Nature Connectivity | Ecoleader
What are the historical and cultural foundations of our relationship with nature? Why has our connection to the living world deteriorated, and how can we repair it? What does contact with nature bring to public and individual health? What do neuroscience findings say about the relationship between nature and the brain? Is investing in our relationship with nature economically worthwhile?
The Ecoleader course provides you with a clear, rigorous, and structured perspective to help you take meaningful action or speak out in a world in transition.
Our next English session will start on 10 September 2025!
Course Calendar: 10 September - 25 October 2025
Course Length: 7 weeks online
Class Days: Wednesdays (3h) and Saturdays (3h)
Fall Session 2025
Our Ecoleader Fall Session will run from
10 September - 24 October 2025.
Course Description
To offer you a deep understanding of the historical, philosophical, and anthropological foundations of our relationship with nature: that’s the ambition of our Ecoleader training.
Focused on the still unknown man/nature binomial, rather than on nature itself, the course will give you an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of disconnection from and reconnection to nature. This disconnection, which has been accelerated by the industrial revolution, is the result of a long conditioning of thinking which, although obsolete, is still existent. This university-level course is therefore an opportunity to revisit how we view the living world and to understand why, in the Western world, the recourse to nature as a tool for public and private health has been slow to gain ground.
Come discover a rigorous and engaging training that values and celebrates our connection with nature.
Cutting-edge knowledge and lively discussions offer a unique opportunity to learn what nature has to offer.
This course is intended for:
→ Public or mental health professionals
→ Teachers, educators, and trainers
→ Project managers or consultants in environment, workplace well-being (QWL), CSR, or responsible communication
→ Designers or professionals in urban planning and territorial transition
→ Leaders of local or community initiatives seeking legitimacy or solid intellectual tools
This course is designed to help you:
Acquire a comprehensive understanding of the current scientific knowledge on the impacts of contact with nature on physical, psychological, and cognitive health
Have a solid and rational argumentation for your discussions with decision-makers in favor of implementing nature in your environment
Benefit from a knowledge foundation to develop projects related to nature, health, education, communication, or socio-ecological transition
Join a committed network of professionals who want to act differently
Deepen your own relationship with nature
Participate in the creation of a healthier and more equitable society
Want to go further? Discover the Nature (Re)Connection Certification training.
In the Nature Connectivity | Ecoleader course you will discover:
Ecoleader Curriculum
Module 1: What is Nature?
✔ What are we talking about when we talk about “nature”? Why does this word not exist in all languages? What’s its origin? What does it say about our relationship to nature? A dive into history and anthropology that will provide a better understanding of how to restore our connection with nature.
✔ Assess the state of your own connection with nature through an astonishing reflective exercise in the forest.
Module 2: Nature and Culture
✔ Our view of nature is the result of a cultural heritage whose extent we don’t even suspect. The American notion of “wilderness”, for example, has profoundly influenced many international nature protection policies. The European search for Eden continues, for its part, to impact many African and Asian countries.
✔ A parallel is made with indigenous cultures to reassess our relationship with the natural world.
Module 3: Envrionmental Sociology
✔ Not all social groups utilize nature in the same way: culture, gender, age, and socio-economic background shape the way we approach the natural world. These differences explain the failure of many activities, campaigns or political measures that do not take these specificities into account. This module that will teach you how to work more effectively with different segments of the population.
✔ Environmental injustice or inequality is the fact that individuals and social groups do not experience equal to environmental nuisances and risks, nor do they have equal access to environmental resources. Born in the United States, the fight against environmental injustice has taken on global proportions and, in the face of the climate crisis, lies at the core of the challenges of the 21st century.
Module 4: Disconnection From Nature
✔ A module that dives into the heart of the sometimes-surprising causes of our disconnection from nature
✔ Eco-emotions et disconnection
Module 5: Connection with Nature
✔ A module that addresses the notion of connection with nature: through studies and concrete examples, we distinguish the fundamental elements of an impactful connection with nature.
✔ Definition and measures of connection to nature
Module 6: Impacts of Nature
✔ Panorama of the scientific research on the epidemiological, psychological, physiological, and cognitive impacts of nature on humans. An overview of research, from its beginnings in the 1980s to the present day. Knowledge resulting from research is unfortunately very frequently ignored by public and private decision-makers. If today the public knows that “nature is good”, it generally ignores to what extent. This module aims to equip students with the scientific fundamentals of the impact of nature.
✔ Impacts of nature in cities: ecosystem services, city and nature relationship, international initiatives.
Module 7: The Legal Status of Nature
✔ In the late 1960s, a jurist proposed granting rights to trees and the natural environment as a whole. This idea caused a scandal at the time, but since then some countries have incorporated the protection of natural elements into their law or constitution. Where are we at? What are the enforced laws and what criticisms do they evoke?
✔ Alongside these laws granting protection to nature, this module also addresses the issue of access to nature by analyzing in particular the Scandinavian culture of free access.
After completing the Nature Connectivity | Ecoleader course, you can continue your training with the Nature Connectivity | Nature (Re)Connection Certification
Your Instructor
Julie is the General Manager at UNature. 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.
Class Prices
UNature is deeply committed to social and environmental justice. Part of your registration fees funds projects to share the impacts of nature with disadvantaged populations (free participation in Nature (Re)Connections, scholarships for classes, trainings, school aids, etc.).
Nature Connectivity | Ecoleader
1.380,00 CAD (924,00 € TTC)
Or 4 monthly installments of 345 CAD (231 € TTC)
Nature Connectivity | Nature (Re)Connection Certification
2.760,00 CAD (1.848,00 € TTC)*
Or 6 monthly installments of 460 CAD (308 € TTC)
*This price already includes de Ecoleader class since it is a pre-requisite.
For those who have already completed Ecoleader at an earlier time and wish to continue with the Certified Guide training, the cost is: 1380 CAD (924 € TTC) or 4 monthly installments of 345 CAD (231 € TTC).
Scholarship Application
UNature awards one scholarship per semester. This scholarship allows the participant to follow our courses completely free of charge. To find out more about the requirements and to apply for a scholarship, head here.
Still have questions? Check out our FAQ.
