Centering Empathic Relations and Co-Learning in an Outdoor Education Partnership

“I Know Carneros Creek Loves Me Because…"

Abstract

Land trusts are an important component of conservation and increasingly seek approaches that integrate social and conservation goals, often through community based partnerships. This article shares the evolution of a partnership between a land trust, elementary school, and university along the central coast of California. It highlights ways that the partnership centers empathic relationships, especially from the perspective of children who otherwise have very limited access to nature. The partnership applies an action research framework through which partners consider how to co-create, co-learn, and meaningful be in community while also documenting “magical moments,” or times where joy and connection occur, with the land and with each other.