We’re ALL in the Wild: Inclusive, creative ways to support young people to discover local outdoor spaces.

The purpose of this paper is to encourage a critical conversation about opportunities for learning in local outdoor spaces that are accessible to a range of abilities and interests. It was written before the global Covid-19 pandemic, which further highlighted disparities between those who have access to nearby accessible greenspaces and those who do not. The discussion presented here is broader than our response to Covid-19, and is focused on the need for reflective practice. This is based on findings from my doctoral research, which took a transdisciplinary, storied approach to explore young people’s relationships with nature (Hayes and Prince, 2019). Transdisciplinarity draws on knowledge from disciplines relevant to specific research issues (Leavy, 2016) and views knowledge-building and dissemination as a holistic process that requires innovation and flexibility. It thrives on creativity, looking at, and thinking about things in a different way, with the purpose of doing things differently. As educators, it is important to reflect on what we do, why we do it, what it is that we are trying to achieve and with whom. One way to do this is through critically creative conversations - with ourselves (through reflection) and with others - as I am doing in this paper. Before reading further, please think about an adventure you had outdoors as a child. Where did you go - how local was it to where you lived? What did you do? Who was with you - what was their role? What was your inspiration for doing this – why did you go outside? Please hold on to these reflections on your own experiences as we move on to consider the experiences of those who participated in my research.