Members of the Cook County Visitors Bureau (CCVB) were invited to join author-journalist Richard Louv at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in the Twin Cities last week as part of a symposium in conjunction with his U.S. book tour.
Louv’s book is The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature- Deficit Disorder (May 2011). He writes about the importance of interacting with nature and “the human costs of alienation from nature.” Cook County was represented at the symposium during a special public policy conference on the topic by Jim Vick of the CCVB.
Louv presented research, anecdotes, and stories from his latest book providing his insight on the human relationship with the natural world. Louv was joined by other educators and health care professionals to discuss the “environmental literacy” of Americans and ways to increase humans’ beneficial experience of nature. Leaders in health care, child development, park and recreation systems, the marketplace, and urban planning discussed industry trends in alignment with the Nature Principle, including Vick.
Vick said it was an honor for Cook County, as both a destination and an organization, to be affiliated with this group. He added, “Cook County is the perfect antidote to nature deficit disorder described by Louv, with programming, experiences and opportunities to get kids outside and help families spend healthy, quality time together.”
Cook County is the first tourismrelated entity to participate in this national conversation, and The Nature Principle symposium offered an opportunity to network with individuals and organizations working on issues and topics that connect to and will support visitors bureau initiatives.
During the event, Cook County was actively promoted with special emphasis on Becoming a Boundary Waters Family, a program created by the canoe outfitters of the Gunflint Trail Association and the US Forest Service to take the mystery out of camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. The program was recently awarded with a Regional Forester Honor Award in the “Connecting Citizens to the Land” category.
Leave a Reply