CANMORE – A Canmore non-profit that curates experiential learning programs in the Rocky Mountains is giving young adults ages 17 to 30 something to ‘howl’ about.
Founded by educator Adam Robb at the beginning of 2022, the Howl Experience aims to provide participants with an alternative or supplemental land-based educational experience with week-long to four-month programs available on a sliding tuition scale.
“I’ve been a high school teacher for the last 15 years and I saw the need for more programming that connected us to a place and to culture as a way to understand ourselves better and be able to make more informed decisions about what comes next in life,” said Robb.
“The whole idea is that by really getting to know this area and all its challenges – ecologically, culturally, through reconciliation – participants will be able to return to their home communities and better understand the challenges happening there and better understand themselves in that process.”
Most recently, Howl took a group of 17 Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants from six provinces and territories across Canada out on the land for one of its Rockies Exploration programs from Sept. 21 to 27.
In partnership with Telus Spark, the University of Calgary, and the Nakoda Youth Council, program participants supported the Tipis and Telescopes event at the U of C’s Biogeoscience Institute in Kananaskis Country.
The group had the opportunity to learn from Cree knowledge keeper and star lore expert Wilfred Buck, Indigenous scientists from NASA and MIT, and other experts in the fields of conservation, climate change, and traditional First Nations knowledge.
They also learned about and planted native plant species along the banks of Cascade Creek in Banff National Park, as part of a Parks Canada project to restore the creek and recover populations of Westslope Cutthroat Trout.
Howl’s Rockies Exploration program was designed to educate, connect, and provide ‘howlers’ as they’re called, with volunteer experience, but also to expose them to the wide variety of careers that are out there – particularly in the environment and conservation sector, said Robb.
Field study learning focuses range from Indigenous co-management of lands, agriculture, energy, geology, forestry, mining, renewables tourism and more.
Throughout the program, participants are also given opportunities to reflect through sweats, journaling and hiking exercises.
“It’s an opportunity for everybody to connect or reconnect with parts of themselves that they may not have acknowledged before, or it’s an opportunity to grow parts of themselves,” said Howl Indigenous learning advisor Lysandra Nothing.
“We provide a space for howlers to be vulnerable and have open conversations. We want people to leave with the tools to be emotionally resilient and contribute meaningfully to their communities.”
In January 2023, the Howl Experience will offer its first four-month semester where participants are invited from across Canada to live and take a deeper dive into the Bow Valley. To learn more, visit: www.experiencehowl.com.
