I’ve been reading a wonderful book by Richard Louv, “Last Child in the Woods” which has fallen into my hands at a very opportune time. My wife and I are in the process of developing a “school without walls” where we will take students on 8-16 week educational expeditions in Africa and Indosnesia (to begin with). Our main purpose is to awaken global consciouness in students by providing an experience that will help them to live in and interact with the world in a very different way. One which is more sustainable and which leaves a much smaller footprint. The greatest brainstorming for our ideas have come while taking long walks in the snowy woods of Squamish, BC. Breathing the clean air and listening to the stillness is inspiring and has reminded us of the importance of nature in education. Nature inspires, feeds the soul and nutures the creative potential. For thousands of years, our learning happened outside, in nature. We are wired for this. There is a growing body of research which points to the importance of nature on learning and Richard Louv does a great job presenting this evidence in his book. However, go outside and take a walk in the woods, feel the inspiration and sense of calm that nature has on your mind. This is really all the evidence you will need.