Context

Learning connected to place, land and community is foundational to education in B.C. Educators and students across the province are excited to be inquiring about issues and priorities that matter most to our communities at the confluence of people, place and planet. By helping educators to link classroom and community through these and other connections, this professional development event hopes to inspire more promising practices and transformative learning in our schools and communities.

The Classrooms to Communities (C2C) 2024 Conference aims to support the practice of learning connected to place, land and community. The conference goals are to:

1. Model Place and Land-Based Learning through highly interactive, experiential, responsive and relational practices.

2. Share and explore success stories of place-based learning as teaching and learning that is central to BC’s curriculum.

3. Inspire, support and enhance the evolving work of teachers and partners in BC schools and communities to integrate promising practices of place and land-based education.

4. Grow relationships for a BC-wide network of place and land-based education leaders/mentors, including teachers, schools, school districts, organizations, associations of educators and all other interested partners.

Core Values of the Conference

Place and Land-Based, Experiential and Engaging: Facilitating engaging, learner-centred experiences that consider diverse perspectives, histories of place and land, urban Landscapes, communities and people.

Modeling Inquiry: Modeling a focus on inquiry through place and community, and exploring Indigenous and other perspectives on inquiry, knowledge and understanding.

Centring Voices through Storytelling: Ensuring that diverse voices of humans and the more-than-human world are included and honoured through a focus on stories.

Educating for Social Justice: Considering the intersection between social justice and ecological justice, and challenging the ways that colonization, racism, class-isms, and heteropatriarchy are embedded in our relationships with the land.   

Nurturing Hope and Resiliency for the future through Climate Action: Focusing on the grand challenges of our time with an emphasis on climate action and youth activism, worldviews and values.

Embracing Diversity & Walking the Talk: Ensuring the event is inclusive and respectful of all people, abilities and perspectives, and is sustainable to the greatest extent possible.

Conference Format

The conference will consist of a variety of engaging and interactive workshops, experiences, gatherings, community-based excursions and opportunities for collaboration and dialogue. You are invited to submit proposals in a format that outlines how your session focus will be highly engaging to participants. Collaborative, co-delivered offerings that celebrate shared successes and goals related to our conference theme, goals and values are encouraged. 

Conference Dates & Venues

Friday, Oct. 25

• John Oliver Secondary and environs, Vancouver, B.C. 

Saturday, Oct. 26

• Field Experiences in the Metro Vancouver region.

Audiences (check all that apply)

C2C 2024 will convene both school-based and community-based educators, as well as other community members committed to place-based, community-connected learning in a wide range of contexts, including:

• Academics/Researchers

• Administrators and Policy-makers

• Post-Secondary Instructors/Professors

• Community-based & Informal Educators 

• Educators who work with elementary schools

• Educators who work with high schools

• Early Childhood Educators

• Elementary School Teachers

• Indigenous Educators

• Secondary School Teachers

• Teacher Candidates

• Teacher Educators 

• Other (please indicate)

Suggested Foci of Conference Sessions  (check all that apply)

• Arts-Based Inquiry

• Core Competencies

• Climate Change Education

• Connecting Communities of Practice across B.C.

• Justice, Equity, Decolonization, Diversity and Inclusion

• Human-Nature Relationships 

• First Peoples Principles of Learning

• Indigenous Perspectives

• Inquiry-Based Learning

• Land-Based Learning

• Nature-Based Inquiry

• Outdoor Education 

• Education Outdoors

• Play-Based Inquiry

• Place-Based Learning

• Pre-Service Teacher Education 

• Sustainability Education 

• Urban Issues and Sustainability

• Other? Please describe:

Deadlines and Submission Requirements

Your proposal should relate to the overall theme of connecting classrooms and communities, as well as one or more of the suggested foci of conference sessions listed above. It should also represent and respect the core values of the conference. 

The conference program committee will evaluate your proposal based on its connections to the conference theme and foci, educational quality, current relevance, potential for audience engagement, and respect for core values. Sessions that are directly promoting the sale of a resource or program will not be accepted. 

Proposals must be submitted in full online by May 31st  here.

Session Possibilities* - choose from the following presentation types:

• Active Outdoor Session (Friday)

• Experiential Workshop: Participants experience what is presented

• Walk-shop: Workshop delivered while walking

• Engaging Indoor Session (Friday)

• Interactive Workshop: Participants are actively engaged throughout

• Roundtable Dialogue: Lightly facilitated discussion around a particular topic (may be grouped with other presenters to form a ‘think tank’

• Community-Based Field Experience (Saturday)

• Half-day Field Experience

• Full-day Field Experience

• Other? Please describe

Session Length - choose from the following session lengths: 

• 60-75 minutes Indoors

• 60-75 minutes Outdoors

• 120 minutes Outdoors 

• Half-day OR Full-day (Community-Based Field Experience)

Conference Registration

All accepted session presenters/facilitators will receive a discount on conference registration and are expected to register for the conference within 30 days of acceptance of their proposal. 

For further information, please visit www.c2c-bc.org or contact info@c2c-bc.org.