Services
Recognizing the cultural challenges and opportunities of the new millenium, the Natural Learning Initiative was founded in January 2000. For more than ten years, NLI has offered four distinct but interconnected areas of service to institutions and communities across North Carolina, the nation, and the world. As a university-based enterprise, NLI's first priority is to generate new knowledge through research of outdoor environments. This, in turn, supports evidence-based design assistance to create new models on the ground, which then provide new research opportunities. Cumulative research results (by NLI and others) combined with documented international best practice provide material for NLI professional development events and programs, and dissemination through on-line and print media. Audiences include:
- Landscape architects, designers, and contractors
- Parks and recreation professionals
- Horticulturists
- Early childhood professionals
- Educators in nonformal and formal settings
- After-school program coordinators
