2026 Campaign: Speaker Series
2026 Campaign: Speakers Series
Session 1:
Weighing the Options: Artificial vs. Natural Surfacing in Children’s Outdoor Learning and Play Settings
Thursday, June 18, 2026 at 2:00-3:00pm EST. Virtual Event on Zoom.
Watch the event recording:
Session Description
Wondering whether artificial or natural playground surfacing materials are the best option for your school or child care program?
A growing body of research reveals that such decisions can have significant implications for children’s health, especially as climate change brings more frequent extreme heat, flooding, and wildfires. Join us for a virtual conversation about weighing the options for surfacing materials in outdoor educational settings. Speakers will discuss current surfacing trends, summarize the child health concerns associated with synthetic materials, including toxic chemicals, microplastics and heat retention, and discuss the health, ecological, accessibility, and sustainability considerations that can help guide decisions.
This event will be in English, with live captions in English and French.
Session Speakers
Mariana Brussoni
Dr. Mariana Brussoni is a Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Pediatrics and School of Population and Public Health, Director of the Human Early Learning Partnership, and a scientist with British Columbia Children’s Hospital, where she leads the Outside Play Lab. Her research reimagines how outdoor and risky play can be integrated into everyday life to help children thrive. Further details available at https://www.outsideplay.org/
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Helen Doyle
Helen is a certified Public Health Inspector with over 40 years experience in environmental public health. As Manager of Healthy Environments with York Region Public Health until her retirement in 2018, she led initiatives related to climate change, extreme heat, air quality, and the built & natural environment. Helen is the Canadian Public Health Association and Ontario Public Health Association representative on the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment, supporting research, advocacy and awareness to promote healthy environments for children.
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Sara Vaezafshar
Sara Vaezafshar is a Postdoctoral Fellow at McMaster University, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, where she studies internal and external chemical exposures. She earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Toronto, where her research focused on chemical exposures among vulnerable populations. Her doctoral work included detailed investigations of young children’s exposure to chemicals of concern such as phthalate plasticizers and organophosphate flame retardants in indoor and sleeping environments, contributing important insights into early‑life environmental health risks.
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Heidi Campbell
Heidi is Evergreen’s Senior Designer of Climate Ready and Child-Friendly Public Spaces. With a background in landscape architecture and education, she specializes in creating innovative, child-focused environments that prioritize engagement and sustainability. She leads the Climate Ready Schools program, managing partnerships with school boards and guiding design consultants. With over 25 years of experience greening school grounds, Heidi has authored landscape guidelines and standards for school boards across Canada. As Lead Designer of the Children’s Garden and Play Lab at Evergreen Brick Works, she works with educators and children to design spaces for imaginative, unstructured play that foster a sense of place—and strengthen climate resiliency in schools and communities.
Session 2:
Inspiring Stories of Action: Creating Healthy and Natural Outdoor Learning and Play Settings
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 at 1:00-2:00pm EST. Virtual Event on Zoom.
Watch the event recording:
Session Description
Curious how the HELD 2026 Call for Action looks in practice?
Join us for a virtual conversation about inspiring solutions created by school and child care settings that are leading the way and demonstrating what it looks like when children have access to healthy, natural and climate-resilient learning and play settings that benefit every facet of their well-being. Guided by real-world examples, speakers will share the many benefits that these settings yield for children, educators, and communities; key learnings from their experiences as part of the shift to natural outdoor learning settings; and resources available to support others to make the shift.
This event will be in English, with live captions in English and French.
Session Speakers
Jacqueline Bennett
Info to follow
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Jennie McCaffrey
Jennie is the Vice-President of Health & Education at the BC Parks Foundation and has always been passionate about connecting people to nearby nature. Jennie’s career as a conservation educator has lead her from the Vancouver Aquarium’s education department to teaching Masters courses at UBC, training educators across the province through the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, working with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, leading Indigenous learning initiatives and behaviour change at the Invasive Species Council of BC, and growing a community of support for nature through her work focused on the intersection of health, education and conservation with BC Parks Foundation.
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Omara Downer
Omara Downer is an aspiring lawyer, youth advocate, and community leader committed to advancing equity, education, and access to justice. As the Co-Founder and Program Coordinator of The Little Christene’s Foundation, an NGO she helped establish to support single mothers and families facing financial hardship in Jamaica, Omara helps provide tuition assistance, uniforms, school supplies, and other education-related support to reduce barriers to learning. Her advocacy also extends to youth policy and civic engagement through her roles with the Global Youth Advisory Council, Indigenous Northern Policy Advisory Council, Centre for Global Education Advisory Council, and Young Politicians of Canada Legislative Roundtable. Across her work, Omara focuses on amplifying youth perspectives, addressing systemic barriers, and using advocacy, legal research, public speaking, and community service to promote education equity and justice for marginalized communities.
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Sylvie de Grandpré
Sylvie has been an energetic K-9 educator for 35 years. She is the principal of a rural school in BC where gardening, outdoor/environmental education, and Indigenous perspectives drive learning. The school has developed and runs a strong outdoor learning program, including an inventory of resources to facilitate frequent outdoor learning. Students learn outside for up to 5 hours a day! Sylvie completed her PhD in 2023, doing ecoportraiture. Though a braided collection of short stories and accounts, her work highlights the importance of learning to decolonise one’s practice, building relationships with place, and maintaining a reflexive stance. She spends a lot of time outdoors, whether deep in a forest or while strolling down a city block. Sylvie loves macro-photography and is prone to sudden stops and clicks!
Should you have any issues registering or questions about these sessions, reach out to Kieran Maingot, HELD Coordinator at kieran@healthyenvironmentforkids.ca.