that I could mention her by name, but I didn’t have a chance to get her name) really captured the salient points of my talk, as well as the spirit of fun, wonder and joy I was trying to communicate to the audience. You can see the artist’s amazing work in the photos in this post.

Nature is an experience for us all. See you on the outside!

Mark Yearwood

Founder & Executive Director

Kids In the Woods Initiative — K.I.W.I.