The innovative commitment to School Parks in Chilean Patagonia

Although classrooms are thought of as the place of education par excellence, for Fundación Nativos the longest school in humanity is Nature, thinking that, for thousands of years, the human being has been formed through experience and contact with natural cycles. And today, in the new generations, there is a kind of extinction of real contact with the natural world.
“Thousands of young people don’t know nature. And for that reason, we believe that they are being formed without the mettle or wisdom provided by rivers, fungi, insects, forests, mountains, glaciers and sky. It is fascinating and urgent to reverse this,” says Cristián Fernández, Founder of Nativos.
For this reason, and together with the Astoreca schools among others, the Foundation is seeking to integrate and democratize their experiences to all the second media of schools both in Lampa and Renca, to impact them, their families and their communities.
“We want to measure, record and communicate what these trips produce, in order to innovate in the ways of educating,” he explains.
In that sense, what they seek is that the Kaikén School Park and its model serve as a reference to influence future public policies, “and that our work expands so that other schools promote Native Experiences in their school community. The idea is that the seal of Parque Escuela transcends the National Parks and other reserves.”
“We dream that every young person in our country -during their school years- can live a deep experience with the untouched nature of Patagonia, hand in hand with a School Park, promoting guardians who promote good living in their communities, and venture to rethink the ways of making future”, adds Rodrigo Matus G, Co-founder of Nativos.
And he concludes by commenting that “today we know that territories of thousands of years – such as forests, lakes, pampas and rivers – hide learning not only natural, but also ethical, human, social and personal. That is why Nativos calls for young people to return to nature and parks to be schools.”

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Original source in Spanish