Outdoor Learning Conference 2026: Grid

Welcome to the 2026 Outdoor Learning Conference

201 (Indoor Space)	205	Banff Centre Amphitheatre	Bear	Beaver	Bee	Butterfly	Chickadee	Cougar	Coyote	Deer	Eagle	Great Blue Heron	Jenny Belzberg Theatre (Bus Loop)	Kingfisher	Kinnear Centre	Kinnear Centre - Bear Sign	Kinnear Centre - Chickadee Sign	Kinnear Centre - Cougar Sign	Kinnear Centre - Moose Sign	Kinnear Centre - Otter Sign	Kinnear Centre - Owl Sign	Kinnear Centre - Raven Sign	Kinnear Patio Firepit 1	MacLab Bistro	Otter	Outdoor Learning School & Store Exhibitor Booth	Outside Kinnear Centre Front Door	Owl	Raccoon	Raven	Snail	Squirrel	Toad	Turtle	Various Locations - Check Individual Session	Vistas Dining Room

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Beading is Medicine (Additional Fee) 9:00am - 11:30am

Thinking in Pictures Outdoors: Graphic Facilitation and Visual Learning 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Outdoor Learning Movie Night (Including free popcorn!) 9:00pm - 10:00pm

LAND AND ART: Created to Create 9:00am - 11:30am

60 min Gentle Movement & Mindfulness Session 8:30pm - 9:30pm

Mountain Biking with Bikescape! (Additional Fee - Special Conference Rate) 9:00am - 12:00pm

Spaceship Earth 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Outdoor Play, Naturally 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Ways of the Bison: learning from tatâga through a two-eyed seeing perspective 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Land Based Education Guide 3:15pm - 4:30pm

La Petite Robe Rouge : écouter, comprendre, agir pour le changement : Découvrez... 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Fireside Smores 8:30pm - 10:00pm

Mapping as Story: Place, Play and Perspective in Outdoor Learning 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Beyond Access: Framing Outdoor Equity Through Daily Practice and Systemic Action 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Indigenous Mindfulness in the Classroom 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Traditional Games in the Classroom 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Scaling Nature: Harnessing Humor, Hope and Data to Re-Nature our Schools, Regene... 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Big Boat - Big Fun! Canadian Rockies Outdoor Learning Centre Voyageur Canoeing Session (Additional Fee) 8:30am - 11:00am

Outdoor Learning 101 - Fire building, Outdoor Cooking, Maps and Compasses, and more! (Additional Fee) 8:30am - 11:30am

Grounded Beginnings: A Pre-Conference Hike at Îyâ Mnathka (Additional Fee) 8:30am - 12:00pm

THE COST OF SILENCE: How Our Childhood Narratives Shape Our Presence as Educator... 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Conference Registration 9:00am - 1:00pm

Welcome and Conference Opening 1:00pm - 1:30pm

Slow Networking - Plenary Icebre... 1:30pm - 2:00pm

Indigenous Ways of Knowing Keynote 2:00pm - 2:45pm

Break 2:45pm - 3:15pm

Workshop Session A 3:14pm - 4:30pm

Afternoon Social and Exhibitor Fair 4:30pm - 6:00pm

TEDStyle Talks 7:30pm - 8:30pm

Thursday Night Social Events 8:29pm - 10:00pm

Wellness Forest Bathing Walk 9:00am - 11:30am

Grounding in the Rockies - A Nature Immersion Wellness Workshop 10:30am - 12:00pm

Forest Play 9:00am - 11:30am

Land as a Storyteller: Banff Townsite Hike 9:00am - 11:30am

Wading into Water Health: A Hands-On Macroinvertebrate Field Experience 9:00am - 11:30am

Making Nature Awareness Bracelets and cordage from Cattails - If trees are the lungs of the planet, then wetlands are its kidneys- Building student awareness of... 9:00am - 11:30am

