Squamish Green Star

Carl Halvorson Squamish Green Star - Experiences in nature

Squamish Community Green Star Program
Posted by: Kimberley Armour, Connecting Communities Consulting
Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Learning how to change our action s to support sustainability requires a connection to the natural world. The smell of rustling leaves under foot, the sight of salmon filling our streams and channels, bears feasting on autumn banks - the earth’s beauty is a masterpiece that is continually evolving. To understand how we fit into this process of evolution, we need immerse ourselves, and understand how the natural cycles work. Thing is human interaction with the earth is causing the earth’s natural evolution to cycle in fast forward, and anything that doesn’t move at our break neck pace, is left to the wayside. I remember hearing once that if we imagine the history of earth taking place in an hour; humans have only existed on this planet for the last few seconds of that hour. Environmental educators often speak of a disconnect between our actions and that of the natural world, and suggest that if we foster a connection to the natural world, then our appreciation for the natural world will factor into our decisions and behaviours

Leading Environmental Educator David Sobol (1996) argues that if we want to change our generational patterns of behaviour, perhaps we need to change the way we framing our approach to environmental education. Environmental messages often focus on saving the natural world from human induced destruction. This message has been ringing though our school systems for sometime now. Sobol argues “If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, then let us allow them to love the Earth before we ask them to save it.” Carl Halvorson, Property Manager at the North Vancouver Outdoor School (NVOS), located in Paradise Valley, has been creating opportunities for children to “love the earth” for over 25 years.

According to Carl’s co-worker, who wrote his glowing Green Star nomination:
“Carl takes tremendous efforts to create a "kid-friendly" experiential campus, always seeking innovative ways to demonstrate sustainable best practices and finding opportunities for participants to explore and experience for themselves, nature's outdoor classroom. By his actions, Carl demonstrates true land stewardship. He is integral to the success of the school's nature-based programs and activities that serve over 11,000 children, youth and adults annually, from the local community, the Sea to Sky corridor, lower mainland, across the Province and beyond.“

Last week Carl and I walked along the dyke at the outdoor school, from the kid focused observation points that Carl designed he showed me the restored salmon channels alive with spawning pinks. Carl has been a driving force behind the restoration and maintenance of over 9km of spawning habitat that acts as breeding ground for the salmon that Carl and colleagues rear at the NVOS hatchery.
Carl, born and raised in Squamish, shared with me stories about playing in the estuary as a child. He also spoke about his experience as a logger, selecting trees for harvest, and then as a log home building, selecting trees for their fit, and now as he manages the grounds at the outdoor school he views trees as a way to get people to connect to the forest. In all of his great work at the outdoor school Carl is always thinking about the young audience he is building for, incorporating measures of fun, function, silliness, and learning into his designs and ideas. After often riding his bike to and from the outdoor school Carl doesn’t just call it a day there. Carl makes a conscious effort to connect with community groups, and is a wealth of knowledge on the happenings about Squamish. Carl is involved with, and follows the work of many organizations and planning committees in town such as the Squamish River Watershed Society, the Stream keepers, the Trail Society, the Historical Society the Brackendale Farmers Institute, to list just a few. For his work connecting children to the natural environment, and his endless commitment to the community wellbeing here in Squamish, Carl is this weeks Squamish Green Star.

Reference:
Sobel, D., 1996. Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the heart of nature education. The Orion Society, Nature Literacy Series. Great Barrington Mass.