{"id":2705,"date":"2020-12-09T21:33:02","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T02:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/natureforall.global\/fr\/?p=2705"},"modified":"2020-12-18T12:12:42","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T17:12:42","slug":"students-on-ice-guest-post-using-nature-as-a-tool-for-wellness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/natureforall.global\/fr\/students-on-ice-guest-post-using-nature-as-a-tool-for-wellness\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Students On Ice guest post: Using nature as a tool for wellness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Originally published in the <\/em>Students On Ice (SOI) Newsroom<\/em><\/a>. Check in regularly for news from SOI, including their newest initiatives, upcoming expeditions, accomplishments by alumni, and much more.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Written by <\/strong>Kim Mathieu, SOI Arctic 2016 alum<\/p>\n

Version fran\u00e7aise ci-dessous<\/em><\/p>\n

Travelling, and here I am talking about a REAL journey, is an adventure that starts long before the plane takes flight and extends long after returning home. For example, an expedition with Students on Ice is a \u201creal\u201d trip: the anticipation, the preparation for the interviews, the forms to complete, the e-mails, the excitement of meeting people for the first time, waiting at the airport or on the tarmac \u2026 When the unforgettable experience ends, it is a return to reality: we talk about our experience to our families and friends, our photos are added on social media, we make an appearance in the local newspaper and maintain our relations with our new expedition friends.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to find a similar experience outside of the Students on Ice expeditions. My friend Eva Wu (co-founder of the organisation North in Focus<\/a>) and I lived our respective experiences in 2014 and 2016 and have both continued feeding that positive energy by staying involved in the Students on Ice alumni network. We really only met when we both became Parks Canada Youth Ambassadors (2017-2018). In this position, our mandate was to inspire Canadian youth from a diversity of backgrounds to head outdoors and experience the rich natural and cultural heritage that Canada has to offer. By proposing destinations to explore, we found new and creative ways to inspire a love for nature and culture for youth aged 18-35 by highlighting the world renowned conservation and restoration projects at Parks Canada.<\/p>\n

The Yukon, we thought about it long and hard. It was pretty ambitious. It\u2019s expensive to go to the Yukon, it\u2019s far (from Ottawa) and it\u2019s a really big trip to plan\u2026 No? Turns out it isn\u2019t! With stubborn determination, we proposed a bunch of ways to share this beautiful part of the country with Canadian youth to our team at Parks Canada. After finding discounted flights with Air North and a cheap deal for a car rental, we flew off to the territory with our tents and bug spray packed tightly in our backpacks.<\/p>\n

We had planned the entire trip in advance, and knew that we wanted to work with local artists, but we never could have anticipated crossing paths with the incredible people that we did. Meeting artist Emma Barr<\/a>\u00a0was completely serendipitous and we were utterly amazed by her ability to pinpoint emotions, to speak of touching and inspiring topics and to eloquently express herself. In addition to being an extremely renowned mixed-media artist and painter in Whitehorse, she mentors youth through difficult periods in their lives and inspires them to trust in their artistic abilities.<\/p>\n

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Canadian visual artist Emma Barr, at her studio in Whitehorse, Yukon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Without even meaning to do so, Emma managed to also inspire Eva and I to express ourselves in non conventional and creative ways, and to create this podcast episode. We were able to take our two favorite topics, arts and science, and combine them to offer you this reflection on topics related to the environment, conservation, arts and mental health.<\/p>\n

Almost one full year after returning home from this REAL journey, we are tying up all of our loose ends by offering you this artistically creative podcast episode and a mini-documentary (below) created by our Parks Canada videographers and friends: Sebastien Molgat and Guillaume Paquette-Jetten.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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L\u2019exp\u00e9rience d\u2019un voyage, et ici je parle d\u2019un VRAI voyage, c\u2019est une aventure qui commence bien avant de prendre l\u2019avion et qui se prolonge longtemps apr\u00e8s le retour. Par exemple, une exp\u00e9dition avec Students on Ice, \u00e7a, c\u2019est un \u00ab\u2009vrai\u2009\u00bb voyage: l\u2019anticipation des moments \u00e0 venir, la pr\u00e9paration aux entrevues, les formulaires \u00e0 compl\u00e9ter, les communications par courriel, l\u2019excitation des premi\u00e8res rencontres, l\u2019attente \u00e0 l\u2019a\u00e9roport ou sur le tarmac\u2026 Lorsque l\u2019exp\u00e9rience inoubliable se termine, c\u2019est un retour \u00e0 la r\u00e9alit\u00e9: nous parlons de notre v\u00e9cu \u00e0 nos familles et amis, nos photos sont ajout\u00e9es sur les r\u00e9seaux sociaux, nous apparaissons dans le journal local et entretenons nos relations avec nos nouveaux amis de l\u2019exp\u00e9dition, etc.<\/p>\n

