The Global, Environmental & Outdoor
Education Council
An Interdisciplinary Specialist Council of the Alberta Teachers Association.
GEOEC is your resource for teaching in the area of global, environmental, and outdoor education.
Become a member, take part in our conference and workshops, receive teaching ideas, and bring global, environmental and outdoor education into your classroom.
Our mission is to provide resources and venues for dialogue and networking, as well as to promote quality professional development for Alberta teachers. Members receive current news items, food for thought through our journal Connections, teaching ideas, and information about our workshop series.
We are also active on Facebook and Twitter, with up-to-date information
on PD opportunities and initiatives in Alberta.
Education Council
An Interdisciplinary Specialist Council of the Alberta Teachers Association.
GEOEC is your resource for teaching in the area of global, environmental, and outdoor education.
Become a member, take part in our conference and workshops, receive teaching ideas, and bring global, environmental and outdoor education into your classroom.
Our mission is to provide resources and venues for dialogue and networking, as well as to promote quality professional development for Alberta teachers. Members receive current news items, food for thought through our journal Connections, teaching ideas, and information about our workshop series.
We are also active on Facebook and Twitter, with up-to-date information
on PD opportunities and initiatives in Alberta.
EVENT ANNOUNCEMENTS!
2026 GEOEC AGM
A time to reflect on the amazing year we had!
For more information follow the link below!
GEOEC AGM - Registration
A time to reflect on the amazing year we had!
For more information follow the link below!
GEOEC AGM - Registration
Outdoor Learning Conference 2026 -Recap
This past week, educators, mentors, storytellers, artists, and community builders from across the country gathered at the Banff Centre for the 2026 Outdoor Learning Conference.
Set against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, the conference became much more than a professional learning event. It became a space for reflection, reconnection, creativity, and community.
From the very beginning, the tone was grounded in intention and relationship. Anna Fox opened the conference with a beautiful prayer that invited participants to slow down, arrive fully, and recognize the importance of gathering together in a good way. Throughout the conference, Leano Prince reminded us of the power of storytelling, culture, identity, and listening with both heart and humility. As the conference came to a close, Tika offered participants a final gift. Silence, meditation, and reflection which created a space to pause before returning home to busy classrooms, schools, and communities.
Across hallways, outdoor spaces, workshop rooms, and fireside circles, learning came alive in countless forms. Participants carved wood, created art, shared stories, built fires, played games, and explored hands-on approaches to outdoor and experiential learning. There were pinecones, ropes, storybooks, marshmallows, and pool noodles scattered throughout the conference. Reminders that meaningful learning does not always require perfection or expensive resources, but rather curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to engage fully.
One of the most powerful parts of the conference was the sense of connection that developed throughout the week. New friendships were formed between educators from different provinces, organizations, and backgrounds who quickly realized they shared common hopes and challenges. Old friendships were strengthened over coffee, shared meals, walks between sessions, and moments of laughter overlooking the mountains. In a world that often feels increasingly disconnected, the conference served as a reminder that outdoor learning communities continue to create spaces where people feel seen, valued, and inspired.
The Banff Centre itself felt like the perfect home for these conversations. The mountains quietly reminded us to slow down, breathe deeply, and pay attention. Between sessions, participants stepped outside into fresh mountain air, reflected beside the peaks, and carried those moments back into conversations and workshops. The landscape became part of the teaching.
Another beautiful addition to this year’s conference was the live visual storytelling created throughout the event. Local artwork captured reflections, themes, questions, and moments of learning as the conference unfolded. These evolving pieces became gathering spaces of their own. Colourful reminders that outdoor learning is rooted not only in knowledge, but also in relationship, creativity, voice, and shared experience.
GEOEC is incredibly proud to continue serving as a Conference Partner alongside Take Me Outside, The Outdoor Learning Store, and EECOM. Coming together nationally to support outdoor learning, environmental education, and experiential practice is meaningful and important work. Conferences like this remind us that none of us are doing this work alone. Across schools, organizations, and communities, there are passionate people continuing to advocate for learning grounded in connection, stewardship, curiosity, wellness, and wonder.
