Michael CARNEGIE, Connecting with Nature through… par SurfriderEurope

CONNECTING TO NATURE THROUGH SURFING

My presentation is largely about the work I have been doing in recent years as an environmental educator. I have developed an education programme for surfers and people from all walks of life. The programme has various lessons and exercises but focuses on using outdoor experiences in the marine world including surfing lessons to encourage an appreciation of nature.

I have been applying ideas that began while I worked as a wilderness guide and which I have developed further with encouragement from the Wilderness foundation.

I discuss the Wilderness Leadership School approach of connecting people to nature by experiences in remote areas and the powerful effects this has on people. Then I discuss the idea of applying these ideas to the marine world and the importance of the marine world as a wilderness area. The sea is the most accessible wilderness area where people can relax in nature and draw inspiration close to home at little expense.

I discuss how important waves are in the natural balance.

I discuss how this appreciation of marine nature is part of the surfing lifestyle.

I plan to support my talk with a PowerPoint presentation consisting of photos showing education classes, relevant scenes from nature and the surfing world as well as copies of my paintings.

The ideas presented are intended to support the argument in favor of protecting waves and the coast by showing the value of natural areas especially the sea for communities and society as a whole.

I talk about my experiences that led to me becoming involved in what I am focusing on at the moment to explain how these ideas developed and to give a background to the ideas discussed.

In the second section I talk about how these ideas were applied since 2008 to the education programme with SOS in Cape Town.

Once the work has been explained I discuss the positive results achieved. This demonstrates the importance of having these natural areas as a valuable link for society as a whole to nature and a balanced approach to life.

Finally I propose suggestions for ways forward in protecting natural areas and encouraging an appreciation with today’s leaders and societies.

There is more info on my website www.michaelcarnegie.com