St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman was scheduled to greet leaders from seven U.S. cities Wednesday at the convergence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.
The National League of Cities event was scheduled to take place at 3 p.m. at Fort Snelling State Park, where staff and young people from Wilderness Inquiry will share stories about connecting urban youth to the outdoors.
The “Connecting Children to Nature” Leadership Academy is being hosted by the league of cities and the Children and Nature Network.
The two-day academy continues Thursday with remarks from the mayor at the St. Paul Hotel, which will host workshops and speakers. Among them is Richard Louv, author of “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder.”
Participants will conduct field visits and work with national experts on strategies for connecting children to nature. Afterward, they can apply for planning and implementation grants to support related initiatives.
City teams attending are Grand Rapids, Mich., Knoxville, Tenn., Pittsburgh, Providence, R.I., San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Petersburg, Fla.
