In particular, like so many parents I meet, I hope that among the values my son learns will be a love of nature and a sense of responsibility for the environment. Yet, few schools are equipped to focus on environmental education, and few teachers are adequately trained to teach the natural sciences. Furthermore, the values we want our children to learn are often better learned through experience, rather than in a classroom. This place on the land might be sited at an Audubon Sanctuary, perhaps a protected community nature preserve, perhaps even a public park. Imagine this place functioning as the focus of environmental education in the community, a place where kids have their first close-up encounter with nature and where families learn together the lessons of stewardship of the natural world.
People learn about the environment in many ways from books and television, and in the classroom.
These are all useful, but our vision is based on an understanding that at the heart of the conservation movement is a very personal passion for wildlife and the land. My own experience which you may have heard me hearken to before and which has been corroborated by many people I have met in the conservation community is that an emotional bond with nature springs from a transforming encounter with birds or other wildlife. I have no doubt that if we can provide more people the opportunity to experience such epiphanies, we will move more of them to participate in conservation work. This is why Audubon's 2020 Vision begins with a place on the land. Audubon Centers will teach about the environment, in the environment.