Ten Strands is proud to be a founding partner of the National Outdoor Learning Initiative (NOLI), a collective impact project focused on creating safe and healthy outdoor learning spaces at school sites, strategies for teaching and learning outdoors, and opportunities for field-based residential and day-time outdoor learning during the pandemic and beyond. Studies show that spending time outdoors is critical to student academic, physical, and mental well-being. Learn more in our policy brief.
In partnership with Green Schoolyards America, Lawrence Hall of Science, San Mateo County Office of Education, and others, the initiative was designed to support TK–12 teachers in reimagining the educational experience. Launched in 2020 to help TK–12 schools safely and equitably reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic, the initiative included over 200 subject matter experts focused on the development of free resources for districts to support taking learning outdoors as climate change and environmental justice issues increasingly disrupt student, educator, and campus life.
Below is a selection of national media coverage about NOLI:
- Schools Turn to Design Professionals as the Pandemic Mandates Collaboration With Long-Term Impacts
- Workplace Design: Creating Useful, Outdoor Spaces
- OPINION: After bracing for the worst during pandemic schooling, we found hope and value in outdoor learning
- Outdoor learning could help safely return students to campuses
- More past coverage on NOLI
In 2022, our partnership with Green Schoolyards America extended with the launch of the California Schoolyard Forest System℠, an initiative to create PK–12 public school grounds statewide that directly shade and protect students from extreme heat and rising temperatures due to climate change. Visit our current work to learn more about this and other outdoor learning initiatives.
Photo credit: Thomas Kuoh Photography