Bridging Nature and Innovation: Engaging with the Land Through Birds,Technology, and Art 9:00am - 11:30am

Bringing Back the Community Walk 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Indigenous Storytelling 8:30pm - 10:00pm

Mingle at MacLab 8:30pm - 10:00pm

From Anxiety to Action: EcoAnxiety as a Tool for Action 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Author Signing with Launa Purcell & Leona Prince 11:30am - 1:00pm

Author Signing with Lauren MacLean & Megan Zeni 4:30pm - 6:00pm

Adaptive Equipment Showcase: Expanding Access to Outdoor Learning 9:00am - 11:30am

When the Land Speaks: Slowing Down to Listen, Feel and Connect 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Investigating Mathematics Outdoors: Connecting Mathematics to Place, Community,... 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Going Beyond “Nature Connection” – Building a Robust Framework for Your Outdoor... 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Designing a living corner: Where nature and learning thrive 3:15pm - 4:30pm

STEM from Here: Growing Future Educators in Parks 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Literacy That Connects: Evidence-Based Literacy Instruction in Outdoor Spaces 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Math Lives Here: Exploring Shape, Space, and Story on the Land 3:15pm - 4:30pm

Pre-Conference Field Experiences (Optional) 7:59am - 12:00pm

Dinner at Vistas (Included with Registration) - Please sign up for your preferred dinner sitting 5:29pm - 7:00pm

Dinner at Vistas (Included with Registration) - Group 1 5:30pm - 7:00pm

Dinner at Vistas (...

Dinner at Vistas (Included with Registration) - Group... 6:10pm - 7:00pm

Dinner at Vistas (Included with Registrati... 6:20pm - 7:00pm

Exit

201 (Indoor Space)	203 (Indoor Space)	205	Bear	Beaver	Bee	Butterfly	Chickadee	Cougar	Coyote	Deer	Eagle	Great Blue Heron	Kingfisher	Kinnear Centre	Kinnear Patio Firepit 1	Kinnear Patio Firepit 2	Moose	Otter	Outdoor Learning School & Store Exhibitor Booth	Outside Kinnear Centre Front Door	Owl	Porcupine	Raccoon	Raven	Snail	Squirrel	Toad	Tunnel Mountain Trailhead (Lower Parking Area)	Turtle	Vistas Dining Room

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The Waivers We Are Not Signing: Risk, Responsibility, and Decolonizing Our Appro... 11:00am - 12:15pm

Rooted in Learning: Connecting Students to Forests with Project Learning Tree Ca... 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Experiencing Outdoor Magic: A First and Essential Step to Addressing Climate Cha... 3:30pm - 4:45pm

The KAIROS Blanket Exercise (KBE) 3:30pm - 4:45pm

60 min Gentle Movement & Mindfulness Session 6:30am - 7:30am

60 min Gentle Movement & Mindfulness Session 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Being Grizzly - AKA Resilience and the Art of Torpor 11:00am - 12:15pm

The Waivers We Are Not Signing: Risk, Responsibility, and Decolonizing Our Appro... 2:00pm - 3:15pm

From Passion to Action : Inspiring Environmental Science Careers through Experie... 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Connecting to Place through Literacy 11:00am - 12:15pm

Indigenous Ways of Knowing: connecting traditional harvesting teachings to Indig... 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Wild Wellbeing: Using Conservation Education to Reduce Eco-Anxiety 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Doing Ecoliteracy by Animating the Language 11:00am - 12:15pm

The Science Behind the Stewardship Superpowers Your Students Already Have: Learn... 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Rewilding Everyday Mindfulness: A moving exploration of place, connection to nat... 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Language Arts in Nature: Enhancing Time Outdoors Using Literacy Skills 11:00am - 12:15pm

Learning by Nature: Transforming School Grounds for Health, Conservation, and Ed... 2:00pm - 3:15pm

The Sending PReschoolers OUTside Study: How Early Childhood Education Setting In... 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Stories with the Land - Shared with Fire 11:00am - 12:15pm

