{"id":2063,"date":"2016-02-27T01:54:35","date_gmt":"2016-02-27T09:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/?p=2063"},"modified":"2016-02-21T18:45:25","modified_gmt":"2016-02-22T02:45:25","slug":"cities-connecting-children-to-nature-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/featured\/cities-connecting-children-to-nature-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Cities Connecting Children to Nature Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1182 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/AustraliaPlayHeader.jpg\" alt=\"Outdoor Play\" width=\"550\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/AustraliaPlayHeader.jpg 550w, https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/AustraliaPlayHeader-300x122.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The National League of Cities has an initiative called <em>Cities<\/em>\u00a0<em>Connecting Children to Nature<\/em> (CCCN). \u00a0The initiative is intended to &#8220;ensure that all children have the opportunity to play, learn and grow in nature, from city parks to the great outdoors.&#8221; \u00a0Partners include \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nlc.org\/find-city-solutions\/institute-for-youth-education-and-families\" target=\"_blank\">National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education &amp; Families<\/a>\u00a0(IYEF), the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.childrenandnature.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Children &amp; Nature Network<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/outdoorsallianceforkids.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Outdoors Alliance for Kids<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wildernessinquiry.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Wilderness Inquiry<\/a>. \u00a0Funding comes from the <a href=\"https:\/\/jpbfoundation.org\" target=\"_blank\">JPB Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h1>Initiative\u00a0Goals<\/h1>\n<p>The program has three goals over the next three years:<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2066\" src=\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/FeedtheDucks.jpg\" alt=\"Feed the Ducks\" width=\"225\" height=\"218\" \/><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Improving the health of people living in low-income communities by increasing access to nature-based activities and green space.<\/li>\n<li>Supporting the development of stronger \u00a0 social-emotional and cognitive skills among young people through increased time in nature.<\/li>\n<li>Nurturing an emerging generation of youth as stewards of and advocates for the natural environment.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h1>Initial Key Cities<\/h1>\n<p>In pursuit of those goals the partners have identified seven cities to kickstart the process:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Saint Paul, Minnesota<\/li>\n<li>Madison, Wisconsin<\/li>\n<li>Grand Rapids, Michigan<\/li>\n<li>Providence, Rhode Island<\/li>\n<li>Louisville, Kentucky<\/li>\n<li>Austin, Texas<\/li>\n<li>San Francisco, California<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1364 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/butterflyplay.jpg\" alt=\"butterfly play\" width=\"225\" height=\"148\" srcset=\"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/butterflyplay.jpg 225w, https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/butterflyplay-207x136.jpg 207w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>Over the next few months the partners will work with these cities to\u00a0complete community assessments, and identify\u00a0equity issues. \u00a0By August 2016 each city will have an implementation plan that will make it eligible for further CCCN grant funding and assistance through October 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Louv, author of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/156512605X\/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=156512605X&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=themushroomgrowe&amp;linkId=J2XOYUMX3UM5PFKU\" rel=\"nofollow\">Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=themushroomgrowe&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=156512605X\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" \/> and founder of the Children and Nature Network says, &#8220;These seven cities are on the leading edge of the children and nature movement. \u00a0Mayors and city leaders are in a unique position to create opportunities for all children to grow up with nature as part of their everyday lives \u2014 and, in fact, could help define the nature-rich city of the 21st Century.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h1>International Conference<\/h1>\n<p>All of these cities as well as nine others:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Seattle, Washington<\/li>\n<li>Salt Lake City, Utah<\/li>\n<li>North Little Rock, Arkansas<\/li>\n<li>St. Petersburg, Florida<\/li>\n<li>Columbia, South Carolina<\/li>\n<li>Charlotte, North Carolina<\/li>\n<li>Knoxville, Tennessee<\/li>\n<li>Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania<\/li>\n<li>New Haven, Connecticut<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>that were involved\u00a0in a leadership academy program last year will be participating in the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.childrenandnature.org\/connect\/cnn-conference\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0Children &amp; Nature Network 2016 International Conference and Cities &amp; Nature Summit<\/a> from\u00a0May 24\u00a0to 27, 2016 at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rivercentre.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Saint Paul RiverCentre<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Saint Paul, Minnesota. \u00a0The conference is open to the public and you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/the-2016-international-conference-and-cities-nature-summit-registration-17713912790\" target=\"_blank\">register now<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h1>Getting Involved<\/h1>\n<p>If you live in any of the cities mentioned above, contact your mayor&#8217;s office to see which agencies and groups are involved with this project then offer your assistance. \u00a0If you live elsewhere, join the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.childrenandnature.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Children &amp; Nature Network<\/a> and participate in the conference. \u00a0You will come away with lots of great ideas and contacts that you can use to help your city bring children to nature.<\/p>\n<h1>Please Share<\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The National League of Cities has an initiative called Cities\u00a0Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN). \u00a0The initiative is intended to &#8220;ensure that all children have the opportunity to play, learn and grow in nature, from city parks to the great outdoors.&#8221; \u00a0Partners include \u00a0National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education &amp; Families\u00a0(IYEF), the\u00a0Children &amp; Nature [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,2,22,21,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-featured","category-mental","category-physical","category-projects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2063"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2069,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2063\/revisions\/2069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore.globalcreations.com\/theblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}