Building on the success of the 2010 Summit in New York City, Outdoor Nation will host five Regional Summits this year. The Summits will kick-off with a return to New York City on June 23 with a National Outdoor Nation Congress where youth from every state will gather to set a national agenda for the outdoors as America's state parks are faced with deep budget cuts and unprecedented park closures.


Following this event, five Regional Summits will take place throughout the summer in Atlanta, Minneapolis, Denver, San Francisco, as well as return to NYC.

 

Spawned by ongoing industry discussions and pushed into action by the board of the Outdoor Foundation, the first Outdoor Nation Youth Summit was held June 19-20 2010 in New York City’s Central Park. At the inaugural event, 500 youth from across the country gathered to talk about how to get their peers outdoors and more active. The diverse group of twenty-somethings included 50% white/50% minority, 50% male/50% female and equal representation from urban, rural and suburban.


The event, tagged to Backpacker’s annual event, Adventures NYC, featured a wide range of activities, including paddling in the pond, fishing, bird watching, music and art and photography, yoga, as well as celebrity visit from Cesar the Dog Whisperer. A career fair featuring 25 different outdoor organizations from non-profits to public sector to private sector was also held on the weekend. But for a large portion of the two days, attendees packed under a tent in the park divided into groups and brainstormed ideas in six topic areas: careers, diversity, media, recreation, activity and service.


“What was most impressive was the passion, energy and ideas of the young people – showing that they are ready to spur change on campuses and in communities across the country,” said Chris Fanning, executive director of The Outdoor Foundation, in an interview with The B.O.S.S. Report. She noted that the brainstorming sessions at the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit led to hundreds of youth-led outdoor projects across the country over the last year.


In Albany for example, a group of 20 inner city African American young men came up with the idea to transform vacant, city-owned lots into community gardens that would generate revenue and support other outdoor activities.


Gardens have popped up across the city and the first harvest will happen this spring. In another case, a student at Western North Carolina University decided to start a kayaking club after attending the Summit. Today, the club has more than 50 members and they are organizing a community kayaking event this spring.


Indeed, she said the move to expand the program to other regions came in part from discussions with those attending last year's event.
“Our top learning and recommendation from the youth was that we needed to regionalize the Outdoor Nation Summit model so that young people could address local/regional issues with peers from their regional community,” said Fanning. “This year, we have youth ‘Summit Teams’ that are really driving the agendas and shaping the events – including the Summer Fun Days.”


She also said Outdoor Nation is expanding its support base as well as its delegate base.


“For example, Play Outdoors will be hosting a family fun area during each of the Summer Fun Day events – offering parents with young children activities and information that they can do as a family,” said Fanning. “In addition, we are continuing to reach out to diverse partners. For example, in Atlanta, our Summit will be co-hosted by Clark Atlanta University – one of the nation’s top Historically Black Universities. We’re also reaching out to the Hispanic population and hoping to engage this group in a more meaningful way.”


The Summer Fun Day – offering a range of outdoor activities from kayaking to rock climbing – will be co-hosted by America’s State Parks and other lead partners including the National Park Service. But America’s State Parks is receiving special emphasis since it has been identified by the Outdoor Nation community of ‘Outsiders’ as its top advocacy issue because of their “unmatched importance in America’s outdoor recreation” and their vulnerability given the challenging economic climate.


With more than 7,000 sites and a record 740 million visits in 2010, America’s state parks “were founded more than a century ago to provide close-to-home access to nature for all citizens,” according to Outdoor Nation's statement. In addition to record visitation, America’s state parks hit significant milestones in 2010 related to both number of protected acres and economic contribution, which topped $23 billion.
Following Outdoor Nation’s youth-empowerment model, America’s State Parks launched its first national youth program earlier this year – the State Park Youth Ambassadors program. Anchored in every state, these youth leaders will work with Outdoor Nation to raise support and awareness for America’s State Parks.


Outdoor Nation is supported by a diverse coalition of more than 100 organizations from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. The Summer Summit Series' sponsors include The North Face, REI Foundation, Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, The Conservation Fund and National Park Service, Merrell, Play Outdoors, SmartWool, Mountain Hardwear, Eastern Mountain Sports, Johnson & Johnson and CIGNA.


“Outdoor Nation is building a youth-led movement and empowering a generation,” said Lindsay Bourgoine, lead ambassador of Outdoor Nation and an acclaimed hiker. “Thanks to our partners we will be able to bring Outdoor Nation into the states and communities this summer to address the real issues that are keeping people inside. Our community of Outsiders will actively champion important causes like America’s State Parks – engaging new communities and inspiring new leadership across all 50 states.”