April 22, 2025 • 28 mins
Happy Earth Day! In this episode, we discuss the importance of connecting kids with nature and the Cleveland Outdoor Bill of Rights, with Renee Boronka, Director of Conservation Education and Outreach at the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. The Cleveland Outdoor Bill of Rights outlines twelve fundamental nature experiences every child deserves, from breathing clean air to camping under starry skies.
What began as a grant-funded project to better connect urban youth with nature evolved into a collaboration between environmental organizations, libraries, schools, and community groups. Through hundreds of survey responses, Cleveland's children revealed not only what they love about outdoor experiences but also the barriers preventing them from enjoying nature in their neighborhoods.
John Marshall High School AP Environmental Science students wrote the Bill of Rights based on community input and guidance from Renee and their teacher, Mary Kennedy Brown. Rights include breathing clean air, safe recreation on Lake Erie, hiking in nature, walking tree-lined streets, camping under the stars, and more.
With Cleveland City Council poised to adopt the resolution this month, the Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights serves as a powerful statement of values and a practical framework for future environmental planning. As Boronka explains, similar initiatives in cities like Austin and Baltimore have catalyzed significant improvements in youth access to quality green spaces.
Join us to hear the Children read the Bill of Rights they created and how the Western Reserve Land Conservancy and others are addressing the growing disconnect between children and nature, a disconnect linked to concerning trends in physical and mental health.
Today's Guest - Renee Boronka, Director of Conservation Education and Outreach at the Western Reserve Land Conservancy.
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About the Western Reserve Land Conservancy
Nature Everywhere (formerly Cities Connecting Children to Nature)
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Diane Bickett (00:04):
You're listening to EcoSpeak CLE, a podcast for
the eco-curious in NortheastOhio.
My name is Diane Bickett and myproducer is Greg Rotuno.
Together we speak with localsustainability leaders and
invite you to connect, learn andlive with our community and
planet in mind.
Hello friends, happy EarthMonth.
I'm going to lead off with aproverb today, and you may have
(00:27):
heard it before.
It goes like this a societygrows great when old men and
women I will add plant treeswhose shade they know they will
never sit in.
And such is the work of so manyin our community who are sowing
the seeds that will lead to thewell-being of our younger and
future generations.
(00:47):
Whether it's planting trees,planting bike trails, creating
green space or bringing us greenenergy grids, this work is
planned with future generationsin mind, and today, in honor of
Earth Day next week, ourchildren get a voice through our
guest today, Renee Boronka.
She is the Director ofConservation, Education and
(01:08):
Outreach at the Western ReserveLand Conservancy and for the
past couple years, Renee hasworked with students in the city
of Cleveland to help developthe Cleveland Outdoor Bill of
Rights.
This Bill of Rights is a listof nature experiences that
Cleveland's children want toenjoy as they grow up, and this
Bill of Rights is a list ofnature experiences that
Cleveland's children want toenjoy as they grow up.
And this Bill of Rights isexpected to be formally adopted
(01:30):
by Cleveland City Council laterthis month.
Join us to hear Renee explainhow the Cleveland Outdoor Bill
of Rights came to be and thebenefits of connecting children
to nature.
Welcome, Renee, Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Greg is not able to join ustoday, so we are recording in
the beautiful Moreland Hillsoffice of the Western Reserve
(01:51):
Land Conservancy.
I live like two miles away andI've always, you know drive or
hike by this location.
Renee Boronka (01:58):
It's a beautiful building right across from the
polo fields.
Yes, beautiful facility.
Yeah, and as you experiencedthis morning very dog friendly.
Diane Bickett (02:05):
Yes, and one of the 2024 best places to work,
according to the Cleveland PlateHealers.
So maybe there's some jobopportunities you would like to
share later.
So thank you.
So I think we could talk aboutthe Bill of Rights first, or we
could hear the Bill of Rightsfirst.
What do you think we should do?
I don of Rights first, or wecould hear the Bill of Rights
first.
What do you think we should do?
Renee Boronka (02:27):
I don't know, maybe to introduce this topic,
it would be good to just readthe Bill of Rights and let folks
hear it, and what we'reproposing as Cleveland's
Children's Outdoor Bill ofRights.
Diane Bickett (02:36):
Okay, very good.
So there's a preamble andthere's 12 rights, so why don't
you read the preamble, as itwill read in the resolution that
you hope to have adopted by thecity, and then I will play for
you the recording that I madelast Friday at the Northeast
Ohio Youth Climate Summit, whichis six John Marshall students
(03:03):
reading some of the rights thatthey helped develop.
Exactly Okay.
So let's do that.
Okay, here it is the Clevelandno, the Cleveland Children's
Outdoor Bill of Rights.
Perfect.
Renee Boronka (03:17):
Whereas studies show that children who learn and
play in nature are healthier,happier and perform better in
school.
Play in nature are healthier,happier and perform better in
school.
And whereas children who havesafe access to parks, zoos,
nature centers, lakes and riversand other public outdoor areas
are more resilient, moreconfident, more creative and
better problem solvers.
And whereas children whodevelop a positive relationship
(03:40):
with nature are more likely tobecome tomorrow's caretakers of
our natural heritage.
And whereas children andfamilies will have access to
Cleveland's parks, pools, trails, playgrounds and green spaces
where they can freely play,feeling safe and secure, whereas
through its parks, trails,lakeshore green spaces and other
(04:01):
outdoor areas, clevelandprovides a wide variety of
quality outdoor opportunitiesfor its residents, and therefore
we adopt this Children'sOutdoor Bill of Rights, in which
every child in Cleveland hasthe right to Right number one
breathe fresh and clean air.
Students (04:20):
Right #1 Breath fresh and clean air.
twoRight #2, Recreate on the
beaches and in the waters ofLake Erie.
Right #3 P lay in clean parks,green spaces, rivers and streams
.
Right #4 Bike on safe trails andparks that connect community.
Right #5 Hike and explore safelyin nature.
Right #6 Walk along tree-linedstreets in their neighborhood.
(04:43):
Right #7 Play in the snow.
Build a snowman, ride a sled,throw a
snowball.
Right #8 Bond in soil, plant andnurture a seed.
Watch it grow.
Right #9 engage Watch andconnect with your community at
events in parks and green spaces.
Right #10, Learn with family andfriends over an outdoor meal.
Right #11, watch the stars shinebright during a peaceful night
(05:06):
of camping.
Right #12, learn in nature,building confidence, to be
stewards of our natural world.
All right, so that is theOutdoor Bill of Rights.
Renee, do you have a favorite,or which one of those speaks to
you the most?
