In October 2019, Blue Sky Funders Forum launched Rethink Outside – a campaign to challenge and transform prevailing notions around time spent in nature and lift up the benefits of time spent outdoors from a nicety to a necessity. One year later, we have connected with hundreds of funders and practitioners, unifying voices to express the benefits of time spent outdoors as a human right – one that everyone deserves the opportunity to experience. The ongoing crisis of COVID-19 and the elevated prominence of racial inequities in our society have only made our cause more urgent. We continue to aspire to build a future where everyone has positive experiences outdoors and shares the joy, health, growth, and sense of community that come with it.

Rethink Outside’s shared narrative is for everyone to use. It is not owned by any one organization—it is the story of us. Rethink Outside elevates the priority and urgency of our work, bringing new resources to the field and catalyzing a cross-sector movement for equitable access to the outdoors and its many benefits.

One year in, we are thrilled that 92 partners have made 286 pledges to join this chorus. Many more organizations across the field have engaged with Rethink Outside, attending storytelling workshops, participating in webinars, and interacting on social media.

We’ve been thrilled with and humbled by the response from the field as the Rethink Outside shared narrative has been lifted up and echoed across the field. One partner said it best in a recent stakeholder survey:

“A shared narrative turns a soloist into a chorus. Thank you for helping me amplify my voice!”

Rethink Outside partners use the shared narrative and #RethinkOutside to highlight their work on social media.

Telling stories, growing storytellers

We are especially excited about the ways in which Rethink Outside is building capacity for storytelling in the field and is expanding organizations’ language and understanding of the full impact of their work. We have hosted 2 storytelling workshops (in-person in Oakland, CA in March and virtually in August). Here’s what one workshop participant had to say:

“The perspective it gave me has really helped me put [my organization’s] impact into a more approachable and exciting context, and better tell our story… The diverse stories represented and perspectives given were essential to this learning, and I so appreciate you sharing and putting them at the forefront to be thinking about in our own work.”

Responding to an unexpected crisis

In response to requests from funders and practitioners for guidance on how to communicate during COVID-19, Blue Sky engaged Seven November Inc., with support from the Pisces Foundation, to develop tailored messages for COVID-19 response and recovery, amplifying the shared narrative values and centering issues of inequity that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. The message of Rethink Outside found new resonance in this unexpected time of crisis, as our field has found new attention in local and national media and public opinion.

What’s next? 

Share your stories! Blue Sky invites nonprofits, funders, and other stakeholders to share their implementation of the shared narrative in communications, programs, or fundraising efforts in this open Google Sheet.

Stay tuned for more opportunities to unify and amplify the growing movement to lift up the benefits of time spent outdoors as a basic human right. Together, we can create a future where everyone has positive experiences outdoors and shares the joy, health, growth, and sense of community that come with it.