Our Approach
The Understory Approach
At Our Elements, we practice what we have coined The “Understory Approach”, a teaching philosophy inspired by the forest itself. Just as a forest's understory thrives beneath the visible canopy, supporting the entire ecosystem with quiet vitality, our most powerful learning often happens beneath the surface of what looks like "just" an activity, conversation, or adventure.
We believe that education doesn't require four walls, desks, or formal lecture formats to be transformative. In fact, some of the deepest learning occurs when participants are fully immersed in meaningful experiences rather than consciously performing the role of "learner." Like the understory that nourishes the forest without fanfare, our approach allows knowledge and skills to develop naturally, organically, and often without participants even realizing they're in a "classroom."
We design our programs to embed educational objectives within engaging activities, group challenges, trail conversations, and shared moments. When participants are navigating terrain, solving problems together, observing wildlife, or reflecting around a campfire after a fire challenge, they're not managing the anxiety or self-consciousness that can come with traditional instruction; they're simply discussing, questioning, and discovering. The learning becomes a natural byproduct of the instructor/ mentor, curriculum design, creating an authentic experience rather than a stated objective that must be achieved.
This isn't about hiding education from participants or their families. Rather, it's about removing the barriers that formal classroom structures can create. When people stop worrying about "getting it right" or "looking smart," they access deeper cognitive and emotional engagement. They ask better questions. They take more risks. They connect concepts to their own lives in ways that stick.
In the outdoor environment, every moment becomes an opportunity for growth, whether that's developing resilience on a challenging hike, practicing communication during a team navigation exercise or shelter building, building ecological awareness through observation, or discovering leadership qualities they didn't know they possessed. Like the understory that supports biodiversity and soil health, these beneath-the-surface lessons create the foundation for lifelong learning and personal growth.
This is how we bring education to life: natural, engaging, and deeply human.
Hidden at the Family BBQ
At Our Elements, we practice what we have coined “Hidden at the Family BBQ", a teaching approach that honors the often-overlooked connections between our everyday cultural practices and our relationship with the natural world.
This philosophy recognizes that all of our cultures carry ancestral knowledge and land-based wisdom, even if some communities have been distanced from it longer than others. The stories your grandmother told, the way your family prepares food, the remedies passed down through generations, the seasonal celebrations you grew up with—these aren't just traditions. They're threads connecting you to the earth, to ecological rhythms, and to generations of people who lived in direct relationship with the land.
We call it "Hidden at the Family BBQ" because these connections often live in the most ordinary moments, the uncle who can predict the weather by watching the sky, the aunt who knows which plants grow where, the cooking methods that align with seasons, the sayings that carry ecological wisdom. These gifts and skills are already within us and our communities; they're just waiting to be recognized and reclaimed.
Too often, people have been asked to leave these practices behind or told they don't matter in our modern world. But we believe they're treasures, sources of knowledge, identity, and belonging that reconnect us to both our heritage and the living world around us.
Our programs strive to uplift our community in all its different shapes and forms. We create space for staff and participants to uncover these hidden connections, to honor the wisdom they carry (often without realizing it), and to build bridges between cultural identity and ecological understanding. When someone discovers that their family's traditional practices are actually sophisticated land stewardship techniques, or that their grandmother's garden knowledge is rooted in deep ecological awareness, something powerful happens: they see themselves and their heritage as part of the natural world, not separate from it.
This approach is about invitation, not instruction. We're not teaching people to connect with nature from scratch; we're helping them recognize and celebrate the connections that were there all along, often hidden in plain sight at the family BBQ.
The Collective Care Approach
At Our Elements, we practice what we have coined “The Collective Care Approach”, a teaching philosophy designed to help create more environmentally aware individuals. In today's world, we face no shortage of global & environmental concerns demanding our attention and energy. We're not here to create the next generation of celebrity activists or to prescribe a single "right way" to care for the planet. Instead, we are committed to helping cultivate an awareness of our impact on the natural world and sharing ways for ourselves and our community to engage and take steps to support this important endeavor. This isn't about curiosity, honesty, and growth.
The Collective Care Approach recognizes that environmental stewardship looks different for everyone. One person might discover a passion for native plant gardening, while another finds meaning in reducing food waste or advocating for local conservation. Some ripples are quiet and personal; others grow into waves of community action. All matter. All count.
We firmly believe that if each individual strives to be the best version of themselves and is mindful of their environmental impact, making adjustments to offset that impact to the best of their ability, we can make a significant difference. Large change can start from a small gesture of practice and grow into being essential in an individual's life, then expand to a collective community movement and awareness.