Renee Boronka (05:22):
I think for me as a kid that grew up in Cleveland
and I grew up on the west sidein the Cadell neighborhood it
was always very special for meto walk to Edgewater and me and
my friends would go to Edgewaterin the summertime and go
swimming and, you know, lay onthe beach.
And so for me, number tworesonates the most with me
because it's recreate, safelyate, Safely on Beaches and the
(05:44):
Waters of Lake Erie, and I feelso passionate about helping
residents in Cleveland connectto Lake Erie and be able to put
their hand in the water andtouch the lake.
Diane Bickett (05:57):
Okay, yeah, I think one of my favorites is
number nine, which is engage andconnect with the community at
events in parks and green spaces, which is all about bringing
people together, yeah, andCleveland has lots of wonderful
festivals and things like thatthat bring folks together too,
so yeah, Ethnic festivals, yeah.
So how did the Bill of Rightscome to be?
Renee Boronka (06:20):
Oh my gosh.
It's been a bit about four yearsin the making.
It started Really four yearsago.
(06:49):
I learned about an initiativeby the Children and Nature
Network and the National Leaguesuccessful in other parts, other
cities in the United Statesstates, that were connecting
kids to nature better than wewere doing at the moment here in
Cleveland.
So through that grantopportunity I got to go to
conferences and I got to go toworkshops and I got to meet
(07:12):
folks that had implementedinitiatives in cities like
Austin that has probably thegold standard when it comes to a
city connecting children tonature.
They've been doing it for eightyears, though, so we'll give
them credit for that.
Also, cities like Baltimore,Rochester, Grand Rapids, and
what I learned is that many ofthose cities started out by
(07:34):
passing a Children's OutdoorBill of Rights within their
cities.
So it demonstrated a commitmentby the city and it sort of got
the initiative rolling.
It laid down a framework.
It got people thinking abouthow are we going to connect kids
to nature better within ourcommunities?
Diane Bickett (07:53):
So it was a launching point for other
initiatives after that.
Renee Boronka (07:57):
Yeah.
So I started with thinking I'mgoing to get this done in
Cleveland and it's taken me fouryears to get there.
That grant was only two yearslong but I engaged with many,
many groups throughout thattimeframe.
So this is such a collaborativeeffort and some of the key
players in that first group ofpeople that we got together and
(08:21):
sort of thought, how are wegoing to create a children's
after Bill of Rights?
Because we really wanted it toreflect what children in
Cleveland like to do when theygo outside.
We didn't want to write therights.
Diane Bickett (08:30):
Hence the building a snowman and riding a
sled and throwing a snowball,right?
Renee Boronka (08:34):
yeah, we wanted the kids to sort of tell us what
they like to do.
So the groups that initiallygot together with me are
Footpath Foundation NatureCenter at Shaker Lakes, cu at
the top, cuyahoga Soil and WaterConservation District, organic
Connects and others, clevelandPublic Library.
We got together and we werelike how can we figure out what
(08:56):
kids want to do?
So we decided to develop asurvey and we had our survey
done on a platform, online, andwe also had it done on paper and
we would go to community events.
The library was instrumental inhaving kids do the survey after
school at the library and sothey would help them sort of
(09:17):
answer the questions, andessentially the questions were
ranking these things that youcan do outside which do you like
to do the best, okay, but italso delve into why you're not
going and recreating and usingparks within your community.
And a lot of that stems fromfeeling safe and secure.
Okay, and then we got a lot ofreally interesting data about if
(09:40):
kids in Cleveland go to thepark by themselves, if they go
with a family member, if theydon't even go to the park in
their neighborhood, if they getin a car and venture out to go.
So the survey really opened upa lot of our eyes as to what
kids like to do outside and whythey're not maybe going outside.
Some of the barriers?
Diane Bickett (10:00):
Yes, yes, and will that informate?
So, the data that you developthrough the surveys, first of
all, I assume you'll share thatwith, like the parks and rec
people in the city and the cityplanners and stuff so that can
inform some of their decisions.
Renee Boronka (10:17):
But how did you come to work with the John
Marshall students so after um,it was a struggle to get people
to take the survey, I have toadmit.
So it took a little time, um,but we started getting more
responses as we started gettingout into the community and
advertising it a little bit more.
But once we started getting acouple hundred responses back,
(10:39):
we had hit a two-year mark withcities connecting children to
nature at that point.
But I really think it did afantastic job of getting us all
together.
So we were starting to formthis bigger collaborative of
folks that are doingnature-based education with kids
in the city of Cleveland andfrom there.
Mary Kennedy Brown is aneducator at Cleveland Municipal
(11:02):
School District.
She teaches at John Marshall.
She took the initiative toapply for a second round of
funding from the same sourcesChildren in Nature Network and
the National League of Citiesand they had tweaked it a little
bit and at this point they werecalling it Nature Everywhere.
So it was a wonderful way tokeep the momentum going.
From working on the initialcities connecting children to
(11:26):
nature, we transitioned intobecoming Nature Everywhere, and
at this point CMSD became muchmore involved in the
collaboration than they had beenin the past.
Nice, so, with NatureEverywhere, we had Mary Kennedy
Brown from John Marshall, we hadDr Terry Lyles, who is at the
(11:46):
administrative level, andKirsten Mihaljevic, who's also
she's retired now, but she wasat the administration level at
CMSD.
In addition, mary Rouse fromCleveland Metro Parks and
January Miller from theConservancy for the Cuyahoga
Valley National Park andCouncilman Casey.
We all formed a pretty tightgroup of folks that started
(12:11):
working together on the NatureEverywhere grant.
Diane Bickett (12:13):
Okay and so what will the Nature Everywhere grant
?
Renee Boronka (12:18):
Provide.
Yes, so through the NatureEverywhere grant.
They're more about trying to dosome actionable things at this
point.
So we've we've gotten throughthe Children's Outdoor Bill of
Rights and we're at the stagenow where we're hopeful that
it'll become a resolution withinthe city of Cleveland within
the month.
Nature Everywhere our group islooking at taking a vacant lot
(12:43):
and hopefully we could do thiswith more than just one but
right now we're taking babysteps.
We're going to turn a vacantlot in Cleveland into a nature
exploration area Cool.
So think of fun things thatkids like to do free-form to
play outside jumping on logs,swinging on climbing trees,
(13:04):
playing in the sand that sort ofthing that we want to implement
within a lot near a CMSD school.
Diane Bickett (13:11):
So will the Bill of Rights be used to kind of
build some of the things thatthe kids have asked for?
Renee Boronka (13:16):
Yes, yes, the Bill of Rights is such an
amazing framework in othercities and I'm hopeful that it
has the same effect here inCleveland.
