November 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 42

Urban Rewilding
" Close your eyes for a moment and picture a place from
childhood that's extremely meaningful, " directed Opening
Session keynote speaker Dr. Scott Sampson. " Imagine
what it looks like, feels like, who you're there with,
what the smells are. "
By an almost unanimous show of
hands, Dr. Scott, host and science advisor
of the Emmy-nominated PBS KIDS television series " Dinosaur Train " and author
of How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and
Science of Falling in Love with Nature, illustrated how, for a large number in the audience, that extremely meaningful childhood
place involves the outdoors. The audience
largely consisted of Baby Boomers/Generation Xers who remember enjoying
abundant, unstructured outdoor playtime
as kids. For many of today's youth, those
childhood places will look much different.
We all know the importance of con40 Parks & Recreation

necting children with nature and the outdoors. But, we hear it so often that, like
" global warming " or " climate change, "
the reference begins to lose its urgency.
With that simple opening exercise, Dr.
Scott deftly laid out the " crisis " that the
world is headed toward if we don't get
kids and communities connected to nature. Imagine 25 years from now, he posits, how many hands would be raised in
response to the same question about a
meaningful childhood place involving the
outdoors. " If people don't spend any time
outside, why are they going to care about
their local places let alone the national

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parks in the distance, " he asked.
Dr. Scott suggests that " urban rewilding " in our cities and town is what's needed to head off this crisis. Rewilding is a
term usually used in connection with reintroducing an apex predator into an ecosystem in an attempt to restore balance.
A familiar example of this top-down approach to restoring balance would be the
efforts to return wolves to Yellowstone
Park. Urban rewilding is a bottom up approach that starts with the simple act of
planting mostly native plants. They are
critical to attracting native insects, which
in turn attract birds and various animals
back to the local ecosystem. And, if we
do urban rewilding right, cities could become places where nature is welcome.
And once that happens, we need to help
children develop NEW eyes to see nature: to notice it, engage with it - play is
an important way for kids to engage with
nature and it also allows them to gain
some experience with risk-taking, while
developing a sense of wonder about it.
This movement to " rewild " or " wild "
children touches on all three NRPA Pillars - Conservation, Health and Wellness and Social Equity. However, it's a
movement that requires big thinking about
what we want the future to look like and
for each community that future will look
different. It also will require deep collaboration among multiple organizations that
bring their various areas of expertise, each
doing their part to achieve the end goal of
successful, thriving communities. " We're
at a juncture where the decisions we and
the next generation make will determine
the course of this planet for thousands of
years to come, " Dr. Scott noted. He then
challenged us to go out into our communities and think about what those collaborations could be, look like and grow into,
and to think big because " that's where
success resides. "
Note: To listen to Dr. Scott's presentation in
its entirety, visit http://parks.nrpa.org/conference2016/about/resources-handouts.

November 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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