Through the Learning Outside Project, we:
- Provide curriculum-aligned activities and resources that make it easy to take lessons outside.
- Offer guidance and support to help teachers use outdoor classrooms and natural spaces—on school grounds or nearby.
- Inspire students to become engaged learners and environmental stewards by experiencing nature firsthand.
Bring Learning to Life with the Learning Outside Project
The Learning Outside Project is the Conservation Council’s educational outreach initiative, designed to help New Brunswick’s children reconnect with nature—and we’re here to support you, the educators, in making it happen!
We believe that every child deserves the opportunity to learn, play, and explore in nature. That’s why we work with teachers like you to integrate outdoor learning into everyday lessons—across various subjects and grade levels. Whether it’s science, math, language arts, or history, nature offers a dynamic, hands-on classroom that inspires curiosity, creativity, and a deeper connection to the world around us.
Children today spend less time outdoors than previous generations, and we’re here to change that. Join us in bringing learning to life—outside!
WHO WE ARE
Facilitators
Danielle Smith, Director of Education and Engagement
Danielle Smith is the Conservation Council’s Director of Education and Engagement. She has a Master of Science in Forestry with a focus on Ecology and Wildlife Management. Danielle has over 15 years of experience in the Educational and Environmental Sectors. She was responsible for the creation, development and direction of the UNB Sustainability office.
Danielle is also a professional environmentally engaged fiber artist. She uses art as a mechanism to engage communities in conversations around the impacts of climate change to create a sense of wonder and to urge people to connect with their communities and the natural world.
Annie Furman, Education Coordinator
Annie Furman is the Conservation Council’s Education Coordinator. She has a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Performance and Sustainability. Originally from Upstate New York, Annie has worked in Environmental and Outdoor Education throughout Canada and the United States. She is passionate about building community resilience through creative, place-based engagements.
Annie is also a professional climate artist. Her work has been performed internationally through Climate Change Theatre Action, and she is a published author whose poems and short stories tackle climate anxiety, multispecies narratives, and just energy transitions. She enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, and horseback riding.
Erinn Sharpe, Engagement Coordinator
Erinn Sharpe is the Conservation Council’s Engagement Coordinator. Raised on the Fundy coast, Erinn has an immense connection to the freshwater and saltwater ecosystems that make up New Brunswick. A BAA graduate of the University of New Brunswick, Erinn’s educational focus was on environmental intersectionality and how media plays a major role in how New Brunswickers are informed about their local ecosystems.
Their previous work with Ocean Wise Conservation Association, connected them with fantastic facilitators across Canada and worked with youth to foster a sense of reciprocity with the land they call home. Having programmed throughout the Wabanakik region, Erinn brings a collective approach to environmentalism with a strong respect for traditional knowledge. A lifelong learner, Erinn is always eager to connect through shared and differential experiences on this land.
An avid queer outdoors person and gardener, in the summer they can often be found birding, biking trails or kayaking through New Brunswick various waterways. Winter is spent cross country and downhill skiing.
Matt Abbott, Marine Program Director
Matt Abbott has been with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick since 2010, and is the Marine Program Director and Fundy Baykeeper. Matt works out of the Conservation Council’s marine conservation office in St. Andrews. Matt works to find practical and creative solutions to the complex environmental challenges facing New Brunswick’s coastal ecosystems and communities.
These challenges all occur in the context of climate change and range from industrial pollution to depletion of marine species and inadequate environmental laws (or insufficient enforcement of existing laws). Solutions range from advocacy campaigns to policy engagement to direct restoration efforts. Matt welcomes pollution reports by email.
Partners
In order to deliver the best programming we can, CCNB collaborates with many other organisations in New Brunswick and beyond that share our goal of getting students engaged in learning outside.
Among others, we collaborate with and would like to acknowledge the Sustainability Education Alliance of New Brunswick (SEA-NB). CCNB is also one of the founding members of the Great Minds Think Outside program, which provides outdoor, experiential, professional development opportunities for teachers.
Our work would not be possible without support from the New Brunswick Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, and especially from the Community School Coordinators, principals, and teachers we work with.
Funders
Learning Outside is made possible by the generous support of our funders, both past and present. Thank you!
WHY
We believe that all children deserve ample opportunity to learn and explore in nature. Over the last two decades, there has been increased global awareness of the connection between a strong relationship with nature and the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of children. Equally, awareness has increased about rates of “nature-deficit disorder” among children (a term coined by author Richard Louv to describe “the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses.”)
Our Learning Outside program aims to counter nature-deficit disorder and eco-anxiety in New Brunswick children by encouraging schools to take education outdoors and use our local environment as a teaching tool.
Louv, Richard. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. Atlantic Books Ltd, 2013, p. 36.
HOW
Learning Outside supports teachers in developing and delivering curriculum-linked activities centered on environment and climate-focused outdoor, place-based learning. We offer modules on a variety of topics [link program page] that our facilitators are happy to tailor to specific curriculum learning goals. A typical session runs 45-60 minutes, which includes an introduction and warm-up, an activity or game linked to the module topic, and time for discussion, questions, and sharing.
WHERE AND HOW OFTEN
Learning Outside comes to you! Our facilitators are based in Fredericton, but are committed to bringing programs to students throughout New Brunswick. Programs are available in both English and French, and can be scheduled during any month of the school year (check out our winter modules!).
Do you have multiple teachers at your school interested in programs? We’re happy to book multiple sessions at once!