Mission:Explore Summer Camp is coming....

At Mission:Explore, we're planning a range of activities through the summer, and the webpage for our SUMMER CAMP has just gone live.

The Mission:Explore online Summer Camp is going to be 100 days of warped adventures, wild activities and daring challenges. Join the Summer Camp community and from June 1st you will be sent daily missions to explore the great outdoors, no matter where in the world you are.

Carefully crafted by our camp challengers, you will be sent missions to attempt by National Geographic, National Parks, the RSPB, Scouts, John Muir and other exploration experts.

Complete the daring missions outdoors and you will develop your expertise in Mission:Exploring and discover new things about yourself and the world around you. You'll have some random fun and be able to pick up some rewards too.

Visit the page, and see our awesome countdown clock, and check out the Summer Camp challengers that have been confirmed so far...

It's going to be a summer to remember...

Breaking the mould...

One of the companies that I'm currently working with is ESRI UK.
It's good to see more cross-overs with projects as Mission Explore is featured in ESRI's Fall newsletter, with a nice article written by Daniel Edelson of the National Geographic Education team.

Some nice quotes:

There are a small number of people out there, however, who summon up very different images when they think about geography learning. Maybe they never experienced traditional geography education, or maybe they experienced it and have completely rejected it as a model for learning. They envision activities that feel both relevant and enjoyable. These are the people we need to find and listen to, because they don't think about improving geography education by incrementally improving traditional approaches. They think about completely new approaches to geography teaching and learning.

One place where you can find people like that is in the Geography Collective, a group of innovative thinkers in the United Kingdom. They describe themselves in the following way: "We are a collective of geography activists, teachers, therapists, academics, artists, and guerrillas. We've come together to encourage [young] people to see our world in new ways."

The Geography Collective is one of the most creative groups in geography education today, and every time I learn more about its work, I get more excited about it.....

I can't help feeling that truly creative approaches to geography learning are discouragingly few and far between right now. Too few people are even thinking about geography education, and those who are still focus too much on incremental improvements rather than entirely new approaches. We should take the Geography Collective members and others like them as inspiration. We must challenge ourselves to think more creatively and seek out and promote the creative ideas of others.

Thanks Daniel :)

Somerset Geography Conference 2012

In a month's time I'm going to be heading down to the Somerset Geography Conference.

As it happens I'm going to be taking the Geography Collective Spaceship as my mode of transport as Dan Raven Ellison and I are involved in the afternoon session. I shall also be talking about teaching about landscapes. This is based on my KS3 Toolkit book, which is still available to purchase from the GA shop of course.

Noel Jenkins has put together a cracking line-up for the event.
Head to the Somerset Geography Posterous page for more details.

Hope to see some of you there...

Learning outside the Classroom

We are delighted to announce that the Geography Collective has been shortlisted for a Learning outside the Classroom award.

We would be even more delighted if you would consider voting for us, especially if you have been enthused by our Mission:Explore books, app or website, or perhaps been visited by us, seen us at Glastonbury, Latitude or the Hay Festival, ridden on buses in Suffolk, cycled along Sustrans routes in many cities, explored the Great Glen with Discover Explore or in some other geographical context...

We're going to be on the road in the next few months, and also will be running our Geography Camp in December, of which more later...

Please click the link and give us your vote. Thanks :)

Dan Ellison: Emerging Explorer

I can finally share some news I heard about a few months ago, but which has now been made public...
Daniel Raven Ellison, friend and colleague at the Geography Collective has been named as one of National Geographic's 2012 Emerging Explorers.

The press release is here.
Dan is given the honour alongside other 'visionary young trailblazers' around the world.

The 2012 Emerging Explorers are U.S. cyborg anthropologist Amber Case; U.K. digital storyteller and zoologist Lucy Cooke; U.K. behavioral ecologist Iain Couzin; Mexican underwater archaeologist Guillermo de Anda; chemist Yu-Guo Guo of China; conservationist Osvel Hinojosa Huerta of Mexico; U.S. pilot and educator Barrington Irving; conservation biologist Krithi Karanth of India; Swiss crisis mapper Patrick Meier; U.S. archaeologist Sarah Parcak; U.S. data scientist Jake Porway; U.K. guerrilla geographer Daniel Raven-Ellison; U.S. archaeologist Jeffrey Rose; engineer and renewable energy advocate Ibrahim Togola of Mali; and archaeologist Daniel Torres Etayo of Cuba

Dan's full profile is HERE


Guerrilla geographer Daniel Raven-Ellison brings the spirit of adventure to geographic education, allowing people to see the world — and the field of geography — in new and surprising ways. Guerrilla geography challenges people, especially children, to explore the world around them, engaging in creative play, making new discoveries and forming community connections. Through technologies that allow users to share their experiences digitally, guerrilla geography not only educates but also inspires young people to explore their world in ways that stretch their minds and bodies, and motivates them to educate others and take action in their own communities. His Urban Earth films demonstrate guerrilla geography in action. He has walked across 13 cities, taking photographs every eights steps and editing them to create films to reveal new perspectives on how to experience cities. His program/website, Mission:Explore, and a series of award-winning kids' books of the same name encourage youth to go on adventures to learn about the world. 

This is great news and very well deserved....

Masters in Space Residential Weekend

You have a chance to book a place on a weekend with a difference... thanks to the Geography Collective.

Are you playful and creative, with a conceptual interest in space?

Develop new perspectives on the philosophy, production, exploration and representation of space by attending our Master In Space course and gaining a Master In Space qualification.

The Master in Space course is carefully (un)planned around a series of semi-structured units. All units are ‘unknown’ before the course begins, but are likely to include free, thinking, restricted, open, public, child-like, bound, exciting, eventful and other forms of space. While no specific skills are needed you can expect to immerse yourself ‘in space’ by working with paint, ink, typewriters, string, projection, sound and many other tools, mediums and approaches. You must successfully complete three units to become aMaster in Space.

Take this course to:

·               immerse yourself in space and spatial thinking

·               be awarded a unique qualification

·               earn the right to wear (MiS) after your name

·               meet like-minded people from different fields and backgrounds

·               be playful, creative and explorative.

The course takes place over a Master in Residence all-inclusive residential weekend, from 6pm on Friday 18 November to midday on Sunday 20 November 2011.

The course costs £150 and includes:

·               2 nights in shared accommodation

·               Fabulous meals

·               Beer, wine and soft drinks

·               All equipment and resources

·               Official certificate of award

·               Master in Residence Membership for one year.

Where is this course taking place?

Join us, at YHA Medway, a traditional Kentish Oast House in a country park setting, close to historic Rochester, Chatham Dockyard and the Kent Downs. Chatham railway station is two miles away. Trains from London take 40 minutes from St Pancras and one hour from Victoria.

www.geographycollective.co.uk

...

Terms & Conditions

The course fee is non-refundable.

You must be aged 18 or more to take part.

We reserve the right to change or cancel this course. If the course is cancelled we will provide a full refund.

All participants will be asked to sign a damage waiver on arrival

Tickets are available from EVENTBRITE.