What is NBEC?
The Nature Based Education Consortium (NBEC) is a Maine-based collaborative network of outdoor learning leaders and stakeholders working together on systems-level efforts to ensure that every Maine youth has access to powerful outdoor learning experiences.
Photo above features members of the Climate Change Education Advocacy working group
Mission
Our network’s mission is to enable all Maine youth to learn outdoors, in connection with their community and natural environment. We work together to dismantle systemic barriers to outdoor access, to cultivate new resources, opportunities, and partnerships, and to amplify diverse voices to build and shift our understanding and appreciation of outdoor learning.
Photo above features members of the Climate Change Education Advocacy working group
Vision
In twenty years, Maine is known as a place where our schools and other means for educating young people are key elements in vibrant communities connected to the natural landscapes of Maine - the lands, waterways, and ocean. Maine youth understand the connection between their health and the health of the natural world. They are civically-engaged members of their communities, towns and regions.
Photos above feature members of the Climate Change Education Advocacy working group
How we work
NBEC is a network composed of outdoor learning leaders who hold a variety of diverse identities across race, age, and sector.
Principles of equity guide our work, and our meetings are grounded in Ways of Being, intentions created by NBEC participants to disrupt the culture of white supremacy.
We encourage adult leaders in this network to learn more about how to be an adult ally and support a space where youth are included and are active leaders.
What's next?
We are working toward systems change in Maine. Projects on the horizon include:
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Building and supporting an Outdoor Equity Fund, hosted through a participatory grantmaking process, in partnership with Maine Initiatives
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Developing and piloting an outdoor learning advocacy network across Maine
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Building up knowledge, relationships, and support to introduce climate education policy in the Maine legislature in the upcoming legislative session
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...and more! Get connected to our network to be a part of shaping a future where all Maine youth have access to safe and meaningful outdoor and place-based learning experiences.