14-15 May: Nature guiding workshop with The Leafmonkey Workshop

New to nature guiding? Existing guides, looking for new tips to engage visitors? Join this 3-day workshop on nature guiding techniques!
Expand your nature guiding tool box! Through interactive workshops, learn from and share with other guides; reflect on the deeper principles of guiding; design your own nature walk; and learn about guiding in various social contexts.

Venue: SOTA, School of the Arts

Programme

Each evening will cover a different topic that will not be repeated in the other dates. You may attend all or just some of the dates. Each evening begins with a brief introduction to provide the framework for  workshop activities that follow.

14 May (Wed):
  • Mangroves and marine by Ria
  • Making a difference with your walk
  • Dealing with 'difficult' visitors
15 May (Thu):
  • Forests by Vilma
  • Dealing with unknown critters and other tricky guiding situations
  • Dealing with 'difficult' visitors
16 May (Fri):
  • Design your own nature walk
  • Sharing other ways to reach out for nature, e.g., in a shopping centre, on social media, etc.
  • Designing your own wacky nature outreach
General programme for all three days
6.30pm - Registration, networking and checking out guiding toys and tools.
7.00pm - Introduction
7.30pm - Brief talk by speakers to provide the framework for the workshop activities
8.30pm - Workshop activities
10pm - End of workshop, networking and more checking out guiding toys and tools.
10.30pm - Goodnight!


This workshop is organised with The Green Beans of SOTA, a student interest group that aims to encourage youths to explore and develop a love for our own local, natural green spaces.

SPEAKERS 

Ria Tan is just an ordinary person who is passionate about Singapore's marine life. She was involved in setting up the guiding system at Chek Jawa and Pulau Semakau and currently volunteers as a nature guide with the Naked Hermit Crabs. Working closely with NParks, she also volunteers with TeamSeagrass and the Mega Marine Survey. She regularly monitors about 40 seashore locations in Singapore and has been doing so for the past 10 years. She blogs at Wild Shores of Singapore and runs the Wildsingapore series of websites. She is co-author of the Chek Jawa Guidebook, Southern Shores of Singapore guidesheet and Wild Singapore coffee table book, and is currently working on new marine nature guidebooks for Singapore.

Dr Vilma D’Rozario is Associate Professor of Psychological Studies at the National Institute of Education, and has made significant contributions in the fields of service learning, counselling and guidance. She is also the co-founder of Cicada Tree Eco-Place, a non-profit organisation that runs nature lessons for kids and their families, schools and corporations, with the aim of creating a better appreciation for Singapore’s natural heritage and inspiring stewardship of our precious biodiversity. She is also an active advocate for our wild habitats and is involved in the Love Our MacRitchie Forest campaign.

Registration is required
Please register at tinyurl.com/TLW-SOTAWorkshop by 9 May 2014. Register early as spaces are limited to 20 persons per day!

Registration is strongly advised as it allows us to better customize the workshop to suit YOUR needs! If you have difficulty submitting your registration on this website, please email us at

More details on the Leafmonkey Workshop blog and facebook page.