BROWNS SUMMIT, NC – Professor of Landscape Architecture Robin Moore and Associate Research Professor Dr. Nilda Cosco were honored as the inaugural recipients of the NCCAN! Natural Initiatives Award during the 5th Annual North Carolina Children and Nature Coalition (NCCAN!) Conference.
The Natural Initiatives Award named for the Natural Learning Initiative, a group founded at NC State University’s College of Design by Moore and Cosco in January 2000 is awarded to those with “exemplary service to NCCAN! and to those that contribute tireless work and energy to building connections between children and the natural world.” The award will be given annually to “honor North Carolina citizens that demonstrate the same passion and drive for getting youth to explore our natural world.”
Also during the award ceremony, early NCCAN! supporters and longtime colleagues of Moore and Cosco in the NC children and nature movement (Jani Kozlowski, Policy Unit Manager, and Janet McGinnis, Education Consultant for the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education) were also awarded the Natural Initiatives Award for 2012. Their leadership of the Outdoor Learning Environment Alliance (OLE) resulted in many cultural and policy changes in the early childhood programs in NC.
“NCCAN! celebrated 5 years at this conference and felt it important to look at our roots and the work of those who played such key role in our initial efforts,” said Kathy Bull, chair of NCCAN! “These individuals helped lay a foundation for our future efforts to promote connections between children and nature!”
