Who’s behind International Nature Journaling Week?

Hi, my name is Bethan Burton. I am an artist and environmental educator from Brisbane, Australia, and founder of International Nature Journaling Week. Early in 2020, I had the idea to create a global event which would celebrate nature journaling and bring likeminded people together. I believe deeply in the power of nature journaling to connect people with nature, and with each other, and I wanted to create an event which celebrates nature journaling and highlights this amazing, world-wide community of journalers. I started brainstorming the idea and reached out to Jules Woolford, who was my constant helper and collaborator and the best co-founder I could have hoped for, throughout the whole process of creating the first event.

The first INJW was a huge success, with journalers from 93 countries accessing the resources on the website and thousands of journal pages shared on social media! We were thrilled with the response and full of excitement to grow INJW even more in the coming years. The event showed us that this community of passionate nature lovers has so much to share. The spirit of love and collaboration was deeply felt during the event.

After INJW 2020, I started Journaling With Nature Podcast, a show which explores all aspects of nature journaling through interviews with journalers from around the world. I love having the chance to speak, from the heart, with people who love and connect with nature through the practice of nature journaling.

Here are a few places you can find me online:

Website: www.journalingwithnature.com
Instagram: @journalingwithnature
YouTube: Journaling With Nature
Facebook: Journaling With Nature
Twitter: @bewithnature

Hello, I’m Jules Woolford. I’m from Bristol, UK. My passion is helping people to begin their own nature journals through discovering the nature on their doorsteps.

When Bethan reached out to me in January 2020 to ask if I’d help her create her vision for this global event, my answer was a resounding ‘yes!’  We didn’t really know each other, but we both had a sense that our ideas were in tune, and that we were ‘kindred spirits’. We were right!

To have the opportunity to support nature journalers worldwide by helping create the resources and inspiration of INJW - is a privilege. It’s also been a lot of hard work ‘ backstage’; but worth every minute!

The nature journal community is genuinely full of kindness and generosity. Through collaborating with Bethan, I’ve gained practical skills, formed friendships with like minded people across the globe - and I’ve learn quite a lot about myself in the process!

I hope you’ll join us on your very own nature journal adventure.

Explore the wonder. As you travel you’ll make new connections; with both nature and the nature journal community. Enjoy the journey! 

You can find me online at:
Website: www.drawnintonature.com
Instagram:  @drawnintonature
Facebook: Drawn Into Nature
Twitter: @drawnintonature

Hi! I'm Corina Brdar. I'm an ecologist living on the shore of Lake Ontario, Canada. I spend as much time as possible outdoors in nature or my garden every day (I even sleep out there sometimes). I love the practice of nature journaling as a way to appreciate nature, to be truly mindful, and to have fun with creativity.

After discovering Bethan's Journaling with Nature podcast in 2020, I instantly knew I wanted to contribute to International Nature Journaling Week. I love how it brings people together from all over the world to share the joy of this practice. You might see me as one of the moderators of our Facebook group. I am excited to see what people share throughout the week.

I share my imperfect nature journal pages on Instagram @livingbeingmindfulness. My website is: livingbeingmindfulness.weebly.com.

Hi, I’m Melinda Nakagawa. I’m a naturalist, nature journal educator and nature connection mentor living near Monterey, California, USA, and founder of Spark in Nature. My work bridges science, nature, art, and heart to bring joy and wonder to our lives. I use nature journaling to invite folks into the natural world, to cultivate curiosity and wonder, deepen a relationship with nature, and learn how to record these experiences in their journals for lasting memories. 

 I have kept a nature journal for over 20 years, but did not journal with others until 2019, when I attended the Wild Wonder Nature Journaling conference. That sparked an excitement about sharing the nature journaling experience with others and I started a local nature journal club. 

Before March 2020 I did not believe one could effectively teach others how to connect with nature over the computer screen. But things changed. Because I  wanted to create a way for my community to stay connected during an uncertain time, and because of my familiarity with using Zoom for other meetings, I thought I’d give it a try. Thus the weekly Sunday sessions of the Monterey Bay Nature Journal Club Online sessions for connection and inspiration was born! These free sessions and interactive nature journaling classes and workshops have been popular and lots of fun, and has drawn an international group. We’ve had a variety of topics from tidepooling and otters, to twigs and trees, weather, page organization, mosses and mothers! 

For the past year, I’ve also provided online Zoom support to various nature journal teachers. So, for my role in International Nature Journaling Week, I’m volunteering to organize and provide Zoom technology support to the instructors so they can focus on teaching their amazing live sessions.

I hope you see you with your journal at INJW or at one of my events!
Sunday Nature Journal Club:
Nature Journaling Courses with Melinda
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sparkinnature/
Website and blog: https://sparkinnature.com/
Facebook Page: /sparkinNature
Facebook Group: Monterey Bay Nature Journal Club

Thank you to Brian Higginbotham and Yvea Moore for their efforts with Zoom moderation for the live classes.

Thank you to Jane Tickell for being a Facebook Page Moderator and Vanessa McGreevy for her efforts as Instagram Coordinator. Thank you to Judy Mckinley for her help with proofreading and checking links on the website to make sure everything is working well!

Our entire team of nature journal teachers have volunteered their time to bring you this series of free workshops during INJW. Thank you to each of them for this generous gift!

There has been many, many people who have contributed to International Nature Journaling Week by writing articles for the blog, recording videos for the “What does nature journaling mean to you?” page, translating into other languages for the How to Participate page, and behind the scenes help with various tasks. This week has been a collective effort and we are profoundly grateful to all those who helped and all those who participated!

This is our week.
We’ve done this together as a global community.
THANK YOU!