Nurturing a sense of community is more than just connecting with other humans (though this is vastly important too); it is also nourishing a sense of place and belonging in the world. And to do this you need to connect with your environment. Therefore, community building is more than just doing activities with other humans; it is also spending time outside and observing Nature’s cycles and processes and the activities of your wild neighbors. By spending time in the outdoors and getting to know the plants and animals around you, you can start to recognize your part in Nature. My name is Arianna Alexsandra Collins and it is my mission to provide opportunities for folks to nurture a deep connection with the environment upon which we depend. I am at your service to provide outdoor educational excursions, wild edibles identification and meal preparation, and curriculum design and implementation for natural science education, tailoring lessons to meet MA Standards in science and English. I also offer writing services to organizations and businesses, specializing in natural science, natural history, wild edibles, and outdoor education; networking opportunities for your business; organizational development; and event planning (including green weddings). The thread that runs through all of my work is a desire for bridging, for connection, and to support and nurture a sense of place and belonging. Whether that be people feeling a deeper sense of connection to the Land they live on; celebrants bonding during a happy occasion; readers feeling a sense of belonging to the organization they are members of; businesses collaborating with a shared sense of purpose; and participants feeling a deeper understanding of how they’re part of a larger community that comprises other beings in the environment we all share. These are my offerings for community building! Offering programs and activities throughout Western, MA I would like to acknowledge and honor that I am working on the homelands of the Pocumtuc, Nonotuck Mohawk, Nipmuc, and Mohican Tribal Peoples. Bio: Arianna Alexsandra Collins is an environmental education professional with twenty years of experience in teaching, curriculum design, program development, project administration, daily operations, public relations, and community engagement. She is a gifted networker able to maximize people’s strengths and make creative connections to help people shine in their work. She is known for being an enthusiastic event planner and highly organized coordinator. Arianna is also a writer and poet. She writes natural science / natural history articles for local and regional publications and she is the author of Hearken to Avalon, a historical fantasy novel. One of Arianna‘s greatest passions is to connect people with the land and she does this through teaching people how to identify wild edibles and medicinals. Arianna holds a master’s degree in Environmental Administration from Antioch University New England. She lives in Ashfield, MA with her two kitties and a multitude of wild beings cohabitating on (and in) the Land.
