Learning Resources

Abstract: Pandemics aren't going away, which is why institutions must invest in permanent outdoor learnscapes to optimize educational outcomes. In this session, we'll discuss how to connect structure, landscape, and sustainability to counter VUCA and establish stable and productive learning environments that enhance performance, creativity, and wellness through connections to nature and newly-expanded views and perspectives. Come discover new ways to transform your outdoor campus spaces with wellness-oriented designs to offset enrollment decline, maintain stable learning conditions, and stabilize class sizes.

Abstract: While adopted as a safer near-term solution, outdoor learning environments now seem likely to play a larger role in long-term planning. Schools will now use lessons learned during the pandemic to think more critically about outdoor campus space as an integral component of classroom education and to support student wellbeing. Before the Fall 2020 semester, the Siebel Center for Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign partnered with architects and engineers to lead a virtual design charrette focused on extending the life of outdoor campus spaces as learning environments. They also reached out to schools around the country to learn about their recent experiences with these spaces.