It shows commitment from thecity of Cleveland that they
understand how important it isfor kids to have the mental and
physical health benefits of timeoutside.
It's going to help groups thatare doing nature-based education
(13:37):
already leverage possibly fundsand support to keep doing what
they're doing.
There's a lot of wonderfulorganizations doing education
within the city of Cleveland.
It's going to help groups thatare planting trees to green up
the city, creating green spaces,connecting kids to parks
through trails.
The Bill of Rights we feel likeit's really covering all the
(13:58):
bases to help kids explore theway they want to when they go
outside.
Diane Bickett (14:03):
So it's a bit of a mandate in a way.
I mean, it's what the communityhas asked for.
How did you turn all thissurvey data into these 12
specific rights.
Renee Boronka (14:14):
That is truly the credit goes to the students at
John Marshall High School.
They're in the AP EnvironmentalScience program at John
Marshall and their teacher is MsMary Brown.
Kennedy Brown and she and Itook the survey data and we
presented it to the studentsduring their class time and from
that they composed each of therights.
Diane Bickett (14:37):
Wow, kudos to them.
Yeah, they did a great job.
Okay, so these were written bythe students.
These were written by thestudents, with probably a little
bit of wordsmithing here andthere from me and her, and I For
sure and will they be attendingthe city council meeting where
you hope to have this adopted?
Renee Boronka (14:53):
Yes, so a good lesson in civics for them.
The students will be going downto the council meeting and
presenting this as somethingthat.
Going down to the councilmeeting and presenting this as
something that and that was abig, strong belief on our part
is that we wanted this to comefrom youth of Cleveland, even
though we shepherded it andhelped make it happen here in
Northeast Ohio.
(15:14):
It's really the.
The kids are the ones that Iwanted to present it to council
and you're.
Most of them are 17 and 18.
But you know they arerespectful of the other kids
growing up in Cleveland and theywant to see these things happen
for them.
Diane Bickett (15:27):
Okay, as I mentioned earlier, I was able to
meet six of the John Marshallstudents and their teacher, mary
Kennedy, at the Northeast OhioClimate Summit last week and
they were so excited about this.
When I asked them if I couldjust record them reading the
rights, they're like oh yeah,they're all over it.
So you could just tell theywere really jazzed by having a
(15:52):
hand in something this big andsomething this meaningful.
It is.
Renee Boronka (15:56):
It's really exciting.
It is.
It's great.
I'm so happy that they havethis opportunity when they go
down to the council.
I work with Matt Zone here atWestern Reserve Land Conservancy
and he's going to meet thestudents and take them on a tour
behind the scenes at council.
So it's a really wonderfulprogram, especially since John
Marshall is the home of civicsfor the city of Cleveland's.
Diane Bickett (16:17):
CMSD.
Oh, that's perfect.
Yeah, that's perfect.
So are there any fun takeawaysor anecdotes you want to share
about the students?
Renee Boronka (16:25):
I did enjoy working with the kids and I am
not a teacher and I would alwaystell Mary that when I would
come to the classroom she's gota wonderful knack of working
with the students.
But whenever I was, I'm comingto a close of working on this
project with, but then I have somuch respect for them.
They really dove in and enjoyedworking on this and were
(16:47):
present and just a reallywonderful group of kids.
Diane Bickett (16:51):
Excellent, so tell us a little bit about
yourself and your background andhow you came to work for the
one of the top workplaces inCleveland.
Renee Boronka (17:02):
Well, I spent 25 years at the Cleveland Museum of
Natural History working intheir botany department in their
natural areas division, so Imet a lot of people and have a
lot of really strong connectionsto the nature education and
natural resource managementworld within Northeast Ohio.
At the end of 2020, I took onthe educator position here at
(17:26):
director of education positionhere at Western Reserve Land
Conservancy.
There had been educationalprograms here for a long time.
When I came on board, I reallytook it to the next level.
We have a robust virtualprogram that we do in the
evening and during the day, aseries of lectures.
We also have in-person fieldtrips and events that we conduct
(17:52):
here to get people out intonature, experiencing it,
developing that love for it.
So that's kind of what I love todo with people.
I like to take them outside andhere at the Land Conservancy
we've protected over 75,000acres of land in Northeast Ohio,
so I have a playground ofplaces where I can take people
outside to appreciate nature.
(18:12):
I really like to take people toexperience unique things.
So you know, maybe it's thefirst time they've ever seen a
woodcock dance or?
Um, you know, woodcock dance,or you know A woodcock dance?
Diane Bickett (18:24):
Yes, can you take me on that?
Renee Boronka (18:28):
I don't know what that even means.
Or, you know, going to seewaterfowl, like lots of
different waterfowl, or havesandhill cranes fly over when
they're hiking on a preserve.
Hold a dragonfly in your handand realize that it's not going
to bite you or harm you in anyway, and love doing that, with
kids as well as adults.
Diane Bickett (18:48):
How does a land conservancy bring the kids to
those types of experiences?
Sure.
Renee Boronka (18:53):
We have programs that are called nature quests
and we offer those multipletimes during the year.
You can sign up for thoseanytime.
We also have a robust fieldtrip program, so every month we
have hikes and excursionsthroughout Northeast Ohio.
We kick it off every year withGroundhog Day.
Diane Bickett (19:10):
Okay, perfect.
Well, I will look for those andwe will just ignore the
lawnmower going by.
These things happen.
So, in your view, what's theimportance of nature-based
education?
Renee Boronka (19:27):
I feel like nature-based education is so
important because it helpschildren understand that
importance and where they fit inthe world from a young age and
they learn to appreciate thenatural world at a younger age,
respect it and want to take careof it.
(19:48):
We have a lot of adults thatfill that void and fill that
role right now, but they grew upin a different world than our
youth are growing up in rightnow.
I grew up where, yes, I had atelevision set and I looked at
TV, but I also spent almost allmy time outside, playing outside
(20:10):
with neighborhood kids andbeing outside, going to the park
, going to the lake, going tothe local rec center to swim in
the pool.
Children are spending so muchtime looking at devices and
computers and phones and iPadsnow and they're really not
spending quality time outside.
I like to tell folks astatistic that I just learned
(20:30):
about last December, wherethere's a 25% increase in myopia
in the youth today Wow.
So these are children that arenot exercising.
From staring at screens.
From staring at screens,they're not exercising their
vision on looking at things faraway and focusing on things like
when they're out in nature,when you're looking far and
you're observing and you'rebuilding those skills.
