Land education is a long-standing practice and area of scholarship, particularly in Indigenous contexts. Land education can be facilitated anywhere, whether you are located in a city, town, or in a natural environment. Land knowledge exists everywhere!

The core of land education is not simply learning about land, but learning with land. Many Indigenous communities globally regard earth as sentient, meaning that land is an animate being. When we think of land in this way, we are able to be in better relations to land and engage in practices that are less harmful to the planet. We are also able to learn more about place-specific histories that can inform our programming with young people. Indigenous theorists often position land itself as a teacher, who when engaged appropriately, can support educational outcomes. As facilitators, we can think of land as a collaborator in our programs, offering a different approach to knowledge transmission. 

It is important that we do not only think of land education programming in solely superficial ways. That means we can engage in land education activities, such as camping and hiking, while also critically examining our impact on the planet, the displacement of Indigenous peoples, and climate change. For many, being on the land is also a spiritual experience; we are all connected to the planet and should practice relational accountability when planning to engage in land education. 

This section seeks to help us think critically about our understanding of land and our relations to the places where we engage in programming. When going through the activities in this section, try to think about land in the ways we have described: as a relative and a teacher.