Explore Your 2.4 is a movement that aims to revive community walkability through youth engagement. Through an immersive, curriculum-aligned experience, youth are guided to first explore, then observe, and finally, engage with community spaces that are within a 2.4km radius of their home and/or school. 

WHY 2.4 KILOMETRES?

Most school jurisdictions specify a radius ranging from 1.6 to 2.4km, depending on grade configuration in the school, as the “walk zone.” Yet, in practice, very few people walk here! As education budgets strain, school jurisdictions and families alike will be looking for transportation solutions to expanding walk zones and rising bus fees. Without alternatives, the solution for many will be increased automobility. Explore Your 2.4 is positioned to help counter this trend with increased active mobility. It supports travel mode shift by increasing youth comfort and competence to move independently, while improving familiarity, safety and walkability of community spaces.

To help students and families map their own 2.4s, a Map and Explore Your 2.4 tool was created:  this step by step guide walks explorers through the mapping process using their personal computers and smartphones. Vanessa Colden and her kids at #getkidsout supported the promotion of Explore Your 2.4 by creating fun, engaging soundbytes that were shared via EAS social media platforms: Explore Your 2.4! and Explore ton 2,4.

Moving forward, through funding from Alberta EcoTrust, the City of Edmonton, and the Edmonton Community Foundation, additional Explore Your 2.4 resources and tools will be developed, amassed, and shared to support teachers in four Edmonton area schools as they engage with community spaces as a means to enhance student learning experiences.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE IN PRACTICE?

• Earth Day Geocaching Challenge: Students from the My Path Program and Forest Green School in Stony Plain learned of the thrill involved in finding and hiding geocaches and wanted to share that active adventure with their Stony Plain peers. The result: an Earth Day Geocaching Challenge! Geocaching is a fun, inclusive way to Explore Your 2.4, increase physical activity, and practise safe, active travel skills.
• Outdoor Classroom on Wheels: Have the urge to take your students outside for some active exploring and learning? The Outdoor Classroom on Wheels (complete with clipboards, pens, pencils, markers, portable seats, an easel and paper, cones to facilitate physical distancing, and other essentials) makes learning outdoors an easy, active choice.