(20:52):
So I feel like that is justimperative that we start
addressing that with young kidsand letting them have
experiences outside.
And kids in the city are at themost risk in this in that they
really don't have someneighborhoods, don't have
quality green spaces for them togo to that they feel safe in.
(21:14):
And as much as I love the ideaof taking children out to go to
camp and to have those dayexperiences out in the rural
parts of Ohio, we need torecognize that they need good
quality green spaces that areclose to home for them.
That they can still go and havefun in nature, absolutely.
Diane Bickett (21:38):
And the more they can experience that in their
own neighborhood will take awaysome of that fear of these
spaces.
Renee Boronka (21:47):
I can remember when I was at the Natural
History Museum, we had a groupof students that we took on a
nature hike along a river and itstarted to drizzle while we
were on the river and these wereinner city kids and they were
really afraid.
They needed to go back to thebus.
They didn't want to know whatthey were just like, but they
were afraid of of just beingoutside during the inclement
(22:11):
weather.
You know, and and I I wouldhave never thought even if I
hadn't experienced it.
Diane Bickett (22:17):
Yeah, but going back to nature everywhere, how
are we making Cleveland morenature friendly?
Renee Boronka (22:26):
Well.
Nature Everywhere is designedto address, like longstanding
disparities around access tosafe outdoor spaces and nature
experiences.
It also is challenging issueslike the rise in rates of
obesity, mental illness andchronic diseases in children.
So, Nature Everywhere, is aimingto establish more green space
trees in Cleveland and, inaddition to aiming to establish
more green space trees inCleveland and, in addition to
(22:46):
that, activate those spaces,that's why the nature-based
education is so important andMayor Bibb has really adopted
this Back whenever we were doingCities Connecting Children to
Nature.
I actually had the opportunityto meet with Mayor Bibb and his
Chief of Youth and FamilyServices, chief Pryor-Jones,
(23:09):
sonia Pryor-Jones, and they bothwere very much so enthusiastic
and they've adopted theprinciples of having a
Children's Outdoor Bill ofRights.
It really dovetails with MayorBibb's prenatal to three agenda.
It establishes environmentswhere children and families can
freely play, feeling safe andsecure outside.
(23:31):
Okay, and so this dovetailsinto that.
It sounds like it.
Diane Bickett (23:36):
Very much so.
Yeah, well, plus the the, is ita division of Western Reserve
Land Conservancy?
The Urban Land Institute?
Renee Boronka (23:47):
Yeah, our Thriving Communities Office yeah
that.
Diane Bickett (23:49):
Matt's own is involved with.
Renee Boronka (23:51):
Thriving.
Diane Bickett (23:51):
Communities Institute.
Yes, exactly, so that has someJurisdiction over some of those
vacant lots and stuff in thecity right, absolutely.
Renee Boronka (24:01):
We're working through our side lot program,
our green spaces program, todevelop green spaces for the
community.
In addition to that, ourReforest, our City program is in
its 10th year this year,planting trees, not only on tree
lawns but doing our treesteward program, where we train
(24:22):
people that live in the city tocare for trees.
We also have a treedistribution program so people
can pick out a tree that theywant to put on their property
and take care of it on theirproperty.
So a wonderful initiative tore-green Cleveland and develop
useful green spaces, developuseful green spaces.
Diane Bickett (24:40):
Wow, it's just.
I love there are so manyorganizations like the Western
Reserve Land Conservancy andthose that you mentioned earlier
that are working with children,like Organic Connects and such
that are working to lift thechildren up and lift the city up
you know, for the future?
Absolutely, it's great.
It makes me feel good.
(25:00):
What?
What can you leave us with interms of events that you're
offering coming up this springthat people might want to tap
into, and how can they learnmore?
Renee Boronka (25:11):
Sure thing.
So on the Land Conservancy'swebsite we have an events tab.
We have lots of opportunitiesfor folks to get involved with
tree plantings and litterpickups and cleanups.
We have some garlic mustardpools.
We also have walks and hikes onboth sides of town east side,
west side, south side ofCleveland that you can register
(25:33):
for.
Those are our vibrant placesand they are free of charge.
We do field explorations aswell, where we dive a little
deeper into topics like adragonfly walk or mushroom walks
.
Um, there's a very nominal feefor those and you can register
for all of our events on ourwebsite under the events tab.
(25:54):
Everything is in one okay onestop and they're free.
Most of them are free.
Diane Bickett (25:58):
A handful of them are about ten dollars a person
great, yeah, and then what wasthe one you said is coming up in
june you wanted to talk about?
Yes.
Renee Boronka (26:06):
In June we are featuring the author, sharon
Dewar.
She wrote 50 hikes for kids inIllinois, indiana and Ohio and
we're doing a Saturday morningevent on June 14th with her as
well as Judy Semrock from NatureSpark.
She does a lot of fun natureprograms with kids.
We're going to be offeringhikes and a journaling activity
(26:30):
for kids at the LandConservancy's Blue Heron
Preserve.
It's in Burton, ohio.
It's got a lovely pavilion thatwe can meet under and we can
take nature walks with the kidsthrough the property and the
author will be there.
Um, if folks want to pick upher book, we'll have the ability
to do that.
Loganberry books is joining usand they'll have her book so
(26:52):
she'll sign them and give themto folks and just introducing
kids to hiking and being outside, we'll have a handful of little
hikes that we're going to takewith the children throughout the
day.
That sounds fun, that's free,open to everyone, and
registration for that is openright now on our website.
Diane Bickett (27:08):
Okay, how many people work at the Land
Conservancy?
We have about 50 folks thatwork here.
Do you, is that?
Renee Boronka (27:14):
big.
Yeah, we have 50 folks About 35here at our Moreland Hills
office, where you're at rightnow, and the rest of us.
I Moreland Hills office, whereyou're at right now and the rest
of us.
I actually work out of thrivingcommunity office in downtown
Cleveland.
Diane Bickett (27:26):
Okay, with my colleagues from Reforestar City
and our urban team started thiswhole initiative within with the
Cleveland focus, but are thereplans to expand outside of
Cleveland?
Renee Boronka (27:38):
yes, as a matter of fact, we started this
initiative in Cleveland and wealso worked with the city of
Euclid on adopting a children'soutdoor bill of rights within
Euclid, and I hope to get backon track and work with them to
pass a resolution in Euclid andother cities can use this as a
framework to help their childrenconnect better to nature, and
(28:00):
I'd be happy to meet and talkwith anyone about getting an
initiative like this startedwithin their community.
Diane Bickett (28:05):
Okay, well, I'm sure there's lots of educators
and PTO members and parents thatwould like to get on board with
that, so we'll have yourcontact information in the show
notes.
