#NatureForAll

Photo: Karen Keenleyside

Karen Keenleyside

IUCN CEC/WCPA #NatureForAll Specialist Group

Email: Karen Keenleyside
Bio

Background

#NatureForAll is a global movement to inspire love of nature.  It is founded on the knowledge that the more people experience, connect with, and share their love of nature, the more support and action there will be for its conservation. Personal experiences and connections with nature provide powerful benefits for individual and societal health, well-being, and resilience and are also the foundation of a lifelong support for nature conservation, including parks and protected areas, and the achievement of biodiversity and sustainable development goals and targets (e.g. Aichi Targets 1 and 11; UN Sustainable Development Goals). As an inclusive IUCN-led coalition of partners, #NatureForAll brings together a diversity of players toshare actions, collaborate, and amplify our collective reach to engage new audiences to connect with and fall in love with nature, and ignite action for conservation.

Who is the target group of the Specialist Group?

• IUCN members, commissions, and secretariat in all regions
• Governments at all levels
• Conservation organisations
• Protected area authorities
• Youth
• Urban institutions and organisations (e.g., zoos, museums, aquariums, botanic gardens)
• Indigenous and local communities
• Health, education, tourism, technology companies, arts/culture, and other sectors

What are the strategic goals of the Specialist Group until 2020?

1. Create and engage a global coalition of partner organisations who will collectively scale up the reach and impact of efforts to connect people with nature and inspire support and action for conservation
2. Raise awareness and motivate people from all walks of life to embrace nature and its values.
3. Facilitate opportunities for all to experience and connect with nature

Who would you like to attract to the Specialist Group (=members with what profile)?

• Innovative communicators, experiential educators, protected area professionals, park visitor specialists, (sustainable)ecotourism experts, urban planners, young professionals, social media experts, videographers, network-builders

Which roles for which tasks could you foresee among the active members of your Specialist Group (for ex.: education-teachers, media-journalists, etc.)?

For Goal 1:

• Develop and share communications tools and other products to inform and engage new partners
• Reach out to partner organisations to encourage them join the #NatureForAll coalition and contribute to the growth of the movement.
• Further expand #NatureForAll partnerships to more deeply engage groups who face barriers to experiencing nature first hand.

For Goal 2:

• Develop and share best practice guidance, success stories, and other tools
• Promote research that examines how meaningful experiences in nature is foundational to lifelong support for nature conservation, including protected areas. 
• Encourage the integration of government partnerships in the coalition and promote policy integration of #NatureForAll strategies.

For Goal 3:

• Develop and share knowledge, frameworks, and other tools so that successful programs can be replicated and/or scaled up.
• Conduct evidencebased research to ensure that programs are targeted, effective, and respond to emerging nature-related threats and opportunities.
• Collaborate with partners to better understand, measure, and communicate the relationship between connection with nature and support/action for achieving biodiversity conservation and sustainable development goals and targets.

Are there any connections that you visualize/foresee with other commissions? 

• This specialist group will be integrated with the IUCN WCPA #NatureForAll Specialist Group/Task Force.  It will also engage with the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy and other commissions as opportunities arise.

What are the main expected products of the Specialist Group?

• Success stories, blogs, videos, social media posts, etc.
• Best practice guides and toolkits
• Research syntheses/summaries
• Policy recommendations
• Monitoring and evaluation tools

How would you communicate the results of your Specialist Group?

• #NatureForAll newsletter, blogs, stories, videos, publications, and other media shared on CEC and WCPA web pages, #NatureForAll web site (www.natureforall.global), #NatureForAll Social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
• Presentations and displays at conferences and other events
• Webinars and other online communication tools