Teen Treetop Walk

The treetop walk for teens is conducted semi-independently in small teams of four or five in a predetermined location, often an urban park. The youth must answer questions and make observations. The on-site facilitator is there to guide them and answer their questions throughout a creative and personalized walk lasting approximately 1.5 hours. This allows the youth to discover the trees and urban nature of a neighborhood, an alley, a park, or a wasteland, while awakening their senses and their connection to urban nature. They learn to identify genera and species by observing the leaves, flowers, bark, structure, and shape of the tree, as well as to pay attention to the surrounding environment.

The walk changes according to the season. In spring, we observe new shoots, buds, and spring blooms; in summer, we observe leaves, insects, and summer blooms. Autumn reveals the colors of chlorophyll-free leaves and mushrooms, while winter reveals the structure of trees, their bark, and their branches. Your guide will teach you to sharpen your eyes, as well as your hearing, smell, touch, and, when the season permits, taste.

It's also an opportunity to share our commitments, feelings, and memories related to trees and environmental issues, with an emphasis on environmental justice. This exchange is important because it enriches our own relationship with nature and the urban forest. Various themes can be addressed to guide the walk, such as queer ecology, ecofeminism, the food and medicinal forest, the spiritual dimension of trees in different cultures, patterns in nature, etc.