Thank you so much.
Thanks, diane.
I really enjoyed learning aboutthis.
It's really super cool.
Renee Boronka (28:19):
Yeah, happy Earth Day.
Students (28:24):
Happy Earth Day.
Happy Earth Day, Happy EarthMonth.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of EcoSpeak CLE.
You can find our full catalogof episodes on Spotify, Apple
Podcasts or wherever you getyour podcasts.
New episodes are available thefirst and third Tuesday of each
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Please follow EcoSpeak CLE onFacebook and Instagram and
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If you would like to send usfeedback and suggestions, or if
(28:45):
you'd like to become a sponsorof EcoSpeak CLE, you can email
us at hello at EcoSpeakCLEcom.
Stay tuned for more importantand inspiring stories to come.
You're listening to EcoSpeak CLE, a podcast for
the eco-curious in NortheastOhio.
My name is Diane Bickett and myproducer is Greg Rotuno.
Together we speak with localsustainability leaders and
invite you to connect, learn andlive with our community and
planet in mind.
Hello friends, happy EarthMonth.
I'm going to lead off with aproverb today, and you may have
(00:27):
heard it before.
It goes like this a societygrows great when old men and
women I will add plant treeswhose shade they know they will
never sit in.
And such is the work of so manyin our community who are sowing
the seeds that will lead to thewell-being of our younger and
future generations.
(00:47):
Whether it's planting trees,planting bike trails, creating
green space or bringing us greenenergy grids, this work is
planned with future generationsin mind, and today, in honor of
Earth Day next week, ourchildren get a voice through our
guest today, Renee Boronka.
She is the Director ofConservation, Education and
(01:08):
Outreach at the Western ReserveLand Conservancy and for the
past couple years, Renee hasworked with students in the city
of Cleveland to help developthe Cleveland Outdoor Bill of
Rights.
This Bill of Rights is a listof nature experiences that
Cleveland's children want toenjoy as they grow up, and this
Bill of Rights is a list ofnature experiences that
Cleveland's children want toenjoy as they grow up.
And this Bill of Rights isexpected to be formally adopted
(01:30):
by Cleveland City Council laterthis month.
Join us to hear Renee explainhow the Cleveland Outdoor Bill
of Rights came to be and thebenefits of connecting children
to nature.
Welcome, Renee, Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Greg is not able to join ustoday, so we are recording in
the beautiful Moreland Hillsoffice of the Western Reserve
(01:51):
Land Conservancy.
I live like two miles away andI've always, you know drive or
hike by this location.
Renee Boronka (01:58):
It's a beautiful building right across from the
polo fields.
Yes, beautiful facility.
Yeah, and as you experiencedthis morning very dog friendly.
Diane Bickett (02:05):
Yes, and one of the 2024 best places to work,
according to the Cleveland PlateHealers.
So maybe there's some jobopportunities you would like to
share later.
So thank you.
So I think we could talk aboutthe Bill of Rights first, or we
could hear the Bill of Rightsfirst.
What do you think we should do?
I don of Rights first, or wecould hear the Bill of Rights
first.
What do you think we should do?
Renee Boronka (02:27):
I don't know, maybe to introduce this topic,
it would be good to just readthe Bill of Rights and let folks
hear it, and what we'reproposing as Cleveland's
Children's Outdoor Bill ofRights.
Diane Bickett (02:36):
Okay, very good.
So there's a preamble andthere's 12 rights, so why don't
you read the preamble, as itwill read in the resolution that
you hope to have adopted by thecity, and then I will play for
you the recording that I madelast Friday at the Northeast
Ohio Youth Climate Summit, whichis six John Marshall students
(03:03):
reading some of the rights thatthey helped develop.
Exactly Okay.
So let's do that.
Okay, here it is the Clevelandno, the Cleveland Children's
Outdoor Bill of Rights.
Perfect.
Renee Boronka (03:17):
Whereas studies show that children who learn and
play in nature are healthier,happier and perform better in
school.
Play in nature are healthier,happier and perform better in
school.
And whereas children who havesafe access to parks, zoos,
nature centers, lakes and riversand other public outdoor areas
are more resilient, moreconfident, more creative and
better problem solvers.
And whereas children whodevelop a positive relationship
(03:40):
with nature are more likely tobecome tomorrow's caretakers of
our natural heritage.
And whereas children andfamilies will have access to
Cleveland's parks, pools, trails, playgrounds and green spaces
where they can freely play,feeling safe and secure, whereas
through its parks, trails,lakeshore green spaces and other
(04:01):
outdoor areas, clevelandprovides a wide variety of
quality outdoor opportunitiesfor its residents, and therefore
we adopt this Children'sOutdoor Bill of Rights, in which
every child in Cleveland hasthe right to Right number one
breathe fresh and clean air.
Students (04:20):
Right #1 Breath fresh and clean air.
twoRight #2, Recreate on the
beaches and in the waters ofLake Erie.
Right #3 P lay in clean parks,green spaces, rivers and streams
.
Right #4 Bike on safe trails andparks that connect community.
Right #5 Hike and explore safelyin nature.
Right #6 Walk along tree-linedstreets in their neighborhood.
(04:43):
Right #7 Play in the snow.
Build a snowman, ride a sled,throw a
snowball.
Right #8 Bond in soil, plant andnurture a seed.
Watch it grow.
Right #9 engage Watch andconnect with your community at
events in parks and green spaces.
Right #10, Learn with family andfriends over an outdoor meal.
Right #11, watch the stars shinebright during a peaceful night
(05:06):
of camping.
Right #12, learn in nature,building confidence, to be
stewards of our natural world.
All right, so that is theOutdoor Bill of Rights.
Renee, do you have a favorite,or which one of those speaks to
you the most?
Renee Boronka (05:22):
I think for me as a kid that grew up in Cleveland
and I grew up on the west sidein the Cadell neighborhood it
was always very special for meto walk to Edgewater and me and
my friends would go to Edgewaterin the summertime and go
swimming and, you know, lay onthe beach.
And so for me, number tworesonates the most with me
because it's recreate, safelyate, Safely on Beaches and the
(05:44):
Waters of Lake Erie, and I feelso passionate about helping
residents in Cleveland connectto Lake Erie and be able to put
their hand in the water andtouch the lake.
Diane Bickett (05:57):
Okay, yeah, I think one of my favorites is
number nine, which is engage andconnect with the community at
events in parks and green spaces, which is all about bringing
people together, yeah, andCleveland has lots of wonderful
festivals and things like thatthat bring folks together too,
so yeah, Ethnic festivals, yeah.
