About the Youth Outdoor Policy Playbook

The Playbook is a tool to help legislators and community leaders advance state policies that bring the benefits of time spent outdoors to more young people. It is designed to:

• Highlight existing and promising policy solutions for building healthy communities through increased youth outdoor engagement. We surveyed leaders from across the U.S. to compile some of the most successful policies and promising ideas. We summarized draft bill language to help you replicate good ideas in your state. Check out the Youth Outdoor Policy Framework for specifics on existing bills.
• Share the knowledge and expertise of environmental education and outdoor engagement champions to drive new, innovative ideas. We tapped the experience and wisdom of passionate outdoor engagement champions to collect innovative policy-driven solutions that have not yet been tried. These “big ideas” cut across categories and sectors. They challenge us to think outside the box and envision how state policy can support equitable access to nature’s benefits.
• Connect on statewide policy initiatives across sectors, including health, education and outdoor recreation. This Playbook is intended to connect you to people and ideas that can help advance your work.

The Youth Outdoor Policy Partnership is a collaboration of leading national organizations working across sectors to ensure that all children have access to high quality outdoor experiences and environmental education. Find out more here.

The Youth Outdoor Policy Playbook is funded by the Pisces Foundation and REI.

If you are interested in supporting the youth policy playbook or partnerships, please contact Robyn Paulekas (rpaulekas@merid.org).