Founded in 2020, the Urban Forest School, of Black to the Land Coalition is focused on ensuring that Black, Brown, and Indigenous children have the space and ability to create holistic relationships with land that are rooted in our respective ancestral practices. We believe that an early and intentional relationship with nature can build the Earth-centered environmental justice warriors of the next generation., Our unique model centers on culturally relevant open exploration and nature play throughout the forests and landscapes of Detroit and beyond. We have curated an adult-led, child-centered community of families, both homeschooling and traditional schooling, to embrace co-teaching and co-learning community opportunities to teach alongside Mama Earth.

 

In requiring an adult to accompany our children at each Urban Forest School adventure, we utilize a village model of intergenerational learning. Children can safely take risks and push their limits in the presence of the most important adults in their life, and at the Urban Forest School that's exactly what we want them to do! Through hiking, exploring, and various other outdoor-centered educational programming, we teach sustainable and culturally based foraging methods, tree/plant/flower identification, animal tracking, medicine making and artisanship, and ultimately modeling for our children and our community the safest and most sustainable ways to enjoy nature and preserve its beauty and its bounty.