Rewilding
The Rewilding Collective is designed to provide meaningful experiences in nature to youth without equitable access to the healing power of nature and to change the ways they think about nature to tap into its power no matter where they are. By integrating mindfulness and youth nature programming across partner organizations, participants will gain tools of confidence, resilience, compassion, and growth while also being inspired to become a new generation of wildlife champions to help save the planet.
Conservation Nation is proud to partner with the exceptional organizations below to bring the Rewilding Collective to life.
Overview
Partnership
Overview
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.
Partnership
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.
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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.
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Summer trip to Yellowstone National Park where youth can deepen their experience by engaging with conservationists and wolf conservation projects.
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High school summer internship program where 10th-12th grade Job Experience Trainees (JETs) intern and job shadow with local organizations and research projects.
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Increased mindfulness curriculum integration.
Partnership
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.
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High school summer internship program where 10th-12th grade Job Experience Trainees (JETs). intern and job shadow with local organizations and research projects.
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Increased mindfulness curriculum integration.
Overview
African People & Wildlife (APW) has a mission to protect wildlife, invest in people, and restore balance to Africa’s vital ecosystems through effective conservation action, applied science, and collective impact. Their goals for 2030 include conserving wildlife and promoting coexistence, strengthening natural resource stewardship, restoring and connecting landscapes, developing conservation enterprises, and building strategic partnerships.
Updates
Overview
Partnership
Overview
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.
Partnership
With the support from this Conservation Nation Collective program, Inward Bound will be:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Offering summer retreat scholarships to teens from underrepresented communities.
Partnership
With the support from this Conservation Nation Collective program, Inward Bound will be:
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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.
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Offering summer retreat scholarships to teens from underrepresented communities.
Overview
Founded in 1986, the North Luangwa Conservation Program’s (NLCP) mission is to protect the North Luangwa ecosystem, its wildlife and its people. It is an active partnership of Frankfurt Zoological Society and Zambia’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife, and has improved security, tackled poaching, and has sought to achieve community-based natural resource management. The NLCP has built community and education outreach support programs into a comprehensive and people-centered approach to wildlife conservation for the last 20 years. Their work to support endangered rhinos in Africa is conducted in collaboration with Save the Rhino.
Updates
Overview
Partnership
Overview
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.
Partnership
With the support from this Rewilding Collective, the Yellowstone Wolf Project will be conducting a wolf bioacoustic study. This innovative study includes:
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Deploying autonomous recording units (ARUs) to monitor the presence and distribution of wolves across the park.
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Creating effective data collection protocols and AI models for bioacoustic research in Yellowstone and beyond.
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Providing fundamental research towards a better understanding of animal communications.
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Aiding in the growing list of tools for predator-livestock conflict mitigation.
Partnership
With the support from this Rewilding Collective, the Yellowstone Wolf Project will be conducting a wolf bioacoustic study. This innovative study includes:
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Deploying autonomous recording units (ARUs) to monitor the presence and distribution of wolves across the park.
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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.
Overview
African People & Wildlife (APW) has a mission to protect wildlife, invest in people, and restore balance to Africa’s vital ecosystems through effective conservation action, applied science, and collective impact. Their goals for 2030 include conserving wildlife and promoting coexistence, strengthening natural resource stewardship, restoring and connecting landscapes, developing conservation enterprises, and building strategic partnerships.
Updates
Implementation Partners
In addition to direct on-the ground support, Collective programs offer capacity-building, networking, and learning opportunities for both our partner organizations and our Collective Champions. These offerings range from fundraising and storytelling workshops for partners to a customized integrative conservation certificate for Collective Champions. These learning opportunities are offered in collaboration with our implementation partners.
William & Mary
Institute for integrative conservation
Overview
Partnership
Overview
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.
Partnership
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:
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Increase their understanding of the sociological, physiological, and psychological benefits of both mindfulness and nature.
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Deepen their understanding of nature access inequities and environmental justice.
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Apply integrative conservation concepts and a mindful mindset to real-world conservation challenges.
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.
Partnership
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:
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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.
Overview
VIEW’s mission is to protect endangered wildlife by tackling the health threats they face in their native habitats. They support locally sustainable wildlife disease investigation, prevention, and treatment by providing training, building infrastructure, conducting research, and promoting policies that ensure healthy environments for wildlife and the people and domestic animals that share their habitat.
Updates
About The Collective
In 2022, Conservation Nation launched an innovative new initiative called the Conservation Nation Collective. Through this program Champion Donors are invited to co-create their own wildlife conservation and equity-building initiative of personal and planetary significance directly with the Conservation Nation team.
By combining the Champion Donors’ time, talent, and resources with Conservation Nation’s expertise, these three-year initiatives are designed to create innovative, sustainable, and scalable conservation solutions. These initiatives also build capacity for community conservation and education organizations, support conservationists from underrepresented communities, and provide once-in-lifetime experiences for the Champion Donors.
About The Collective
In 2022, Conservation Nation launched an innovative new initiative called the Conservation Nation Collective. Through this program Champion Donors are invited to co-create their own wildlife conservation and equity-building initiative of personal and planetary significance directly with the Conservation Nation team.
By combining the Champion Donors’ time, talent, and resources with Conservation Nation’s expertise, these three-year initiatives are designed to create innovative, sustainable, and scalable conservation solutions. These initiatives also build capacity for community conservation and education organizations, support conservationists from underrepresented communities, and provide once-in-lifetime experiences for the Champion Donors.
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.
