2025 Outdoor Learning Conference
2025 Outdoor Learning Conference
Once again, we will gather together at the world-renowned Banff Centre for 3 days of professional development, idea-sharing and growth around Outdoor Learning!
Peruse our pages on the navigation bar below to get a better idea of what will be on offer (some updates still happening)!
2025 Conference Information
You are invited to attend the 2025 Outdoor Learning Conference at the world renowned Banff Centre from May 8-10th, 2025!
The overarching theme for the 2025 Outdoor Learning Conference is “Place and Pedagogy: Where Learning Happens”. This year’s Conference will continue to focus on Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Health & Wellbeing, and Environmental & Climate Change Education.
We will hear from experts in these fields through keynote presentations, panel discussions and hands-on, educational workshops. Take Me Outside, The Canadian Network for Environmental Education, Global Environmental and Outdoor Education Council, and the Outdoor Learning School & Store are proud to host this conference and hope that you are able to come and build community through inclusion, inspiration and ideas.
Meals included with conference ticket:
- Dinner Thursday
- Breakfast and Lunch Friday (Do your own dinner in Banff, Friday night)
- Breakfast Saturday
Where
Banff Centre – Banff National Park, AB
Treaty 7 Territory
When
Thursday, May 8 –
Saturday May 10, 2025
Investment
Early Bird Registration opening Fall 2024
$540 Early Bird / $475 Students
Limited subsidies available
Call for 2025 Workshops – Now Open Until Nov 17th
The Outdoor Learning Conference Program Committee invites educators, practitioners, professionals, students and allied organizations immersed in this work to submit workshop proposals relevant to evidence-based best practices, innovative programs, facilitation techniques, management issues, theories/models, research, and other strategies and resources that advance and develop our sector of outdoor learning within the education system.
The three main areas of focus for this Conference will be Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Health and Wellbeing, and Environmental and Climate Change Education.
The Program will be developed by a volunteer committee that will include representatives from the Conference Steering Committee, Take Me Outside’s Teacher Advisory Committee and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, as well as a number of other key stakeholders. The outdoor learning sector is quite diverse in terms of the work we do and our hope is to have strong program content for everyone.
Who will attend this Conference?
A mix of both rural and urban educators, practitioners, volunteers, students and elected officials, including examples such as:
- K-12 Educators
- ECE Educators
- Post-secondary Educators
- System leaders
- School administrators
- Organizational practitioners/coordinators
- Contract staff, consultants and strategic planners
- Academics and researchers
- Emerging leaders, students and new professionals
- Community organizations and staff
Call for Exhibitors and Sponsors
Partnering with us gives our delegates the opportunity to make real change in the lives of students, learners and educators in areas such as:
- Equity, diversity and inclusion
- Indigenous knowledge and perspectives
- Physical and mental well-being
- Outdoor learning
- Environmental and climate change education
- And more!
Being a sponsor and/or exhibitor allows organizations to demonstrate their commitment to students and teachers learning outside on a national stage with a nationally recognized conference. It also offers organizations and businesses a chance to interact with more than 350 delegates in the education, health, active living, and environmental and climate change education settings.
If you’re interested in joining as a sponsoring organization for the 2025 Outdoor Learning Conference, please check out our Sponsorship and Exhibitor Package, and feel free to contact us at any time at conference@takemeoutside.ca. We look forward to hearing from you!
The Conference Team will be in contact within 10 business days to follow up on all inquiries. Thank you!
Sponsor and/or Exhibitor InquiriesHosts
2024 Conference Testimonials
- “This conference and a huge and lasting impact on my outdoor learning practice. I have already started to plan various outdoor activities for my classes next school year. I have also planned to share and work with my colleagues on some of the ideas that I discovered from the various presenters. The physical nature of the workshops truly helped me to retain the ideas. Sharing with other teachers from across Canada and finding out what they are doing in their areas: what works/what doesn’t work was very informative and provided me with ideas as well as opportunities to share strategies with colleagues. The conference keynote speakers and ted-talk presenters were simply amazing! Their words and ideas were not only informative but heartfelt, authentic and emotional.”
- “I have told my superintendent that someone from our school district should attend this conference every year. It was THE best conference I’ve been to in years. It grounded me in my own practice and plans as well as opening my mind to new perspectives and understandings. I learned something new from each presentation and I was able to take a number of practical lessons back into my classroom. Thank you!”
- “The conference is scheduled at the best time of the school year. It is the jolt needed to continue all the way to the end of the year! You come back so energized! Once again this year, it was very inspiring to go and hear about what others are doing and being able to take ideas home to tweak and try. For my own practice, the impact of the conference is that it validates my efforts at school and that I am on the right track. The conference grows our school’s circle of connections. I will share that after a year of receiving massive push back and persevering regardless, going to the conference felt like going home. (Insert heart emoji here!)”
- “I left this conference feeling inspired, and it has already impacted my practice in a positive way. It made me realize that there are so many ways to get kids outside and making a meaningful connection with “nearby nature”, even if you don’t have a super cool outdoor classroom space or forest school style set up. I feel like sometimes I try too hard to “do it big”, when it is okay to start with small things that can build and build. Those little moments outside make a big difference for a child’s brain, their learning, their mental health, and in turn the Earth and climate. My school division held a get together for teachers who attended the conference to discuss resources, our learning, and next steps we can take as a division to build on this amazing momentum.”
