Nature for Every Child. Every Day
A citywide collaborative
San Francisco Children & Nature is a cross-sector collaborative that works to ensure all children & youth growing up in the city have the same opportunities to PLAY, LEARN and GROW in NATURE.
Together, we make it easier for youth and their families to have frequent and quality experiences in nature by:
- Expanding opportunities for nature connection in early education, schools, and neighborhoods.
- Advocating for places, programs, and policy that support our mission.
- Addressing inequities in nature access and programming.
Vision
Nature for Every Child. Every Day
Mission
In collaboration with our members, we work to address the disparities in nature access along socioeconomic and racial lines to ensure all children have the opportunity to play, learn and grow in the outdoors.
Strategic Vision 2024 – 2029
As we step into our seventh year of collective action, we’ve taken a moment to reflect and evaluate how to continue moving toward even greater impact and sustainability. We are thrilled to share our 2024-2029 Strategic Plan representing a continued commitment to building a city-wide movement that enhances access to nature spaces and high-quality nature experiences.
SF Children & Nature VALUES
Increasing ACCESS and CONNECTION to nature spaces in Environmental Justice Communities.
Providing high QUALITY nature experiences in Environmental Justice Communities.
Centering on WELL-BEING and health outcomes in Environmental Justice Communities.
Recognizing the Collaborative as a COMMUNITY.
Environmental Justice Communities
Since our founding, we have used equity metrics to prioritize projects, programming, and funding in the City’s most disadvantaged and racially diverse communities. In 2023, we adopted SF Environmental Justice (EJ) Communities to guide its work addressing equity in children’s connection with nature. The EJ Communities map was developed by the SF Planning Department and identifies the data tracts in SF that have a disproportionate burden of environmental hazards, experience higher health risks and are predominantly low-income.
A National Initiative
SFCN was founded in 2017 as part of Cities Connecting Children to Nature (CCCN), a national initiative of the National League of Cities and the Children & Nature Network, to inspire and support cities, city leaders, and their partners to prioritize access to natural green space, outdoor recreation, and learning opportunities for underrepresented children. Today over 75 cities make up the network of CCCN/Nature Everywhere communities.
