Cultural Awareness Resources
Building Equal Access to the Outdoors
Project GO strives to decrease the opportunity gap for low-income youth and children of color in Minnesota by ensuring that all children have access to positive nature experiences.
Recent research has revealed startling disparities among communities of color and white communities in Minnesota. These disparities include access to and experiences in nature. All too often, our under-served children do not have access to outdoor mentors, high quality green spaces or safe locations to experience self-guided exploration outdoors.
Nature exposure is essential to the health and well-being of all humans and is crucial to fostering the next generation of stewards and conservationists. We believe this is one of the most critical issues of our time!
Below are some cultural awareness resources we recommend that might be helpful to organizations and individuals working to connect children of color to the outdoors.
Helpful Research
Cultural Backgrounders
Culture has been defined as "a compilation of all the things in our environment that make us who we are."
A common analogy to describe culture is an iceberg; only so much of it can be observed on the surface. Most of what makes us who we are is unseen and typically derived from our family heritage, customs and day-to-day life. Culture involves shared meaning or understandings, including values and beliefs, within a group.
below is information that may help you learn more about cultural communities in Minnesota. Remember, it is always best to get to know people from different cultural backgrounds to gain a true understanding. One person's opinions or beliefs don't necessarily reflect the views of an entire cultural group.
A Guide to Cultural Awareness in Minnesota; American Indian Cultural Guide
Bhutanese Cultural Backgrounder
Indigenous Mexican Cultures Backgrounder
Youth with Special Needs: Making 4-H More Accessible
Recommended Books
•Black and Brown Faces in America’s Wild Places, Dudley Edmondson, 2006.
•Black Faces, White Spaces: Re-imagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors,
Carolyn Finney, 2014.
Video Resources
Minnesota Green Card Voices
Sides Square-OFf in Eden Prairie
Other Organizations Focused on This Issue