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Staff Feature – Toronto Community Learning

January 11, 2023

On November 18, 2022, TRCA’s Raja Raudsepp and Jasmine Thompson received the Watershed Interpreters’ Network’s (WIN) Innovation Award recognizing their original and inspiring work with the NatureHood Program.

The WIN award on display at Tommy Thompson Park

The WIN award on display at Tommy Thompson Park.

Raja and Jasmine were nominated by Keren Bromberg, who is a Senior Coordinator, Community Outreach at Credit Valley Conservation and a past TRCA employee.

The WIN award celebrates projects, partnerships, and programs demonstrating excellence in conservation education. This year’s award recognizes programs that address eco-anxiety and support mental well-being through innovative programming and pedagogy.

The recipient is voted on by WIN members at the annual Rekindle the Sparks Conservation Education Conference.

Traditional conservation education programs typically connect people to nature through conventional pathways such as nature games, hikes, or activities like tree planting. TRCA’s NatureHood program takes an innovative approach by connecting children, newcomers, families, and marginalized communities to nearby nature with the goal of improving mindfulness in daily life.

Jasmine Thompson in Walk With Us Through Toronto’s NatureHoods

The program is designed to connect people to natural spaces in their communities, helping them to see themselves as part of the environment, and to create opportunities for mindfulness. Raja and Jasmine’s guided “mindfulness moments” are woven throughout the program and teach people to use a variety of mindfulness tools to enhance personal well-being and connectedness to nature.

A key outcome of this program is reframing nature as accessible to all, and emphasizing how people can do this at home, in other greenspaces, and with family and friends.

Raja Raudsepp in TRCA At Home with Nature video - Become a Nature Champion

Raja Raudsepp in Nature in Your Classroom – Become a Nature Champion

The NatureHood program is a partnership between Nature Canada and TRCA, along with other regional education providers across the country.

Since 2020, TRCA’s NatureHood program has operated under different formats – virtual, in-person, and live-streaming – and has engaged 475 people.

In 2022, TRCA focused the program at Tommy Thompson Park, with field trips customized for different demographics, ages, and classes – always with the thread of mindfulness integrated into the experience.

Congratulations to Raja and Jasmine on this award, and for building a fantastic program that strengthens the connection between mental well-being and time spent in nature, wherever you live.