So how did the Bill of Rightscome to be?
Renee Boronka (06:20):
Oh my gosh.
It's been a bit about four yearsin the making.
It started Really four yearsago.
(06:49):
I learned about an initiativeby the Children and Nature
Network and the National Leaguesuccessful in other parts, other
cities in the United Statesstates, that were connecting
kids to nature better than wewere doing at the moment here in
Cleveland.
So through that grantopportunity I got to go to
conferences and I got to go toworkshops and I got to meet
(07:12):
folks that had implementedinitiatives in cities like
Austin that has probably thegold standard when it comes to a
city connecting children tonature.
They've been doing it for eightyears, though, so we'll give
them credit for that.
Also, cities like Baltimore,Rochester, Grand Rapids, and
what I learned is that many ofthose cities started out by
(07:34):
passing a Children's OutdoorBill of Rights within their
cities.
So it demonstrated a commitmentby the city and it sort of got
the initiative rolling.
It laid down a framework.
It got people thinking abouthow are we going to connect kids
to nature better within ourcommunities?
Diane Bickett (07:53):
So it was a launching point for other
initiatives after that.
Renee Boronka (07:57):
Yeah.
So I started with thinking I'mgoing to get this done in
Cleveland and it's taken me fouryears to get there.
That grant was only two yearslong but I engaged with many,
many groups throughout thattimeframe.
So this is such a collaborativeeffort and some of the key
players in that first group ofpeople that we got together and
(08:21):
sort of thought, how are wegoing to create a children's
after Bill of Rights?
Because we really wanted it toreflect what children in
Cleveland like to do when theygo outside.
We didn't want to write therights.
Diane Bickett (08:30):
Hence the building a snowman and riding a
sled and throwing a snowball,right?
Renee Boronka (08:34):
yeah, we wanted the kids to sort of tell us what
they like to do.
So the groups that initiallygot together with me are
Footpath Foundation NatureCenter at Shaker Lakes, cu at
the top, cuyahoga Soil and WaterConservation District, organic
Connects and others, clevelandPublic Library.
We got together and we werelike how can we figure out what
(08:56):
kids want to do?
So we decided to develop asurvey and we had our survey
done on a platform, online, andwe also had it done on paper and
we would go to community events.
The library was instrumental inhaving kids do the survey after
school at the library and sothey would help them sort of
(09:17):
answer the questions, andessentially the questions were
ranking these things that youcan do outside which do you like
to do the best, okay, but italso delve into why you're not
going and recreating and usingparks within your community.
And a lot of that stems fromfeeling safe and secure.
Okay, and then we got a lot ofreally interesting data about if
(09:40):
kids in Cleveland go to thepark by themselves, if they go
with a family member, if theydon't even go to the park in
their neighborhood, if they getin a car and venture out to go.
So the survey really opened upa lot of our eyes as to what
kids like to do outside and whythey're not maybe going outside.
Some of the barriers?
Diane Bickett (10:00):
Yes, yes, and will that informate?
So, the data that you developthrough the surveys, first of
all, I assume you'll share thatwith, like the parks and rec
people in the city and the cityplanners and stuff so that can
inform some of their decisions.
Renee Boronka (10:17):
But how did you come to work with the John
Marshall students so after um,it was a struggle to get people
to take the survey, I have toadmit.
So it took a little time, um,but we started getting more
responses as we started gettingout into the community and
advertising it a little bit more.
But once we started getting acouple hundred responses back,
(10:39):
we had hit a two-year mark withcities connecting children to
nature at that point.
But I really think it did afantastic job of getting us all
together.
So we were starting to formthis bigger collaborative of
folks that are doingnature-based education with kids
in the city of Cleveland andfrom there.
Mary Kennedy Brown is aneducator at Cleveland Municipal
(11:02):
School District.
She teaches at John Marshall.
She took the initiative toapply for a second round of
funding from the same sourcesChildren in Nature Network and
the National League of Citiesand they had tweaked it a little
bit and at this point they werecalling it Nature Everywhere.
So it was a wonderful way tokeep the momentum going.
From working on the initialcities connecting children to
(11:26):
nature, we transitioned intobecoming Nature Everywhere, and
at this point CMSD became muchmore involved in the
collaboration than they had beenin the past.
Nice, so, with NatureEverywhere, we had Mary Kennedy
Brown from John Marshall, we hadDr Terry Lyles, who is at the
(11:46):
administrative level, andKirsten Mihaljevic, who's also
she's retired now, but she wasat the administration level at
CMSD.
In addition, mary Rouse fromCleveland Metro Parks and
January Miller from theConservancy for the Cuyahoga
Valley National Park andCouncilman Casey.
We all formed a pretty tightgroup of folks that started
(12:11):
working together on the NatureEverywhere grant.
Diane Bickett (12:13):
Okay and so what will the Nature Everywhere grant
?
Renee Boronka (12:18):
Provide.
Yes, so through the NatureEverywhere grant.
They're more about trying to dosome actionable things at this
point.
So we've we've gotten throughthe Children's Outdoor Bill of
Rights and we're at the stagenow where we're hopeful that
it'll become a resolution withinthe city of Cleveland within
the month.
Nature Everywhere our group islooking at taking a vacant lot
(12:43):
and hopefully we could do thiswith more than just one but
right now we're taking babysteps.
We're going to turn a vacantlot in Cleveland into a nature
exploration area Cool.
So think of fun things thatkids like to do free-form to
play outside jumping on logs,swinging on climbing trees,
(13:04):
playing in the sand that sort ofthing that we want to implement
within a lot near a CMSD school.
Diane Bickett (13:11):
So will the Bill of Rights be used to kind of
build some of the things thatthe kids have asked for?
Renee Boronka (13:16):
Yes, yes, the Bill of Rights is such an
amazing framework in othercities and I'm hopeful that it
has the same effect here inCleveland.
It shows commitment from thecity of Cleveland that they
understand how important it isfor kids to have the mental and
physical health benefits of timeoutside.
It's going to help groups thatare doing nature-based education
(13:37):
already leverage possibly fundsand support to keep doing what
they're doing.
There's a lot of wonderfulorganizations doing education
within the city of Cleveland.
It's going to help groups thatare planting trees to green up
the city, creating green spaces,connecting kids to parks
through trails.
The Bill of Rights we feel likeit's really covering all the
(13:58):
bases to help kids explore theway they want to when they go
outside.
Diane Bickett (14:03):
So it's a bit of a mandate in a way.
I mean, it's what the communityhas asked for.
How did you turn all thissurvey data into these 12
specific rights.
