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]