Here is what Katie from High Park Nature Centre, a finalist for the Environmental Awareness Award, had to say about the centre’s involvement in making our city greener and better.
HM: Living in Toronto, how do you see the balance between the natural and man-made worlds?
Katie: Living in Toronto, it is easy for us humans to forget or overlook our interdependence with nature. Surrounded by concrete, asphalt and other human manipulated landscapes, it takes a keen awareness to see, hear, smell and feel the natural systems that sustain us, as well as our effect on their and our health.
HM: How do you see this relationship in terms of “Living Green?”
Katie: To us, “living green” starts with reconnecting with the nature and natural processes right here in the city. Nothing informs our green actions as much as a love and respect for nature drawn from personal experience. Many an adult environmentalist can point to childhood connections with a special natural place as the key motivation behind their green ethic.
HM: What message would you like us to take away from the work that you’re doing?
Katie: If we want to inspire ourselves and the environmentalists of the future, we need to create opportunities for meaningful, exploratory and experiential nature-interaction right here in the place where we live, and this starts with community stewardship of our urban green spaces.
The Environmental Awareness Award is for an individual, group or company who has helped people understand the delicate balance of the natural and man-made worlds as they interact in the City of Toronto. The awards will be handed out tomorrow night, Friday, April 23rd at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place. Thank you to Katie and the staff at High Park Nature Centre for sharing their thoughts.
