2022 Youth Nature Programs
Help us shape the programs to best suit your needs – Update coming soon
Building on the 2021 Empowering Youth for Junction Creek pilot program, we wanted to hear what the community would like to see included in the 2022 nature-programs and Nature Discovery Backpacks to reflect the interest of youth in your community and help increase their curiosity and engagement with the surrounding environment and local species. This past February, we facilitated brainstorming workshops with youth groups and public information sessions in each target community to gain feedback and help us get a better understanding of the interests of local youth. Stay tuned for the results!
Interested in getting involved with and/or supporting the 2022 Empowering Youth for Junction Creek Program? Please fill out this online form to help us understand your interests and capacity to help.
Empowering Youth for Junction Creek Program – REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
Are you a teen interested in learning about Junction Creek and the environment in your neighbourhood, while making a positive impact in your community? We are excited to announce the return of a FREE Empowering Youth for Junction Creek program led by youth for youth!
This year, the Empowering Youth for Junction Creek program consisted of weekly 2-hour sessions from July 5th to September 1st in 3 target communities in N’Swakamok/ Greater Sudbury: Lively, downtown/Flour Mill, and Garson. We also decided two include two additional sessions scheduled for Sunday, September 18th and Sunday, October 2nd. Youth 10-18 years of age from all over N’Swakamok/ Greater Sudbury are encouraged to register.
Can’t make it to all the program sessions, that’s okay! You can pick which sessions you are interested in when you fill out a registration form.
The program is welcoming to all backgrounds and levels of experience and is designed to give teens a chance to explore and connect with nature in a variety of ways, share their voice, and interact with like-minded individuals. Participants will gain knowledge and tools about local ecosystems, conservation and sustainability.
Participants will also receive take-home resources and activities to explore independently with their newly learned skills! Best of all, they will become a local steward and help make a difference in their community all while getting the opportunity to gain volunteer hours, learn about local nature, and have fun!
Interested in learning more about your JCSC program facilitators? Check out their profiles here.
The program will introduce participants to local experts, Knowledge Holders and leaders in the community, all while engaging in fun and educational activities ranging from:
- Birding along Junction Creek: click here for the session overview
- Guided nature hikes
- Invasive species identification and removal – click here for the session overview
- The regreening of Sudbury and Junction Creek
- Reptile Tracking
- Water sampling and benthic bug collection/identification
- Litter cleanups along the creek
- Nature and art: Click here for the Art and Nature session overviews & facilitator profiles
- Climate Change in Sudbury: Click here for our Climate Change in Sudbury session overview and facilitator’s profile
Click here to check out the EYJC program calendar and stay tuned for updates!
SEPTEMBER BASIC OUTDOOR SKILLS SESSION
On Sunday, September 18th we are holding a Basic Outdoor Skills session at Lake Laurentian Conservation Area! Participants will have the opportunity to learn introductory outdoor skills from a certified outdoor guide. Be prepared the next time you go exploring/camping and try your hand at activities such as fire starting, cooking over an open flame, leave no trace camping, shelter set-up, outdoor safety and more.
Check out the EYJC Basic Outdoor Skills Session Overview & Facilitator Profile.
OCTOBER FIELD TRIP
We have scheduled a field trip on Sunday October 2nd from 12:00pm – 3:00pm to Manidoo’s Bineshii Dreams (MBD) collective arts and edible forest space in Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, Ontario. Manidoo Bineshiinh is an entrepreneur who founded Manidoo Bineshii Dreams (MBD) with her father and promotes healing and connection by returning to land-based living and arts.
Youth will be participating in sustainable land living and talking about the importance of land and water preservation. Participants will also have the opportunity to help harvest the gardens, assist with fall planting and preparing the gardens for the spring harvest, explore the space and make personal connections with the land before leaving.
We are so excited for the opportunity to visit such a welcoming and inspiring space, that this field trip will be longer than our regular sessions. We have arranged for a school bus to pick up participants starting at 10:30am in Garson, and including stops in the Flour Mill, and Lively. The school bus will then be dropping participants off at the same location they were picked up at. Please see the schedule below for the approximate pick up and drop off times.
Note: The space is off–grid living so there will be NO electricity or running water. There are bathrooms at the location and water for hand washing. Stay tuned for more information about the field trip activities!
To register for our field trip to Manidoo Bineshii Dreams, click here.
Need a ride to EYJC sessions? This July and August, we worked with Sudbury Transit to provide free public transit on session days during! If you are interested in attending our September session and require transportation, please contact us! We are more than happy to arrange a ride for you from a central location through a local transportation service at no cost.
Support Youth in Conservation
We are also seeking community support to help make the program a great success and to offer participants the best possible resources to kick-start their journey as the next generation of environmental stewards. You can support the program in the form of in-kind donations, becoming a youth mentor, monetary donations, and/or Sponsor a Youth for $100. Review our letter of request for more details.