o What: Nature Play Summit, inaugural event bringing together leaders in parks, environmental education and health care to address “nature deficit” in children of all ages. Author Richard Louv will deliver keynote address over lunch.
o Where: Vancouver Convention Center, 301 W. Sixth St.
o When: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. June 22.
o Cost: $30 to attend the keynote address at 11:30 a.m.
o To register: Parks Foundation, 360-619-1170 or www.parksfoundation.us.
Author Richard Louv will headline the first Nature Play Summit today at the Vancouver Convention Center.
Louv, author of the 2008 book “Last Child in the Woods; Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,” will deliver the keynote address over lunch at 11:30 a.m. The daylong event is free and open to the public, although the cost for lunch is $30.
On Saturday, volunteers sculpted a “nature play” area at a park in east Vancouver.
The idea is to encourage children to explore outside, using their imaginations and initiative to interact with their natural surroundings. The area at Leroy Haagen Memorial Community Park includes log walks, small bridges and native plantings.
o What: Nature Play Summit, inaugural event bringing together leaders in parks, environmental education and health care to address "nature deficit" in children of all ages. Author Richard Louv will deliver keynote address over lunch.
o Where: Vancouver Convention Center, 301 W. Sixth St.
o When: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. June 22.
o Cost: $30 to attend the keynote address at 11:30 a.m.
o To register: Parks Foundation, 360-619-1170 or www.parksfoundation.us.
Louv, in a recent interview with The Columbian, highlighted a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey that revealed young people spend 53 hours a week attuned to electronic media of one form or another.
Even though abductions are rare and the rate has dwindled over the past few decades, Louv said, endlessly repeating news coverage forges the impression of danger lurking around every corner.
“Parents are scared to death,” he said in a story published on May 25.
At the same time, Louv said, the design of many neighborhoods prevents youngsters from easily getting to a forest or stream where they might engage in unstructured play. Instead, children rely on a parent to drive them to a play date across town.
Parents may be worried about the risk of harm, but Louv said they also should think about the comparative risk of raising overweight children who have little experience learning to function independently.
“This may be the first generation with a shorter life expectancy than their parents’,” he said. “That’s a real risk.”
