Brookfield Zoo

The Brookfield Zoo will design a professional development program that will prepare staff and volunteers to carry out the zoo's mission, "to inspire conservation leadership by connecting people with wildlife and nature," and foster the learning potential of zoo guests. The zoo has developed a learning strategy that focuses on understanding connections between people and the environment, empathy for living things, and actions that lead to a sustainable relationship with nature. The zoo's education department uses this strategy but there is a need to institutionalize this learning strategy across the institution. The goals of the three-year project are (1) to establish a professional development curriculum that will support zoo and volunteer competencies, (2) establish a learning community of zoo staff and volunteers who collaborate on skill-building and reflection, and (3) institutionalize the program into the required training of staff and volunteers.