Connect with the land
Build a reciprocal relationship with nature, cultivate the art of noticing, explore the learner within yourself.
Connect with your community
Acknowledge the wisdom of the past, engage in the present, regenerate the future.
Connect with yourself
Harmonize your pace with nature, be present, experience gratitude and beauty, share in kindness and empathy.
ABOUT: Muriel Stallworth
Muriel Stallworth is an art teacher and sustainability coordinator at the International School of Brooklyn, where she leads Growing Systems: Nature, Art and Ecology at ISB, an interdisciplinary program that fosters a systemic understanding of the natural world, emphasizing gratitude and reciprocity. As an artist and climate education consultant in the Hudson Valley, she designs experiential programs that weave together visual arts and ecological awareness, grounding students and educators alike in nature-based creativity. Inspired by the climate solutions movement, Muriel’s “possibilist“ approach to the climate crisis centers on the power of community, exploration, and imagination.
We all stand on the shoulders of giants.
I am grateful for the work of several visionary thinkers who have helped frame the Living Land Learn curriculum within the hopeful and regenerative vision that nature connection offers. In particular:
The insights of Richard Louv on children’s “nature deficit” form a foundation for this program’s commitment to fostering meaningful and restorative outdoor experiences.
The writings of Robin Wall Kimmerer—centered on gratitude, reciprocity, and Indigenous ecological wisdom—inform its approach to relationship with the natural world.
More recently in my journey, Jon Young’s work reconnecting people to their ‘...innate, earth-based rhythms and ways of being in relationship’ has brought further depth to the program, along with a sense of connection to a wider “Village” of shared practice.
Lastly, Miles Richardson’s “5 Pathways to Nature Connectedness”—Contact, Emotion, Beauty, Meaning, and Compassion—offer ongoing inspiration to transform environmental education from a purely informational exercise into a deeply felt, personal practice. While traditional approaches often emphasize scientific knowledge about nature, his research shows that knowledge alone does not reliably lead to pro-environmental behavior.
When it comes to igniting curiosity, connection, and care,
feeling
is knowing.
