Nature Connectivity | Certified Guide
As a certified guide of l’Université dans la Nature, you will accompany groups of people into the forest and lead them through a Nature (Re)Connection. An unforgettable experience during which the participants will learn and experiment the benefits of nature as they are continuously highlighted by contemporary scientific studies.
Our Fall Session will start on 6 November 2024!
Course Length: 7 Weeks
Class Days: Wednesdays and Saturdays
IMPORTANT: Ecoleader is a prerequisite for the Guide Course. Ecoleader will run from 18 September - 2 November 2024.
Our Fall Session for the Certified Guide course will run from 6 November - 18 December 2024!
IMPORTANT: Ecoleader is a prerequisite for the Certified Guide Course. Ecoleader will run for 7 weeks from 18 September - 2 November 2024, after which the Certified Guide Course will start.
Course Description
The whole world wants to reconnect to nature. Show them how by guiding Nature (Re)Connections.
The Certified Guide training will provide you with state-of-the-art knowledge on the benefits of connecting with nature. It will train you in the experiential and cognitive method Nature (Re)Connection, which we created with the aim of facilitating the transmission of this scientific knowledge in our communities. You will know how nature affects the brain, the immune system, why it reduces stress and how it restores our cognitive abilities.
You will have a wide range of practical exercises and tools to offer and a wide scope of knowledge, ranging from psychology to biology, including botany, history and anthropology.
The certification will allow you to organize Nature (Re)Connections in the forests in your own communities, to guide Nature (Re)Connections organized by UdN, to be kept up to date with the latest advances in science, to share your experiences with other guides around the world, to meet specialists and thus constantly feed your passion.
By becoming a certified Guide for l’Université dans la Nature, you enter the community of people passionate about connecting with nature! Guides from Canada, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Belgium are waiting to share their experiences, feelings and knowledge with you on this very current subject.
Most people who have undergone this training declare that they have been profoundly transformed by it. Their perception of the natural world is deeply altered, of course, but also that of their own nature. Immersing yourself in the living world just feels amazing!
This course aims to help you:
Teach groups, individuals, or institutions about the benefits of connecting with nature through an immersive experience
Guide Nature (Re)Connections requested through our network (Europe and North America)
Support the ecological transition by putting people back at the heart of nature
Integrate new practices resulting from scientific research into decisions impacting the populations of civil society (architecture, health care, urban policies, education)
Deepen your own relationship with nature
In the Nature Connectivity | Certified Guide you will discover:
Certified Guide Curriculum
Modules 1-7: Ecoleader Course
✔ The successful completion of the Nature Connectivity | Ecoleader course is a prerequisite to become a certified guide.
Module 8 - Conveying Knowledge
✔ Explanation of the Nature (Re)Connection program and overview of the fundamental elements of the activity. Encounter with and testimony from certified guides.
✔ Specifications of Nature (Re)Connection: comparison with other types of nature activities (like Shinrin Yoku, Forest Bathing, Sylvotherapy…). An experiential, sensible and cognitive approach.
✔ The activity: choice of premises, overview of the different stages. How to identify the ideal place and path
Module 9 - Stages 1 & 2: Entering the Forest and Relaxation
✔ Every stage of the Nature (Re)Connection activity is built around the transmission of current scientific knowledge on the impact of nature on each of our senses, its effect on physical and mental health, as well as experiential exercises.
✔ Study of scientific knowledge, experiential activities and other logistical modalities related to these two stages of the activity.
Module 10 - Stage 3: Touch
✔ Study of scientific knowledge, experiential activities and other logistical modalities related to this stage of the activity.
Module 11 - Stage 4: Sight
✔ Study of scientific knowledge, experiential activities and other logistical modalities related to this stage of the activity.
Module 12 - Stage 5: Hearing
✔ Study of scientific knowledge, experiential activities and other logistical modalities related to this stage of the activity.
Module 13 - Stage 6: Smell
✔ Study of scientific knowledge, experiential activities and other logistical modalities related to this stage of the activity.
Module 14 - Stage 7: Niksen and Closure
✔ Study of scientific knowledge, experiential activities and other logistical modalities related to these two stages of the activity.
✔ This class marks the end of the mandatory Certified Guide training
Revision: Learning to learn
✔ Study and memorization strategies: how to approach the course material, synthesize it, understand it and reproduce it during the theoretical and practical exams.
✔ Discover studying methods based on neuroscience and get practical tips for memorizing.
Revision: Express science naturally
✔ Discover how to use your senses to learn study more efficiently
✔ Capture the attention of your listeners
✔ Learn how to create a Nature (Re)Connection that is true to yourself while keeping science at the forefront
✔ Find out what impact your thought and movement patterns have on your ability to express yourself accurately and originally
Your Instructors
Julie Schadeck is the General Coordinator at l’Université dans la Nature. As such, she collaborates with local organizations, schools, businesses, and policymakers in developing new projects that advocate for the integration of nature-centric practices into various sectors.
By teaching this class, Julie gets to live her passion of helping people (re)connect to and understand the intrinsic value of nature, whether it is by explaining how we arrived at where we are today, or by sharing the many amazing things that nature has to offer. Holding an MA in Dance/Movement Therapy, she is also a Certified Guide herself and has thus experienced first hand the impact that this innovative course focusing on the human/nature connection can have on the people that follow it.
Chantal Carrier teaches presence and self-awareness to help people express themselves with confidence, accuracy, and coherence, while remaining true to themselves. Her interventions in the revision module of the guide formation will help future guides to find a personal and flexible approach to their activities in the forest, as well as facilitate the memorization of the content.
Chantal was trained at The School of Dance in Ottawa (Canada). She then developed various techniques linking verbal expression to posture, which she teaches to professional speakers throughout Quebec. She is also a certified guide from l’Université dans la Nature.
Master's degree in communication, Geneviève Mansion has worked in very different fields such as media, show business, education, corporate training, coaching, and psychotherapy. Today she returns to the fundamentals: her link with the plant world which resources her everyday.
She is a teacher at heart who puts people first. In charge of the coordination of the Guides, she provides them with support and guidance from the beginning of the course to their final certification. During their training, she also gives a workshop entitled “Learning to Learn”, inspired by the latest discoveries in neuroscience.
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Our Fall Session for the Certified Guide course will run from 6 November - 18 December 2024!
IMPORTANT: Ecoleader is a prerequisite for the Certified Guide Course. Ecoleader will run for 7 weeks from 18 September - 2 November 2024, after which the Certified Guide Course will start.