ANCA CONNECTS: Baltimore Woods Nature Center in Marcellus, NY

Friday, March 29 — 9:30am-4pm ET

Join us for an enriching day of professional development and networking at Baltimore Woods Nature Center in Marcellus, New York. This CONNECTS program offers you the opportunity to connect with professional peers while learning about the operations of nature centers, outdoor schools, and related organizations. 

Located less than fifteen miles from Syracuse, Baltimore Woods Nature Center is a regional leader in facilitating opportunities for people to build personal connections to nature. During this program, you can explore the surrounding forest and learn firsthand about the nature center’s operations and amenities, including an interpretive center, gift shop, and wildflower garden.

This program includes discussion-based sessions about operations at nature centers and outdoor schools. These sessions invite all participants to contribute to the discussion, so that you can hear a variety of perspectives from professionals at other organizations. Program participants will be able to suggest session topics — this allows you to bring any question where you'd like insights from professional peers.

Throughout the program you will have opportunities to connect with peers and build your professional network. As such you will not only have new ideas and resources to implement at your organization following this CONNECTS, but you will also gain professional connections that can support your work throughout the year.

This ANCA CONNECTS program is for any professional at a nature center, outdoor school, or related organization. We welcome both ANCA members and non-members along with professionals from outside New York to attend.

 

Registration

Registration for this program has closed.

  

Sessions

This CONNECTS will use an Open Space format where any participant can suggest a session topic; all participants then collectively decide which session topics will be held.

Sessions are discussion-based, where participants contribute to the conversation and a facilitator guides the dialogue to keep the discussions on track and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate. These discussions allow you to share with your peers, learn new ideas, and work together to find solutions.

If you suggest a topic and it is chosen as a session, you will be asked to introduce the topic and facilitate the discussion among the participants. Because all participants contribute to the conversation, as the facilitator you do not need to be perceived as the expert in the room; you can simply start the conversation and engage accordingly.

This system allows you to collaboratively create your experience, and provides the opportunity for you to be an active participant rather than a passive listener.

Session Topics

Topics may include any subject pertaining to the management of nature centers and related organizations, as well as trends in our profession. 

Examples of topics include:

 

About Baltimore Woods Nature Center

With a mission of connecting communities and nature in wisdom and wonder, Baltimore Woods Nature Center (BWNC) is a leader in facilitating opportunities for people to build personal connections to nature. Through engaging experiences and place-based exploration, BWNC envisions communities united in stewardship and love of the natural world. For more than 55 years, the organization has accomplished this through teaching and interactive programs that take place at Baltimore Woods headquarters in Marcellus, as well as in urban, suburban, and other rural landscapes of Central New York.

Covering a distance of six miles, the Baltimore Woods system of nine trails is open to the public every day. The 270-acre Baltimore Woods preserve is made up of land owned by the Central New York Land Trust, a local land trust who contracts with Baltimore Woods Nature Center for management, utilization, and maintenance of the property, and land owned by Baltimore Woods Nature Center.

Location

Address: 4007 Bishop Hill Road, Marcellus, NY 13108
Directions on Google Maps