JACKSON, WY— This year’s SHIFT Festival wants to talk to you about your health.
SHIFT is a unique gathering that galvanizes stakeholders from outdoor recreation, cultural relevancy, conservation and land-management communities around a common passion: protecting America’s public lands. And there are only three days left to score Early Bird pricing. Get 30% off your festival tickets through September 3.
The fourth annual festival, taking place October 16-18, is titled “Public Lands, Public Health.” The relationship is symbiotic, SHIFT organizers say: outdoor recreation on our public lands creates a healthier citizenry and enhances quality of life in communities across American. In turn, those communities promote stewardship and take care of their public lands.
“The growing disconnect from nature not only adds billions of dollars to America’s health care costs,” says SHIFT director Christian Beckwith. “It simultaneously undermines the value of our public lands in society at large.”
This year, more than 400 outdoor recreationists, health providers, conservation advocates and land managers are expected to attend SHIFT. Attendees include outdoor thought leaders like Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix; Chris Keyes, Editor of Outside Magazine; and Bob Ratcliffe, the Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Program Chief for the National Park Service.
SHIFT organizers are also collaborating with physicians and medical experts to build the program. Doctor Michael Suk, one of the earliest advocates of the connection between public lands and public health, Doctor Robert Zarr, founder of Park Rx America, and Doctor Nooshin Razani, founder of the SHINE Program at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland Hospital, will all be featured presenters.
SHIFT organizers have built the program around two main elements: The SHIFT Awards, which recognize the most impactful, innovative and replicable work in the space; and The Emerging Leaders Program, which trains early career leaders to help lead the proceedings at SHIFT.
“Public health is the last ecosystem service to be explored,” Beckwith says. “We’re looking forward to highlighting the opportunities that exist at the intersection of public lands and public health with our community this autumn.”
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ABOUT SHIFT: SHIFT (Shaping How we Invest For Tomorrow) is an annual festival that explores issues at the intersection of conservation, outdoor recreation and cultural relevancy. It is a project of The Center for Jackson Hole, whose mission is to strengthen the coalition of interests devoted to our public lands. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Linke