C\u2019est difficile de retrouver une exp\u00e9rience comparable aux exp\u00e9ditions de Students on Ice. Mon amie \u00c9va Wu (cofondatrice de l\u2019organisation North In Focus<\/a>) et moi l\u2019avons v\u00e9cu respectivement en 2014 et 2016 et avons toutes les deux continu\u00e9 de nourrir cette incroyable \u00e9nergie en nous rapprochant du r\u00e9seau d\u2019Alumni de Students on Ice. Nous nous sommes v\u00e9ritablement rencontr\u00e9es lorsque nous sommes devenues les deux Jeunes Ambassadrices de Parcs Canada (2017-2018). Notre mandat \u00e9tait d\u2019encourager la jeunesse canadienne de toutes origines \u00e0 sortir et \u00e0 d\u00e9couvrir le riche patrimoine culturel et naturel que le Canada a \u00e0 offrir. En proposant des endroits \u00e0 explorer et des gens \u00e0 rencontrer, nous avons trouv\u00e9 des fa\u00e7ons cr\u00e9atives pour inspirer l\u2019amour de la nature et de la culture chez les 18 \u00e0 35 ans tout en mettant en valeur les projets de conservation et de restauration de Parcs Canada qui ont une renomm\u00e9e mondiale.<\/p>\n

C\u2019est dans le cadre ce mandat que nous avons longuement pens\u00e9 au Yukon. C\u2019\u00e9tait assez ambitieux quand m\u00eame. Le Yukon, c\u2019est co\u00fbteux de s\u2019y rendre et assez loin (d\u2019Ottawa) en plus d\u2019\u00eatre un vraiment grand voyage\u2026 non\u2009? EH BIEN NON\u2009! C\u2019est avec une d\u00e9termination accrue que nous avons propos\u00e9 \u00e0 notre \u00e9quipe de Parcs Canada de faire d\u00e9couvrir cette partie du pays aux autres jeunes Canadiens. Apr\u00e8s avoir trouv\u00e9 des billets d\u2019avion \u00e0 rabais avec Air North et des coupons de r\u00e9duction sur la location de voiture, nous nous sommes envol\u00e9es avec notre tente et beaucoup de chasse-moustique dans notre sac \u00e0 dos!<\/p>\n

Les plus grandes surprises que nous avons eues sont les rencontres que nous avons faites. Nous souhaitions rencontrer des artistes, mais qui? Comme par magie, Emma Barr<\/a> nous est apparue et a su mettre des mots sur des sujets touchants et inspirants. En plus d\u2019\u00eatre une artiste peintre extr\u00eamement reconnue \u00e0 Whitehorse, elle inspire les jeunes \u00e0 avoir confiance en leurs capacit\u00e9s artistiques et \u00e0 passer au travers des p\u00e9riodes difficiles de leur vie.<\/p>\n

Sans m\u00eame le vouloir, Emma nous a aussi inspir\u00e9es, \u00c9va et moi, \u00e0 nous aussi nous exprimer de fa\u00e7on hors conventionnel et \u00e0 cr\u00e9er ce balado (podcast). Nous avons pris deux de nos sujets favoris, soit les arts et la science, et les avons combin\u00e9s pour vous offrir un balado qui fait r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir sur l\u2019environnement, la conservation, l\u2019art et la sant\u00e9 mentale.<\/p>\n

Presque un an apr\u00e8s notre retour de ce VRAI voyage et de la r\u00e9flexion qui s\u2019en est suivi, nous bouclons cette exp\u00e9rience en vous offrant cette cr\u00e9ation artistique (balado) ainsi qu\u2019un mini documentaire r\u00e9alis\u00e9 par nos vid\u00e9astes de Parcs Canada : S\u00e9bastien Molgat et Guillaume Paquette-Jetten.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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