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Giving Tuesday is upon us. Since 1977 the WEA has equipped leaders, organizations and recreation users to venture in the outdoors. Through your donations we invest in advocates for wild places, outdoor leaders of today and tomorrow, and the safety and wellbeing of all! The future needs you. Will you join us? Goal: $5,000.00
Collected: $1,560.00
31%
Join us for ICOL 2024! The Wilderness Education Association's 2024 International Conference on Outdoor Leadership (ICOL) will take place at the YMCA’s Blue Ridge Assembly conference center in Black Mountain, NC, just outside of Asheville, NC. The 2024 ICOL is designed to deliver an inspired, practical, and motivating learning experience for attendees. The theme for the 2024 conference will be FINDING TRUE NORTH: GUIDING WILDERNESS EDUCATION WITH INTENTIONALITY. |
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 Why Professional Outdoor Leadership MattersThe Wilderness Education Association (WEA) is a member-based and volunteer-driven association committed to the development of professional outdoor leaders and educators. Since its inception, hundreds of students, professionals, and academic programs have been impacted by the WEA model and vision for the professionalization of outdoor leadership. Paul Petzoldt, Dr. Frank Lupton, Chuck Gregory, and Bob Christie founded the WEA in 1977 following a collaborative, experimental wilderness-based course with Lupton’s Western Illinois University students in the Wind River Range and Targhee National Forest of Wyoming. This seminal experience would become the inspiration and model for the educational methodology used by future WEA instructors and member organizations. Today, the WEA continues to serve the outdoor education and leadership industry through the development of professional standards, individual credentialing, and program accreditation. |
Raising the Professional Bar: Become a Credentialed Outdoor LeaderOur courses train outdoor leaders on how to uphold professional standards in the outdoor industry. |
-Jamie Lewis Hedges- |
- Benjamin L. Rush, Ph.D - |  "Through a network of scholars and practitioners, the WEA provides both standards against which we can review our practices and a gateway certificate program for entry-level through advanced outdoor leaders." - Andrew Bobilya, Ph.D. - |
Get In TouchOur organization's strength is our professional network of colleagues in the outdoor industry. Let's connect. |
| Wilderness Education Association, Inc. © 2021 Wilderness Education Association, Inc. |
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