Renee Boronka (14:14):
That is truly the credit goes to the students at
John Marshall High School.
They're in the AP EnvironmentalScience program at John
Marshall and their teacher is MsMary Brown.
Kennedy Brown and she and Itook the survey data and we
presented it to the studentsduring their class time and from
that they composed each of therights.
Diane Bickett (14:37):
Wow, kudos to them.
Yeah, they did a great job.
Okay, so these were written bythe students.
These were written by thestudents, with probably a little
bit of wordsmithing here andthere from me and her, and I For
sure and will they be attendingthe city council meeting where
you hope to have this adopted?
Renee Boronka (14:53):
Yes, so a good lesson in civics for them.
The students will be going downto the council meeting and
presenting this as somethingthat.
Going down to the councilmeeting and presenting this as
something that and that was abig, strong belief on our part
is that we wanted this to comefrom youth of Cleveland, even
though we shepherded it andhelped make it happen here in
Northeast Ohio.
(15:14):
It's really the.
The kids are the ones that Iwanted to present it to council
and you're.
Most of them are 17 and 18.
But you know they arerespectful of the other kids
growing up in Cleveland and theywant to see these things happen
for them.
Diane Bickett (15:27):
Okay, as I mentioned earlier, I was able to
meet six of the John Marshallstudents and their teacher, mary
Kennedy, at the Northeast OhioClimate Summit last week and
they were so excited about this.
When I asked them if I couldjust record them reading the
rights, they're like oh yeah,they're all over it.
So you could just tell theywere really jazzed by having a
(15:52):
hand in something this big andsomething this meaningful.
It is.
Renee Boronka (15:56):
It's really exciting.
It is.
It's great.
I'm so happy that they havethis opportunity when they go
down to the council.
I work with Matt Zone here atWestern Reserve Land Conservancy
and he's going to meet thestudents and take them on a tour
behind the scenes at council.
So it's a really wonderfulprogram, especially since John
Marshall is the home of civicsfor the city of Cleveland's.
Diane Bickett (16:17):
CMSD.
Oh, that's perfect.
Yeah, that's perfect.
So are there any fun takeawaysor anecdotes you want to share
about the students?
Renee Boronka (16:25):
I did enjoy working with the kids and I am
not a teacher and I would alwaystell Mary that when I would
come to the classroom she's gota wonderful knack of working
with the students.
But whenever I was, I'm comingto a close of working on this
project with, but then I have somuch respect for them.
They really dove in and enjoyedworking on this and were
(16:47):
present and just a reallywonderful group of kids.
Diane Bickett (16:51):
Excellent, so tell us a little bit about
yourself and your background andhow you came to work for the
one of the top workplaces inCleveland.
Renee Boronka (17:02):
Well, I spent 25 years at the Cleveland Museum of
Natural History working intheir botany department in their
natural areas division, so Imet a lot of people and have a
lot of really strong connectionsto the nature education and
natural resource managementworld within Northeast Ohio.
At the end of 2020, I took onthe educator position here at
(17:26):
director of education positionhere at Western Reserve Land
Conservancy.
There had been educationalprograms here for a long time.
When I came on board, I reallytook it to the next level.
We have a robust virtualprogram that we do in the
evening and during the day, aseries of lectures.
We also have in-person fieldtrips and events that we conduct
(17:52):
here to get people out intonature, experiencing it,
developing that love for it.
So that's kind of what I love todo with people.
I like to take them outside andhere at the Land Conservancy
we've protected over 75,000acres of land in Northeast Ohio,
so I have a playground ofplaces where I can take people
outside to appreciate nature.
(18:12):
I really like to take people toexperience unique things.
So you know, maybe it's thefirst time they've ever seen a
woodcock dance or?
Um, you know, woodcock dance,or you know A woodcock dance?
Diane Bickett (18:24):
Yes, can you take me on that?
Renee Boronka (18:28):
I don't know what that even means.
Or, you know, going to seewaterfowl, like lots of
different waterfowl, or havesandhill cranes fly over when
they're hiking on a preserve.
Hold a dragonfly in your handand realize that it's not going
to bite you or harm you in anyway, and love doing that, with
kids as well as adults.
Diane Bickett (18:48):
How does a land conservancy bring the kids to
those types of experiences?
Sure.
Renee Boronka (18:53):
We have programs that are called nature quests
and we offer those multipletimes during the year.
You can sign up for thoseanytime.
We also have a robust fieldtrip program, so every month we
have hikes and excursionsthroughout Northeast Ohio.
We kick it off every year withGroundhog Day.
Diane Bickett (19:10):
Okay, perfect.
Well, I will look for those andwe will just ignore the
lawnmower going by.
These things happen.
So, in your view, what's theimportance of nature-based
education?
Renee Boronka (19:27):
I feel like nature-based education is so
important because it helpschildren understand that
importance and where they fit inthe world from a young age and
they learn to appreciate thenatural world at a younger age,
respect it and want to take careof it.
(19:48):
We have a lot of adults thatfill that void and fill that
role right now, but they grew upin a different world than our
youth are growing up in rightnow.
I grew up where, yes, I had atelevision set and I looked at
TV, but I also spent almost allmy time outside, playing outside
(20:10):
with neighborhood kids andbeing outside, going to the park
, going to the lake, going tothe local rec center to swim in
the pool.
Children are spending so muchtime looking at devices and
computers and phones and iPadsnow and they're really not
spending quality time outside.
I like to tell folks astatistic that I just learned
(20:30):
about last December, wherethere's a 25% increase in myopia
in the youth today Wow.
So these are children that arenot exercising.
From staring at screens.
From staring at screens,they're not exercising their
vision on looking at things faraway and focusing on things like
when they're out in nature,when you're looking far and
you're observing and you'rebuilding those skills.
(20:52):
So I feel like that is justimperative that we start
addressing that with young kidsand letting them have
experiences outside.
And kids in the city are at themost risk in this in that they
really don't have someneighborhoods, don't have
quality green spaces for them togo to that they feel safe in.
(21:14):
And as much as I love the ideaof taking children out to go to
camp and to have those dayexperiences out in the rural
parts of Ohio, we need torecognize that they need good
quality green spaces that areclose to home for them.
That they can still go and havefun in nature, absolutely.
Diane Bickett (21:38):
And the more they can experience that in their
own neighborhood will take awaysome of that fear of these
spaces.
Renee Boronka (21:47):
I can remember when I was at the Natural
History Museum, we had a groupof students that we took on a
nature hike along a river and itstarted to drizzle while we
were on the river and these wereinner city kids and they were
really afraid.
They needed to go back to thebus.
