Learning to rewild
this
is a piece of birchbark
you may recognize it because birch is
one of the very few trees with a white
bark
across the world birchbark has been used
to make canoes
paper
shelters containers
even shoes
but how significant is birchbark to you
does it hold any meaning for you
for us birchbark only really began to
mean something when we started using it
every day
every day for a year we would take a
strip of bark from a fallen tree
scrape a knife along it to create a pile
of shavings and then create fire
fire for warmth
fire to cook on
fire to share stories around
you could say birchbark helped us
to reconnect with nature
you see we needed to address a problem
collectively we have spent 20 years
studying the mind-boggling array of
diverse life forms on this planet the
stunning landscapes that they inhabit
and how human life intersects and
interacts with all of this
and we’ve done this to be able to
research to communicate to teach about
the value of the natural world
we had done this to reach a point where
we spent the majority of our waking
hours
inside plugged in sitting behind a
laptop
somewhere something had gone wrong
the balance was completely out
so
we sought to redress it
i proposed to gina that we should try to
spend more time outside than inside and
as part of that sleep outdoors too
and all four seasons of the year
and i eagerly
declined
but
then i thought more about it
i thought about all the things that i
value in life i thought about why i had
started studying the natural world in
the first place
the fact that i was in a luxurious
position where i could choose to be
outside more
i thought about the state of our planet
and i came to the realization that
actually my own relationship with nature
was pretty superficial
with that we moved our lives outside
for a year we tried to spend at least 50
percent of our time outside
we slept outside ate socialized and
worked when possible
outside
the experiment that we referred to as a
wild year
gave the natural world a central place
in our lives again
and equally gave us a place in the
natural world
our experiment brought a much needed
sense of balance into our own lives
sometimes i would walk home from work
barefoot feel the sand or pine needles
or mud squish between my toes
i would like my own fires using wet
birch bark wash with snow wonder if my
knots would hold as my shelter bent in
the wind
and i reassuringly answered a large
number of questions from female friends
on peeing outside
i felt
liberated
but
as comfortable as i was in the outdoors
there was always this niggling feeling
of vulnerability when i was alone
for me the outdoors has always been a
joyful place it gives me a sense of
freedom and rejuvenation
at night i take comfort in the call of a
tony owl
i’ve never really been concerned for my
safety yeah spending so much time
together outdoors made me realize that
our shared adventures are very much
experienced in different ways
you know and that’s
not just about safety biologically
our bodies are
different
and we respond to the elements in very
distinct ways
for example
in the same environment
our core stay at a similar temperature
whereas my hands and feet can be up to
three degrees colder
meaning that i feel the cold quicker
than
over the course of the year it began to
make us question how do others
experience nature
how did our family our friends our
colleagues experience nature
how did my students experience nature
some mornings i would roll on my
sleeping bag and walk straight from the
woods into a windowless lecture theater
to discuss with students how to conserve
and govern the natural world
and there we were talking about the
importance of protecting nature
that is out there
elsewhere
away from us
but these students know their stuff i
mean they could probably tell you the
latter name of birch
bachelor
the
number of birch pieces are across the
world 46 approximately
the geographical range that it covers
the cooler temperate regions of the
northern hemisphere right the way around
the globe
it’s global economic value
yeah
that one i’ll have to get back to you on
despite all this knowledge
birch or birch bark wouldn’t really mean
anything
what is happening in the classroom is
symptomatic of what is happening on a
larger scale
how in the space of 200 years has the
majority of humankind become so
disconnected
in the pursuit of progress we have
benefited found comfort extended our
lives
but in doing so we are losing touch with
planet earth
we’re living beyond our means
and destroying our home
it’s a double whammy
first all the beauty
intrinsic value
life support functions
ecosystem services
and millions of years of complex
ecological webs of evolution are
disappearing
second
our own connection
with nature seems irretrievably lost
it can be depressing
especially when you realize that
biodiversity loss and disconnect from
nature are intrinsically linked
the feeling is overwhelming
the feeling that you are part of a
problem that is so big that whatever you
do it is not good enough
was there anything that we could do
other than preaching about the
importance of protecting planet earth
our wild year gave us a glimpse of how
we might be able to make a difference
we could rewild our teaching
on our first course we simply took a
small group of university students to
the woods for three days
we invited them to engage with the
environment
we looked for animal tracks built a
natural shelter
nothing revolutionary about it
in fact
99.99
of human evolutionary history
was spent in close interaction with
nature
so it’s only a matter of reconnection
relocating
what’s inside us already
we had an idea that connecting with a
local environment might cause a bit of a
perception shift
but the connections that the students
made went far beyond our expectations
they saw links to much deeper aspects of
their learning
as one student put it
now i understand why i am studying
now that’s not bad for three days in the
field compared to four years in a
lecture theatre
encouraged we developed ideas further
earlier this year we put together a
four-week course
where students took on theory and
practice in equal measure
together we practiced fire making in the
woods
we interweaved that with theories on the
cultural meaning of fire
and considered the consequences of fire
use in relation to environmental
sustainability
we engage with nature through our bodies
emphasize technique over technology
knowledge over projection
we got our hands and feet dirty
we slowed
down
not only did we see happier
more creative students with more thirst
for insight
their learning curves were steeper and
theoretical understandings deeper
plus
they really started to love birchbark
their connection with nature seemed to
change
they reached an emotional impassioned
more ecological perspective
now the value of nature-based relational
learning is receiving
increasing attention in academic
literature
and for those who practice it the
approach is entirely logical
in the past 10 years we’ve seen
movements across europe that promote
play and engagement in outdoor
environments
nurseries are placing babies outside to
sleep and forest schools where learning
is encouraged in outdoor spaces are on
the rise
but what happens as children grow up
do we suddenly lose the need to engage
are we suddenly able to develop skills
based on theoretical learning alone
this seems to be the consensus in most
higher education courses
however i don’t know about you but
going to a dentist or a doctor who only
read about treating patients
i’d be worried
in the context of today’s global
environmental crisis we need to rethink
education
and the people that have convinced us
most of that are our students
so we wanted to give some of our closing
comments to them
those that have taken part in the
courses we have run
this is what they had to say
i look differently at the world around
me
i see what i want my life to look like
in the future
i understand that i am part of a larger
story
i feel
very
calm
i feel
more alive
it is time for educational approaches at
all levels to change
for students and teachers across the
board regardless of discipline
socioeconomic status
or age
to be stimulated to reconnect with
nature
it is time for all of us to use our
heads
hearts
and hands
to engage with the natural world
so when you see a birch tree in a forest
in a park or in the small square of
earth sandwiched in the concrete outside
your front door
reach out
and let that tree light a fire within
[Applause]