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With support from the Louisville Water Foundation, the River Fields conservation organization expanded its outdoor education program focused on river health, recreation, flood resilience, and biodiversity.
The program, called CONFLUENCE in 2025 and now renamed Wild Roots, provided hands-on learning experiences designed to help the organization’s members and local teens better understand waterways and the role they play in our region’s environmental health.
“Our goals were to provide interactive, hands-on, experiential learning opportunities, acquaint participants with and encourage recreational use of our beautiful Ohio River and its tributaries, and build understanding of the imminent threats facing our waterways and hence, us,” said Kristin Faurest, River Fields president and CEO.
“We hoped to empower and encourage participants to follow sustainable water practices and also be good advocates for our waterways. We believe we succeeded immensely.”
The Foundation’s $5,000 grant, awarded in 2025, helped cover presenter fees and staff time needed to develop and enhance the program.
Reaching an Underserved Group
To make the most of available resources, River Fields presented each program twice on the same day. The first session served 20 to 25 River Fields members, followed by the same experience for 20 to 25 teens from the foster program at Home of the Innocents. Faurest said the model allowed River Fields to double its previous year’s programming.
The organization initially considered working with a different community group for each program but chose to partner consistently with Home of the Innocents to deepen the program’s impact on a group that is often underserved.
“Teenagers are a forgotten population that is typically not included in nature-based educational programs. Most organizations cut off their programming at age 12 at the highest,” Faurest said. “We framed experiences in nature as a place to become empowered, to find one’s own story, to be courageous and curious. The teens, through our programs, got to know people who work in nature for a living, from a wildlife biologist to a horticulturalist to a nature educator.”
Developing the Next Generation of Environmental Stewards
River Fields’ program included a spring wildflower walk, a winter tree walk, and a canoe outing. Several events took place at Wolf Pen Branch Mill Farm, which River Fields protects through a conservation easement and where a branch of Harrods Creek runs through the property.
“The role of our waterways and the importance of protecting them by protecting the forests and meadows along their banks was always front and center in the narrative,” Faurest said.
One of the most successful experiences was the canoe paddle on Harrods Creek in partnership with River City Paddle Sports. Participants used large Voyageur canoes, which provided a stable introduction to paddling for teens, many of whom had never been on a waterway.
In all, River Fields provided more than 30 hours of outdoor experiences for its members and teens from the Home of the Innocents during the year. This reflects a shift toward deeper community engagement. The 67-year-old conservation organization has not historically focused on extensive educational programming or sustained partnerships with teens, but Faurest pointed out that the work is essential to its mission.
“We have to engage young people in our work or it will eventually be lost and forgotten,” she said. “We’ve started to build the next generation of environmental stewards, one drop at a time.”