They didn't want to know whatthey were just like, but they
were afraid of of just beingoutside during the inclement
(22:11):
weather.
You know, and and I I wouldhave never thought even if I
hadn't experienced it.
Diane Bickett (22:17):
Yeah, but going back to nature everywhere, how
are we making Cleveland morenature friendly?
Renee Boronka (22:26):
Well.
Nature Everywhere is designedto address, like longstanding
disparities around access tosafe outdoor spaces and nature
experiences.
It also is challenging issueslike the rise in rates of
obesity, mental illness andchronic diseases in children.
So, Nature Everywhere, is aimingto establish more green space
trees in Cleveland and, inaddition to aiming to establish
more green space trees inCleveland and, in addition to
(22:46):
that, activate those spaces,that's why the nature-based
education is so important andMayor Bibb has really adopted
this Back whenever we were doingCities Connecting Children to
Nature.
I actually had the opportunityto meet with Mayor Bibb and his
Chief of Youth and FamilyServices, chief Pryor-Jones,
(23:09):
sonia Pryor-Jones, and they bothwere very much so enthusiastic
and they've adopted theprinciples of having a
Children's Outdoor Bill ofRights.
It really dovetails with MayorBibb's prenatal to three agenda.
It establishes environmentswhere children and families can
freely play, feeling safe andsecure outside.
(23:31):
Okay, and so this dovetailsinto that.
It sounds like it.
Diane Bickett (23:36):
Very much so.
Yeah, well, plus the the, is ita division of Western Reserve
Land Conservancy?
The Urban Land Institute?
Renee Boronka (23:47):
Yeah, our Thriving Communities Office yeah
that.
Diane Bickett (23:49):
Matt's own is involved with.
Renee Boronka (23:51):
Thriving.
Diane Bickett (23:51):
Communities Institute.
Yes, exactly, so that has someJurisdiction over some of those
vacant lots and stuff in thecity right, absolutely.
Renee Boronka (24:01):
We're working through our side lot program,
our green spaces program, todevelop green spaces for the
community.
In addition to that, ourReforest, our City program is in
its 10th year this year,planting trees, not only on tree
lawns but doing our treesteward program, where we train
(24:22):
people that live in the city tocare for trees.
We also have a treedistribution program so people
can pick out a tree that theywant to put on their property
and take care of it on theirproperty.
So a wonderful initiative tore-green Cleveland and develop
useful green spaces, developuseful green spaces.
Diane Bickett (24:40):
Wow, it's just.
I love there are so manyorganizations like the Western
Reserve Land Conservancy andthose that you mentioned earlier
that are working with children,like Organic Connects and such
that are working to lift thechildren up and lift the city up
you know, for the future?
Absolutely, it's great.
It makes me feel good.
(25:00):
What?
What can you leave us with interms of events that you're
offering coming up this springthat people might want to tap
into, and how can they learnmore?
Renee Boronka (25:11):
Sure thing.
So on the Land Conservancy'swebsite we have an events tab.
We have lots of opportunitiesfor folks to get involved with
tree plantings and litterpickups and cleanups.
We have some garlic mustardpools.
We also have walks and hikes onboth sides of town east side,
west side, south side ofCleveland that you can register
(25:33):
for.
Those are our vibrant placesand they are free of charge.
We do field explorations aswell, where we dive a little
deeper into topics like adragonfly walk or mushroom walks
.
Um, there's a very nominal feefor those and you can register
for all of our events on ourwebsite under the events tab.
(25:54):
Everything is in one okay onestop and they're free.
Most of them are free.
Diane Bickett (25:58):
A handful of them are about ten dollars a person
great, yeah, and then what wasthe one you said is coming up in
june you wanted to talk about?
Yes.
Renee Boronka (26:06):
In June we are featuring the author, sharon
Dewar.
She wrote 50 hikes for kids inIllinois, indiana and Ohio and
we're doing a Saturday morningevent on June 14th with her as
well as Judy Semrock from NatureSpark.
She does a lot of fun natureprograms with kids.
We're going to be offeringhikes and a journaling activity
(26:30):
for kids at the LandConservancy's Blue Heron
Preserve.
It's in Burton, ohio.
It's got a lovely pavilion thatwe can meet under and we can
take nature walks with the kidsthrough the property and the
author will be there.
Um, if folks want to pick upher book, we'll have the ability
to do that.
Loganberry books is joining usand they'll have her book so
(26:52):
she'll sign them and give themto folks and just introducing
kids to hiking and being outside, we'll have a handful of little
hikes that we're going to takewith the children throughout the
day.
That sounds fun, that's free,open to everyone, and
registration for that is openright now on our website.
Diane Bickett (27:08):
Okay, how many people work at the Land
Conservancy?
We have about 50 folks thatwork here.
Do you, is that?
Renee Boronka (27:14):
big.
Yeah, we have 50 folks About 35here at our Moreland Hills
office, where you're at rightnow, and the rest of us.
I Moreland Hills office, whereyou're at right now and the rest
of us.
I actually work out of thrivingcommunity office in downtown
Cleveland.
Diane Bickett (27:26):
Okay, with my colleagues from Reforestar City
and our urban team started thiswhole initiative within with the
Cleveland focus, but are thereplans to expand outside of
Cleveland?
Renee Boronka (27:38):
yes, as a matter of fact, we started this
initiative in Cleveland and wealso worked with the city of
Euclid on adopting a children'soutdoor bill of rights within
Euclid, and I hope to get backon track and work with them to
pass a resolution in Euclid andother cities can use this as a
framework to help their childrenconnect better to nature, and
(28:00):
I'd be happy to meet and talkwith anyone about getting an
initiative like this startedwithin their community.
Diane Bickett (28:05):
Okay, well, I'm sure there's lots of educators
and PTO members and parents thatwould like to get on board with
that, so we'll have yourcontact information in the show
notes.
Thank you so much.
Thanks, diane.
I really enjoyed learning aboutthis.
It's really super cool.
Renee Boronka (28:19):
Yeah, happy Earth Day.
Students (28:24):
Happy Earth Day.
Happy Earth Day, Happy EarthMonth.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of EcoSpeak CLE.
You can find our full catalogof episodes on Spotify, Apple
Podcasts or wherever you getyour podcasts.
New episodes are available thefirst and third Tuesday of each
month.
Please follow EcoSpeak CLE onFacebook and Instagram and
become part of the conversation.
If you would like to send usfeedback and suggestions, or if
(28:45):
you'd like to become a sponsorof EcoSpeak CLE, you can email
us at hello at EcoSpeakCLEcom.
Stay tuned for more importantand inspiring stories to come.
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