UND to compete in National Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge
UND will join 87 universities and colleges from across the country to compete in the Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge , an initiative of the Outdoor Foundation. The challenge runs from Sept. 4 to Oct. 15.
For six weeks, students, faculty and the surrounding Grand Forks community will take part in the Mother-Nature-Meets-March-Madness program with the goal of being named National Outdoor Champion. The Challenge will use prizes, competition and “gamification” to fight the growing inactivity crisis among youth in America by helping connect them to the outdoors in fun and personal ways.
“This is UND’s second year participating in the Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge with last year showing great participation from hundreds of activities logged,” said Patrick Marcoe, assistant director of wellness programs at UND’s Wellness Center. “It really has boosted the profile of outdoor activity at UND, and we’re hoping to get even more participation this year.”
The Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge is simple: individuals compete to see who can spend the most time outside and active. The individual who does wins the title of “Outsider of the Year.” The school with the most individuals logging outside hours will win the National Outdoor Champion title. Thanks to generous sponsorships to the Challenge, universities will provide incentives to their student bodies and larger communities to get outside and be active.
These incentives range from stickers and equipment to head-to-toe outfitting and even a trip and internship opportunities.
“The Challenge is about using technology for good – specifically for the health and wellness of an entire generation of young people,” said Chris Fanning, executive director of the Outdoor Foundation. “We’re rewarding and incentivizing college students who spend time outside because we believe they will have memorable experiences, develop a love for the outdoors, and ultimately spend more time protecting and enjoying our beautiful parks and wild places. This is what the Challenge is about – creating a cultural shift that leads all young Americans to the great outdoors.”
The 2015 Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge built on the success of the 2014 pilot program, expanding from 10 to 57 schools. Over the course of six weeks, schools leveraged the assets and infrastructure of their college campuses to engage new audiences in the outdoors. Outdoor programs and outing club members often served as lead organizers for the Challenge – planning school-wide activities, promoting individual participation, and in many cases, introducing new outdoor activities to spark initial interest. Ultimately, the students worked to build a stronger outdoor campus community and culture. In total, the 2015 Challenge inspired 99,675 outdoor activities led by nearly 20,000 college students, earning a social reach of 11.5 million people.
The Challenge was developed to combat some of today’s bleak statistics around young people and outdoor recreation participation. Current research tells us young people spend 50 percent less time outdoors in natural settings than the preceding generation. The average young adult today spends eight hours in front of a screen, and only a few minutes outside, each day.
About the Outdoor Foundation & Outdoor Nation
The Outdoor Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and growing future generations of outdoor enthusiasts. Through groundbreaking research, action oriented outreach, and education programs, the Foundation works with partners to mobilize a major cultural shift that leads all Americans to the great outdoors. In 2010, the Foundation launched Outdoor Nation, a pioneering initiative that aims to empower young leaders to champion the outdoors on campuses and in communities across the United States. For more information visit: OutdoorFoundation.org and OutdoorNation.org.
