October 25: Jacob Rodenburg “Pathway to Stewardship — How We Teach Children about the Environment”
Jacob is the Executive Director of Camp Kawartha, 
an award winning outdoor education centre and summer camp. The camp operates as a residential outdoor centre, a summer camp and as an innovative environmental centre.
His passion is teaching children to love and protect their local environment. He holds a teaching certificate and a Master’s in Education and has worked in the field of outdoor education and camping for 25 years.
Jacob recently received the Ontario Society of Environmental Educators “Leadership in Environmental Education Award.” In 2007, Jacob was awarded the Richards Education Award for excellence in Natural History Education from Ontario Nature. He co-teaches part time at Trent University a course in environmental education. Jacob has developed, in partnership with Trent’s Faculty of Education, an “Eco Mentor” certificate program for teacher candidates. This approach to environmental education has been adopted by 4 other universities.
Jacob has published a number of articles on children, nature and the environment and has coauthored a book on nature activities throughout the seasons with Drew Monkman. Called the Big Book of Nature Activities by New Society publishers, it is available at Happenstance, Amazon and Chapters. He is a frequent keynote speaker and has been invited to present to the American Summit for Sustainability, Canadian Roundtable for Pollution prevention and at the Ontario Camping Association’s annual conference.
Jacob conceived and spearheaded the construction of one of Canada’s most sustainable buildings at Trent University. This unique environment centre educates children and future teachers about sustainable living practices, alternative energy and conservation.
Collaborating with community leaders from education, public health and local conservation groups, Jacob is working to establish an environmental framework for our community. Called the Pathway to Stewardship, the framework will articulate key benchmarks and experiences all children should have access to throughout their development in order to become environmental stewards.
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