The Craft of Fire: Traditional Techniques for Modern Educators 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Queer Ecology and 2SLGBTQI+ Inclusion in Outdoor Education 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Building Outdoor Routines That Help ADHD Learners Thrive 11:00am - 12:15pm

How to fall in love with a tree (and why we should!) 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Art in the Garden: Mindfulness, Joy, and Connection with the Land 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Shared Roots, Different Branches: Interconnected Histories of Survival and Resis... 11:00am - 12:15pm

Caribou and the Classroom - Bringing Wildlife Education to Life! 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Land Based Education Guide 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Bricks, Branches & Big Ideas: Building a Foundation for Outdoor Learning 11:00am - 12:15pm

Indigenous Mindfulness in the Classroom 2:00pm - 3:15pm

We Are All Gifted: Culturally Grounded Strategies for Holistic Learning 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Connecting and Collaborating with colleagues around Outdoor Learning 11:00am - 12:15pm

Class Dismissed (to the Outdoors!) 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Learning Through the Land: Traditional Métis Games and Movement Pedagogy 3:30pm - 4:45pm

What is Environmental Learning? 11:00am - 12:15pm

See, Think, Write Outdoors: Using journaling strategies to reveal curricular con... 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Supporting Health and Well-being through People, Places, and Processes 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Ways of the Bison: learning from tatâga through a two-eyed seeing perspective 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Maptivism: Designing Citizen Science for Climate Change Education 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Morning Gratitude

Environmental Learning Keynotes 9:00am - 10:00am

Break + Reflection 10:00am - 11:00am

Workshop Session B 10:59am - 12:15pm

Workshop Session C 1:59pm - 3:15pm

Break

Workshop Session D 3:29pm - 4:45pm

Networking and Connection Time 4:45pm - 5:30pm

Find Friends for Friday Food! 6:00pm - 10:00pm

Musical Concert and Dance Party: The Cost of Silence 8:00pm - 11:00pm

Traditional Games in the Classroom 11:00am - 12:15pm

Discussing Disability Outdoors – A SPROUTable World Café 2:00pm - 3:15pm

If I had a Hammer: Woodworking with Young Children 11:00am - 12:15pm

Rooted Renewal: Sustaining the Energy to Teach and Thrive 11:00am - 12:15pm

Swampy Cree Total Physical Response (TPR) Moswa-moose teachings 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Mapping Our Place: Exploring Nature Journaling Through Observation and Curiosity 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Stories that Root Us: Picture Books for Environmental Learning 11:00am - 12:15pm

Building Climate and Water Literacy: Project WET Canada Certification Workshop 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Walking With Story: Integrating Indigenous Literature, Foraging, and Outdoor Sci... 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Author Signing with Rachel Tidd & Jacob Rodenburg 8:00am - 9:00am

Author Signing with Court Rustemeyer & Gillian Judson 10:00am - 11:00am

Author Signing with Julie Gagnon & Julie Pellissier-Lush 1:00pm - 2:00pm

Author Signing with Karen Lai & elin kelsey 4:45pm - 5:45pm

Walking With Story: Integrating Indigenous Literature, Foraging, and Outdoor Sci... 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Scavenger Hunts, Compass Courses, Maps and More: engaging your students with cur... 11:00am - 12:15pm

Teaching Environmental Histories: Student inquiries on sustainability, community... 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Imaginative Ecological Education: Interweaving the Body, Emotion and Imagination... 3:30pm - 4:45pm

The Kapabamayak Achaak Healing Forest, a sacred outdoor space for learning and h... 11:00am - 12:15pm

The Little Red Dress: Listening, Understanding, Acting for Change - Discover how... 2:00pm - 3:15pm

A Sense of Wonder: Nature Journaling for Mindfulness and Ecological Connection 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Indigenous Ways of Knowing: connecting traditional harvesting teachings to Indig... 11:00am - 12:15pm

Exploring access to nature for wellbeing using photography to engage youth in co... 2:00pm - 3:15pm

OUT of the rut and...

Grounding Education within the Health Professions through Connection with Land:... 11:00am - 12:15pm

Embracing The Great Wide Open: Building Teacher Capacity Outdoors 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Wildflower Wisdom: Teaching Ecology, Teamwork, and Stewardship through Urban Res... 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Sensory explorations in the forest 11:00am - 12:15pm

Seasonal Storytelling: Building Early Literacy Through Nature-Based Play 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Climate Change Learning: Moving from Anxiety to Agency 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Learning From the Land: Dene Ways of Knowing 11:00am - 12:15pm

Taking Math Outdoors 2:00pm - 3:15pm

From Pages to the Forest: Connecting Curriculum, Nature and Curiosity in Upper E... 3:30pm - 4:45pm

How Food Can Connect us to Climate and Place 11:00am - 12:15pm

The Place Teaches 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Terre: Vaisseau spatial 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Sacred Buffalo (Tunnel) Mountain Hike *Unguided* 6:00am - 8:00am

Par où commencer: trucs et idées pour enseigner à l’extérieur 11:00am - 12:15pm

Stepping Outside for Change: Outdoor Learning to Build Environmental Agency 2:00pm - 3:15pm

Accessible Nature: Practical Tools for Inclusive Outdoor Education 3:30pm - 4:45pm

Breakfast at Vistas (included in registration) 7:30am - 8:30am

Lunch at Vistas - Please register for your preferred lunch sittin... 12:14pm - 1:15pm

Lunch at Vistas - Group 1 12:15pm - 1:15pm

Lunch at Vistas - Group 2 12:30pm - 1:15pm

Lunch at Vistas - Group 3 12:45pm - 1:15pm

Exit

201 (Indoor Space)	203 (Indoor Space)	205	208	Banff Centre	Banff Centre Amphitheatre	Kinnear Centre	Kinnear Centre - Bear Sign	Kinnear Centre - Chickadee Sign	Kinnear Centre - Otter Sign	Kinnear Centre - Owl Sign	Kinnear Centre - Snail Sign	Kinnear Patio Firepit 1	Main Plenary Room - Kinnear Centre	Outdoor Learning School & Store Exhibitor Booth	Vistas Dining Room

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Literacy, Math, Science in the Outdoors Collaborative Learning Panels 9:45am - 11:00am

Early Years Collaborative Learning Panels 9:45am - 11:00am

60 min Gentle Movement & Mindfulness Session 7:30am - 8:30am

Youth Voices Collaborative Learning Panels 9:45am - 11:00am

French Collaborative Learning Panels 9:45am - 11:00am

Checkout of Accommodations + Free Time 8:30am - 9:30am

Experiential Learning & Mentorship Collaborative Learning Panels 9:45am - 11:00am

Soapstone Carving 2:00pm - 5:30pm

Collaborative Learning Panels 9:44am - 10:59am

Health and Wellbeing Keynotes, Closing Circle & Prizegiving! 11:00am - 12:15pm

Optional Post Conf...

Wellness Forest Bathing Walk 2:00pm - 4:30pm

Grounding in the Rockies - A Nature Immersion Wellness Workshop 2:30pm - 5:00pm

Water, Community and Connection 2:00pm - 5:30pm

Being a Good Relative through Forest Bathing 2:00pm - 5:30pm

Observation to Insight: A Nature Journaling Approach 2:00pm - 5:30pm

DEI in the Outdoors Collaborative Learning Panel 9:45am - 11:00am

Morning Gratitude

Land-Based Learning Collaborative Learning Panel 9:45am - 11:00am

Author Signing with Karine Cere & Marie-Pascale Brown 8:30am - 9:30am

Breakfast at Vistas 7:00am - 9:15am

Outdoor Learning Conference 2026

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