As participants returned home, they carried more than just resources or lesson ideas with them. They carried renewed energy, strengthened relationships, meaningful conversations, and reminders of why this work matters so deeply.
Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s conference possible. We are grateful to continue walking alongside this growing outdoor learning community.
—The GEOEC Executive Team
PD EVENTS AND NEWS
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We had a very successful Winter Wellness Week! Back in January! Huge thanks to Take Me Outside, Ever Active, Inside Education, The Outdoor Learning School & Store, and Alberta Parks for your ongoing support and for donating items to the prize packs. Get out there and get moving! #GEOEC #ABed #Teachers #Wellness |
If you want to see GEOEC at your Conference, Workshop, or PD Event,
please contact us, and we would love to help support in any way possible!
These are a few of the regular P.D. training and workshops we provide:
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Outdoor Council of Canada Field Leader (Hiking) Training & Certification Program Please contact us if you would like a course set up for you! Successful graduates will be certified as OCC 'Outdoor Field Leaders' Don't miss out on this amazing training certification program! For more information check out the Outdoor Council of Canada website! Link below |
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PROJECT WILD GEOEC is proud to sponsor the training & certification of Project Wild! Please let us know if you are interested in a course or more information! Project WILD is a wildlife-focused conservation education program for K-12 Educators and their students. For more information follow the link below! |
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Nation Wide Virtual Campfire
Monthly! Dates are being finalized as we speak for the 2026 Calendar Year! 7 pm to 8 pm (MST) Come join us for this amazing networking opportunity. With our partners at Take Me Outside and the Outdoor Learning Store we proudly look forward to hosting you! For more details register below! |
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The Outdoor Playlist: Presented by GEOEC
These regular series feature a handful of environmental and outdoor education service providers as guest speakers, acting as a one-stop-shop for educators to find out how they've adopted their programs and how teachers can get their classes involved. Not only will you hear from many of the top school service providers in Alberta, but we will be giving out FREE RESOURCES! |
RESOURCE HIGHLIGHT
K-3 Outdoor Explorers Backpack!
In collaboration with the incredible Alberta Organization - Inside Education
Not only will this teacher PD provide you with tips and ideas for bringing your Division I students outside, it will also provide you with your very own K-3 Tool Kit, which includes a Teacher’s Guide and a backpack full of supplies that you can use to get your students outside right away!
This kit will give you the tools and ideas you’ll need to start exploring natural spaces with your students. This kit has the building blocks for outdoor lessons in science, physical education, art, math and language arts for Kindergarten to Grade 3. Along with a full teacher guide, you will receive all the equipment including , and more! (valued at ~$200). Not only will you get it for free, but we will also show you how to use all the equipment and facilitate meaningful curriculum-connected activities.
Themes:
This kit will give you the tools and ideas you’ll need to start exploring natural spaces with your students. This kit has the building blocks for outdoor lessons in science, physical education, art, math and language arts for Kindergarten to Grade 3. Along with a full teacher guide, you will receive all the equipment including , and more! (valued at ~$200). Not only will you get it for free, but we will also show you how to use all the equipment and facilitate meaningful curriculum-connected activities.
Themes:
- Tips & Best Practices for outdoor learning
- Environmental Awareness
- The Forest Floor
- Our Changing World
- Nature Stories
- Nature in Your Community
FIVE MINUTE FIELD TRIPS: VOLUME 2
Exciting NEWS!
Our latest edition of Five Minute Field Trips: Volume 2 is here!
Head on over to our Resource Section to check it out!
AWARD NOMINATIONS FOR 2025-26
Do you know a Teacher or Educator who is has done some outstanding work in the field of Global, Environmental and Outdoor Education?
If you know someone who deserves recognition in their field please take the time to read through our award applications and submit one today!
If you know someone who deserves recognition in their field please take the time to read through our award applications and submit one today!
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For all the latest up to date information, resources and news from across Canada.
