Our Work

Conservation Education

Photo Credit: Christopher Landry

THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS TO GET LEARNING WITH CPAWS SOUTHERN ALBERTA! 

Here at CPAWS, we believe that EVERYONE can benefit from nature. People of all abilities, genders, ethnicities, racial identities, religions, ages, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic classes have a right to connect to nature. All identities are welcome in CPAWS education experiences. We want to help you learn about all the gifts that nature has to offer to you, your students, your family, and your community. We want to support your personal and collective conservation actions to help you give back to nature.

CPAWS Southern Alberta aims to help develop a sense of equity, citizenship, and environmental responsibility through sharing and amplifying wholistic knowledge, inviting folks to experience and connect to nature, and by supporting and making space for diverse voices.

Since 1997, we have engaged over 185,000 Albertans with conservation education experiences. Our interactive experiences provide indoor and outdoor learning for youth and adults alike, including fun, educational hiking, science-based activities, gamified learning, workshops, and reconciliation teachings, all of which build a strong understanding of Alberta's environment and a lifelong connection to nature. Through our inclusive experiences, Albertans of all identities can explore regional ecological issues, develop an ethic of environmentalism, and gain the hands-on tools to protect our province's wild spaces and species.

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VIEW THE THEMES & TOPICS AVAILABLE TO GROUPS OF ALL AGES

Youth Experiences

Indoor and outdoor nature experiences for K-12 students.

Professional Learning

Nature learning for educators and community and corporate groups.

INDOOR EXPERIENCES

We will visit you in your classroom or community space. Hands-on activities, visuals, and FUN await!

GUIDED HIKE

Our expert guides bring interpretive stories, fun activities, and curriculum linked themes while taking you on a hike in wilderness or urban park! Hikes are 3-4 hours.

GUIDED COMMUNITY WALK

We will meet you in your local community and show you how you can make the most of the green spaces right at your doorstep! Walks are 1-2 hours.

What our participants are saying

  • Big for me, were the connections made between the grasslands and student mental health and wellness—so strong and surprising. I loved it. I didn’t know we were going there, and so how Sheri tied that in was beautiful. The mutual impact you can have on that which you love, the creation of advocacy. That was really strong. It is so essential that we expose them not to just being out there, but show them interactions, their impacts, their role in the ecosystem’s story. That’s where meaning comes from, and that’s where them caring for the grasslands will come from too.

    – Amanda Klager, Grade 7 & 8 teacher, RancheView School

  • CPAWS Southern Alberta has adapted their well-established education programs specifically to our clientele’s diverse capabilities, interests and sensitivities; making them fun, interactive and universally inclusive. Programs ranging from winter walks in Cochrane to virtual, nature emersion experiences have been very well received and attended by newcomers keen to learn as much as they can about safe recreational practices, environmental stewardship and the sheer abundance of outdoor opportunities awaiting their passion, participation and support. We are pleased to have our community leaders specifically calling to request the CPAWS programs

    –- Fleeha Ahmad, Program Coordinator, Rocky View Immigrant Services.

  • Thank you CPAWS for the best day EVER! I loved it! I wish I could do the same thing all over again a million times!!

    – Grade 4 Student, Livingstone School, Lundbreck, AB

  • Connecting students to indigenous ways of knowing is really important, and CPAWS programming makes those connections. And that is awesome.

    – Liesl Leishman, Grade 6 Teacher, Livingstone School, Lundbreck, AB

  • Thank you for showing me the grasslands. There were pretty views and so many stories from so many people. I really loved it. See you next time. CPAWS rocks!

    – Grade 4 Student, Livingstone School

CONNECT WITH NATURE

Indoor and Outdoor Experiences for Everyone

Encourage Youth to Connect With Their Natural Landscape

CPAWS Southern Alberta experiences fit in directly with the topics that you and your students are learning in the classroom and help them build Alberta Education's 8 core competences.

Our fun and interactive programs are perfect to get youth excited about science and nature.

EXPLORE YOUTH EXPERIENCES
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Engage Your Community Group

Our programs focus on improving environmental literacy. However, depending on our group, we strive to bring in other elements into our programs. When presenting to New Canadian groups, we work to incorporate English language learning into the program. We work to help educators better communicate environmental literacy with their students, and how to motivate their students to take action. For corporate groups, libraries, community centres, and other community groups, we engage staff and community members with conservation topics relevant and interesting to participants. We look forward to working with your group!
EXPLORE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
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Bring Nature Home

Bring Nature Home is a unique educational toolkit that helps learners of all ages engage in environmental education from anywhere. This toolkit includes some of CPAWS Southern Alberta’s very own tried and tested games and activities, as well as other online resources to support learning.

Bring Nature Home also provides resources for educators who are looking for ways to incorporate environmental themes into their students’ learning. We’re also excited to introduce our Climate Game Changers Toolkit designed for adults and youth to guide their climate literacy learning!

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Photo Credit: Christopher Landry

 

TAKE ACTION

ChangeMakers

A community inspired to take action on behalf of our Earth.

Empowering People. Transforming Landscapes. Creating Change.

ChangeMakers is an online community celebrating real-world eco-actions and eco-heroes from around the globe and inside your neighbourhood.

Here we empower and encourage - lean on and learn on.

Here we are all teachers, all trying; modelling, marveling, and moving forward!

Learn more and register today at  wearechangemakers.ca to access exclusive conservation e-courses.

Interested in receiving more nature wellness tips, environmental action ideas, and nature play lesson activities? Then you’ll love our CPAWS Education Newsletter for educators, caregivers, and anyone else interested in learning more about nature!
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