Become a
Nature Everywhere
Action Challenge Community
Register for the Action Challenge – a self-paced approach to advancing equitable access to nature everywhere children live, learn and play in your community.
The Action Challenge is just one way to participate in a national initiative to increase equitable access to nature everywhere in 100 U.S. communities by 2025. Learn more.
WHAT IS THE ACTION CHALLENGE:
The Action Challenge celebrates and recognizes a community’s progress in increasing nature connection for all children, especially children of color, those experiencing poverty and other groups who have been historically excluded from nature-based experiences and learning. Communities work at their own pace and choose how deeply to engage in the Challenge, gaining increased recognition by taking additional actions – and joining a national network of Nature Everywhere Communities.
Nature Everywhere Communities builds on what we’ve learned from the Cities Connecting Children to Nature initiative, through which municipal leaders have been advancing equitable access to nature since 2014. Nature Everywhere Communities is an expansion of this work, recognizing that we need leaders from city government, education, nonprofits, philanthropy, community organizations and the private sector to drive systems-level change.
WHO SHOULD REGISTER:
Community organizations, city departments, schools and other partners committed to connecting children to nature.
To register, form a three-person cross-sector team. Ideal teams include members from more than one organization or government department. Teams lead and engage their communities in taking specific actions to complete the Challenge.
Step 1:
Form and register a cross-sector team of at least three leaders from your community. Team members will:
Step 2:
Watch the below Action Challenge info session, which will provide details on how to:
The Action Challenge operates on a rolling deadline; you can join at any time.
Learn more about the Action Challenge in this FAQ.
After your team registers, you’ll have access to:
By registering, you are pledging to complete at least two actions in the Coalition Builder and/or Children and Nature Connector categories of the Challenge. Ideally, actions are completed within 12 months, but participation can continue beyond a year. Take these actions in your community:
As a Nature Everywhere Action Challenge Community, you can proudly display your Action Challenge badge, announce your action pledge and promote your progress with a news release and other Challenge templates. By taking the specific actions above, you can receive additional recognition as a Coalition Builder and/or a Children and Nature Connector.
If a community achieves both the Coalition Builder and Children and Nature Connector actions, they will receive additional opportunities to be featured in social media promotion, video snippets, story features, case studies and more.
These resources guide teams in addressing systemic barriers to accessing nature. Resources were developed through the Cities Connecting Children to Nature initiative and are also used by Nature Everywhere Accelerator Communities.
Review and use these resources so your entire team has the same level of understanding of the “why” and “how” of equitable nature access. Participate in the Peer Learning Network and The Trailhead to connect with other Action Challenge Communities.
A critical first step is building partnerships, understanding local assets and identifying gaps. The following resources focused on systems change, equity, community engagement and visioning will help your team honor your community voice and create a shared vision for your community.
The following tools support the actions required to achieve the Children and Nature Connector status. They provide high-level guidance on how to approach the work and examples of what it can look like to implement these on the ground.
The following resources are useful when your community is ready for a deeper dive or wants more detailed actions. These tools require greater commitment and expertise for communities who decide to go down these paths.
Nature Everywhere Communities are made possible with major support from:
