Rewilding
City Kids Wilderness Project
Washington, DC
City Kids Wilderness Project’s mission is to build resiliency, broaden horizons, cultivate community, and develop skills for success in DC youth through a long-term, cohort-based model that utilizes both the wilderness and the urban environment to encourage growth.
City Kids aims to inspire youth to use their personal power to shape the future of their own lives and change in the greater community. They serve DC youth (ages 11-25) in D.C. and Jackson, WY through year-round, summer, weekend, school break, after school, college access and career support, and alumni support programming.
City Kids Wilderness Project
Washington, DC
The Rewilding Collective is supporting City Kids Wilderness Project’s mission to bring D.C. youth into nature and build their sense of belonging and resiliency by focusing on these key areas.
- Educational and experiential programming in nature such as camping, hiking, backpacking, and biking, both in DC and at their summer camp in Jackson Hole, WY.
- Summer trip to Yellowstone National Park where youth can deepen their experience by engaging with conservationists and wolf conservation projects.
- High school summer internship program where 10th-12th grade Job Experience Trainees (JETs) intern and job shadow with local organizations and research projects.
- Increased mindfulness curriculum integration.
Inward Bound Mindfulness
Attleboro, MA
Inward Bound Mindfulness’s mission is to provide in-depth mindfulness programming for youth and the parents and professionals who support them. They have a vision to support future generations of heart-centered, diverse leaders who are prepared to respond to the challenges of their time with focus, resiliency, and compassion for themselves, their communities, and the global environment.
As the national leader in immersive mindfulness education, Inward Bound seeks to complement and amplify the impact of other youth programs, and to expand the value and capacity that youth-serving professionals have for sharing in-depth mindfulness experiences with youth.
Inward Bound Mindfulness
Attleboro, MA
With the support from this Conservation Nation Collective program, Inward Bound will be:
- Facilitating mindfulness day programs for City Kids Wilderness Project where participating youth will have opportunities to learn and implement mindfulness practices with the support of connections to nature and place.
- Conducting a mindfulness workshop series for the City Kids high school students mentoring or counseling the younger City Kids youth to deepen their understanding of mindfulness and how to bring these tools into their daily lives.
- Leading a City Kids staff retreat and follow-up mentoring support to build capacity around topics such as self-awareness, personal well-being, mindful communication, and compassionate leadership.
- Offering summer retreat scholarships to teens from underrepresented communities.
Yellowstone Wolf Project & Yellowstone Forever
Yellowstone National Park
The internationally acclaimed Yellowstone Wolf Project oversees research and monitoring of wolves in Yellowstone. Year-round field research on topics such as population dynamics, ecosystem impacts, and human-wolf relationships serves the park’s mission to understand and preserve native species and ecological processes and informs wolf conservation efforts worldwide.
The Yellowstone Wolf Project is supported by Yellowstone Forever, the official nonprofit partner of Yellowstone National Park, who is dedicated to protecting, preserving, and enhancing Yellowstone through education and philanthropy.
Yellowstone Wolf Project & Yellowstone Forever
Yellowstone National Park
With the support from this Rewilding Collective, the Yellowstone Wolf Project will be conducting a wolf bioacoustic study. This innovative study includes:
- Deploying autonomous recording units (ARUs) to monitor the presence and distribution of wolves across the park.
- Creating effective data collection protocols and AI models for bioacoustic research in Yellowstone and beyond.
- Providing fundamental research towards a better understanding of animal communications.
- Aiding in the growing list of tools for predator-livestock conflict mitigation.
William & Mary Institute for Integrative Conservation
Virginia
The Institute for Integrative Conservation at William & Mary is at the forefront of transformational research and education aimed at solving critical conservation issues that impact global biodiversity.
Working closely with a network of conservation partners, the Institute integrates expertise from across disciplines and sectors, blends diverse knowledge systems, and fosters collaboration between academia, public and private sectors, Indigenous peoples, and local communities.
William & Mary Institute for Integrative Conservation
Virginia
Conservation Nation has continued its innovative partnership with the William & Mary Institute for Integrative Conservation (IIC) to create and offer a second curated integrative certificate program around the intersections of mindfulness, conservation, and nature. This certificate, designed in collaboration with both the IIC and the William & Mary Center for Mindfulness & Authentic Excellence (CMAX), provides opportunities for the Collective Champions and their friends and family to:
- Increase their understanding of the sociological, physiological, and psychological benefits of both mindfulness and nature.
- Deepen their understanding of nature access inequities and environmental justice.
- Apply integrative conservation concepts and a mindful mindset to real-world conservation challenges.
Join Us
If you’d like to hear more or have a vision for a Collective of your own, please fill out the form below and we’ll put you in touch with the Director of Collectives, Jamie Palumbo.