course at learning centre

The Millard Learning Centre

Plan Your Visit

The Millard Learning Centre, located at 10825 Porlier Pass Road on Galiano Island, is open to the public year-round.  The entrance to the property now includes by-donation public Level-2 EV chargers and is the primary trailhead for over 20 kilometers of hiking trails across the Mid-Island Protected Areas Network and the Learning Centre itself.  Whether you plan to visit one of our innovative Forest Gardens, take a swim at Chrystal Cove, buy plants from our nursery, or just take in the scenery from a cliffside viewpoint, there’s something for (nearly) everyone at the Millard Learning Centre.

Click here for a map of the Millard Learning Centre
Click here for a map of the Mid-Island Protected Areas Network

Click here for more details about the Learning Centre’s accommodations 

Please note that use of the Millard Learning Centre is restricted when Education Programs are in session.  Please see our Public Access calendar if you would like to plan your visit ahead of time.

 

Connecting Youth with the Land

Millard Learning Centre Vision

The Galiano Conservancy Association envisions a world in which resilient people meet their needs in vibrant communities through a healthy interaction with the land. We can achieve this vision by strengthening the connections between individuals, communities and the natural world they depend on. To develop these vital relationships, it is essential to provide our youth with quality, experience-based outdoor education.

woman and girl

Visitors from Grandparents Raising Grandchildren can attest to the strengthening of relationships through experiential learning.

Rationale

Several days in a natural setting with inspirational teachers can change the directions of a young person’s life. Galiano Island is an extraordinary place to observe and experience the natural world, offering daily interaction with eagles, sea anemones, and arbutus trees – species not often encountered in urban life. It has been suggested that youth are suffering from “Nature Deficit Disorder”, “a condition caused by the cumulative human costs of alienation from nature, including diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses.” (Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods, 2005).

kids at learning centreThe Millard Learning Centre enhances traditional disciplines such as science, geography, history and the arts by providing hands-on examples of how this learning is relevant to everyday life. Youth apply skills in literacy and numeracy when taking part in activities ranging from biodiversity monitoring studies to reflective writing. The Learning Centre also provides participants with opportunities to build a sense of community, personal leadership and life skills. The Conservancy will create life-changing learning experiences for inner city and marginalized youth, and will be open to people of all ages and backgrounds.

Education Programs

Since 2000, over 18,000 youth ages 4-18 have participated in our education programs, and nearly 23,000 benefited from our program at the Montague Harbour Nature House from 2002 until 2009. 

“This educational opportunity is truly unique since many have never ventured far out of their immediate neighbourhood, let alone traveled on a ferry or visited an island. Many of our students have expanded their goals and career options because of this experience.” Dorothy Mills, teacher, Second Street Community School

“The transformation of school kids in nature is an amazing thing. You think you know someone at school. Then you see them in nature, and they’re totally a new person. That happened to me when we were on Galiano, my friends turned into different people. They were not only asking me about nature, but they really cared.” Hillary, Grade 6, David Lloyd George Elementary

Check out a Shaw video capturing a school group out in summer 2011 – while we were still fundraising to purchase the Learning Centre property.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXBqVnLPUzs&feature=youtu.be

The Millard Learning Centre

The Millard Learning Centre features proven green technology and infrastructure that is a model for sustainable community living within the natural environment. 

Sitelearning-centre-history-4

Located on the southwest shore of Galiano Island, the  Learning Centre property is 188 acres and features over 2 kilometers of waterfront, two seasonal streams, a working food forest farm, wetlands, and over 80 acres of mature forest. It is adjacent to a protected area that features cormorant nesting cliffs and rare peregrine falcon habitat. It is also a key component of the Mid Galiano Island Protected Areas Network, which expands the area available for hiking, education programs and ecological restoration projects. We have been overwhelmed with the strong community and partner support in the acquisition of this property, and are overjoyed that the former owner saw the same potential for the property that we do.

Location

learning-centre-history-6Galiano Island is in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, and has a population of 1200. Located in the Strait of Georgia, between the two urban centres of Vancouver and Victoria, it offers easy access for everyone via BC Ferries. During the 45-60 minute ferry trip students will disconnect from their urban environments and, at the end of their voyage, find themselves transported to a magical yet safe place. The Learning Centre’s location is close to all necessary amenities, but far enough away from urban centres to create a feeling of wilderness. The island boasts unique west coast scenery, and access to ocean, forest, stream and wetland settings. It is the ideal venue for outdoor education as it is a hotspot for both rare and endangered species, attracting visitors from around the world.

Achievements

  • 18 years of successful education programs reaching over 37, 000 individuals
  • Strong team of gifted and committed staff, Board and volunteers
  • 30 years proven property management & financial accountability
  • National award-winning, large scale ecosystem restoration projects
  • Acquisition of the Learning Centre property secured 2012
  • Community-inclusive Management plan and Vision
  • Restoration and education programs at the Learning Centre
  • Off-grid kitchen and classroom building relocated from Salmo, BC and reconstructed as an innovative learning facility at the Learning Centre

The Right Time, The Right People, The Right Place

Your charitable donation will contribute to a legacy of hope for the future among thousands of young people from all walks of life. It will enable us to run multi-day programs with groups that do not have the capacity to organize their own logistics for overnight programs. The groups we have worked with have shown us that participants gain the confidence, skills and optimism needed to learn how to live in harmony with each other and the natural world.