Action of the Week, February 1, 2026

Young People and Place-Based Learning

As of 2023, roughly half of all teenagers reported being on the Internet “almost constantly” and three out of five reported “sometimes or often neglecting their daily obligations” in favor of technology use. Many parents (and teens themselves) recognize that young people are losing their connection to nature and “third places”—social surroundings in their local communities other than home or work—and feel that something has to be done to get youth outdoors, off-screen, and reconnected to place.

One solution—put forth two decades ago in an innovative book titled Questing—springs from the educational philosophy of “place-based education,” which encourages young people to engage in beyond-classroom learning about the “unique history, environment, culture, economy, literature, and art of [their] particular place.” The tool proposed in Questing is “treasure hunts” designed to collect and share a community’s “distinct natural and cultural heritage” and its “special places and stories.”

One of Questing’s co-authors, Delia Clark, emphasizes the importance of nurturing this sense of place in childhood, but also making it a lifelong pursuit:

“[O]ur motivation to act for the health of our communities and natural environment comes directly from a strong sense of place. This sense of place is nourished in childhood and throughout life by direct, personal experiences with landscape and community.”

In his 2025 book Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity, English writer Paul Kingsnorth, too, situates “Place” squarely among the “Four Ps”—Past, People, Place, and Prayer—that represent the traditional human values being threatened by an encroaching and impersonal “Machine.”

Whether via family time in nature, place-based service learning, participation in questing treasure hunts, or in the variant called “letterboxing” (combining orienteering, art, and puzzle solving), the opportunities for renewing a sense of place are abundant—and fun for all ages. Feel free to let us know about your place-based adventures in the comments section below!