From 2017-2020, Evergreen together with the City of Kitchener, the Waterloo Region District School Board, and the Lyle. S. Hallman Family Foundation launched the Neighbourhood Nature Play Initiative. This Kitchener-based collaborative, community-led participatory initiative encouraged children and their families to play and learn in nature by transforming two local parks into vibrant hubs.

Through this initiative, two local parks were transformed to include more natural features, and free year-round programming was offered with a focus on loose parts, child-led play, and risky play. Evergreen also led training opportunities for camp staff and program staff to build capacity and skills to continue this work. This program continues to be run by the City of Kitchener.

Read a case study analysis from this project here.

Learn more about Neighbourhood Nature Play Initiative here.