How is CFI using a Community Needs Assessment to dictate our next phase of outdoor education?
As the Canyonlands Field Institute rounds the corner on our 40th Anniversary, we have the opportunity to reflect on four decades of impact. We have raised millions of dollars for thousands of young students to explore the Colorado Plateau. We have trained hundreds of naturalist educators, developed impactful curriculum, survived a pandemic, and led countless stewardship programs.
Additionally, our Board of Trustees voted a new mission into place: to cultivate connection to self, community, and nature by creating inclusive educational pathways to the outdoors.
What prevents a kid from enjoying outdoor spaces?
These accomplishments are impressive, but currently, CFI is poised to make an even greater impact on the landscape of outdoor education: Recently, we created a new Pathway: the Youth Desert Access Program (YDAP) – a scholarship fund that specifically targets kids who have been “historically excluded” from experiences like CFI.
A historically excluded person is someone who has been denied access to certain rights, privileges, or opportunities. In this case, we are referring to the denial of access to experiences like CFI, and outdoor spaces in general. There are many reasons why a kid can feel excluded from outdoor spaces. The goal of the YDAP is clear: remove these barriers of access, so that kids no longer experience exclusion from outdoor spaces. While the destination is clear, the way forward is less so.
What prevents a kid from enjoying outdoor spaces? Are these barriers financial? Cultural? Do kids need raincoats or a bus ride to the park? Are kids scared of plants or bugs? Are kids aware of the resources at their disposal? Developing a full understanding of these barriers is essential to lifting them.
Enter: The Community Needs Assessment. A Community Needs Assessment is a tool that nonprofits use to understand more about the populations they hope to serve. To help us with our research, we have developed a survey to distribute to teachers, administrative personnel, and other educational leaders. The goal of this research is to better understand the needs of schools and their students.
The CNA is designed to ascertain specific reasons why schools, or kids, do not feel like a CFI trip is right for them. It requires a significant investment to create a meaningful CNA, distribute it to key members of the community, and analyze the resulting data. However, CFI fundraises from a generous community of supporters, and it is essential that our resources are spent in intentional, data-driven efforts that provide the maximum benefit to the communities we serve.
Essentially, our goal is to learn how we can bring as many kids outside – kids who would not be able to enjoy nature without CFI – as possible. Thank you for supporting us through this process.
About the Author: Brennan Patrick Gillis
Brennan Patrick Gillis is a writer and guide based out of Moab, UT. He works as the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Canyonlands Field Institute, and spends his free time getting lost in the canyons of the Colorado Plateau.