KPU Wild Spaces hosts walks to connect learning and nature

Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Wild Spaces hub will host two outdoor events offering place-based learning on May 29 and June 4 at the Surrey campus.

Led by Shannon Leddy, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, the theme for the walk on May 29 is Weaving Indigenous Slow Principles and Pedagogies.

Leddy is also the co-author of the book Teaching Where You Are: Weaving Indigenous Slow Principles and Pedagogies and the creator of the “Decolonizing Teaching, Indigenizing Learning” project. 

The walk on June 6, titled Pollinator Walk: The Buzz About Bees, will focus on learning about bees with Kristen Penhall, an apprentice-level master melittologist.

These events aren’t so much about learning from an expert in a traditional sense, says Lee Beavington, a KPU interdisciplinary instructor and learning strategist and coordinator of Wild Spaces. Instead, the outdoor events are about gathering intentionally, connecting with the environment, and having nature as a “co-teacher.”

“The Pollinator Walk, for instance, we’re going to be learning from not just about the pollinators, but from them as well,” Beavington says.

“Typically what happens is we’ll gather by the pond at KPU Surrey or Richmond or Langley … and I’ll do a territorial acknowledgement, we’ll do a round of introductions, and I’ll pass it on to the speaker,” Beavington says.

Students also have a chance to connect with faculty outside the classroom “instructor-student scenario,” Beavington adds.

“Something magical often shifts just from going from indoors to outdoors to learn or to be with others. People are often more willing to lean in, to chat, to open up and feel also more relaxed and connected.”

Wild Spaces includes a team of almost 15 members, Beavington says, adding their work is grounded in values such as community building, decolonization, and accessibility, among others. 

“We want to be mindful of how we can connect in an inclusive and positive way where people can feel restored, but also they’re learning something and may be inspired moving forward,” Beavington says.

“In the case of Shannon Leddy, she’s going to talk about Indigenous pedagogies …. Folks might be inspired to teach and/or learn in a way that’s less conventional, a way that is based on relationship building, connecting with the land, but also acknowledging the ongoing oppression and racism towards Indigenous Peoples in Canada.”

Sometimes students assume Wild Spaces is a student club or a series of walk-and-talk events, Beavington says, adding that it is a cross-disciplinary teaching and learning group that includes students, staff, and faculty.

Beyond organizing outdoor events, they also engage in work such as consulting on decolonizing practices and supporting intentional, place-based learning outdoor events, he adds.

“We also have two Indigenous student researchers right now who are … doing amazing work around exploring one’s Indigenous roots, being a land defender, [and] the importance of storytelling,” Beavington says.

Wild Spaces has Indigenous student researchers through one-time funding from the xéʔelɬ KPU Pathway to Systemic Transformation, he adds.

“We get to see all these collaborations or seeds of inspiration or conversations happening, but then allow for folks to continue those conversations later or try something different in their teaching or learning practice. In a big way, they are really community-building events.”

Both events take place from noon to 1:30 pm, and the meetup location is by the main courtyard pond.

To register, visit www.bit.ly/wildspaces2025.