The Nurturing Nature of Collaboration

Camp participants explore the Library Field property. Counter-clockwise: Lisbeth Maerkedahl, Aarhus Public Libraries; Andrea Davis, Alameda County Library; Becca Quon, METRO; Grif Peterson, Froghouse; and Shannon Mattern, METRO. Photo courtesy of Froghouse.

During our lunch break at NEXT Library 2023, Helene Bruhn Schvartzman, project manager at Aarhus Public Libraries, flagged me down.

“Follow me!”

She assembled a small group of us on Dokk1’s famous ramp – all individuals tied in some way to sustainability projects, thought leaders and friends who’ve connected over the years attending NEXT in Aarhus, Denmark.

After an hour and a half of spontaneous discussion – one that for me became the most inspiring of the weekend – the Big Question was posed: How do we keep the conversation going? Not only that, but how do we shift from conversation to action with a group spread across the world?

Was there an opportunity here to create a model for international collaboration around shared values – in this case, the shift from human-centered design in libraries to planetary design (inclusive of all ecosystems on a global scale)?

The magic of spontaneity! Our first discussion at NEXT Library 2023. Photo courtesy of Andrea Davis.

Aarhus Public Libraries is doing extensive work around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using the concepts to inform programming and educate staff and the community around sustainable topics. For many of us, the first we had heard of SDGs was through APL and NEXT. Yet there was synergy happening. Metropolitan New York Library Council’s (METRO) Library Field project was in progress. Construction of Anythink’s Nature Library, set to open in August 2026, was underway. Greenpoint Library and Environmental Center at Brooklyn Public Library launched in 2020, a “community hub for environmental awareness, activism and education.” 

Advocates in the U.S. like Rebekkah Smith Aldrich out of Mid–Hudson Library System are doing critical work to bring environmental responsibility to the forefront of library conversations. Rebekkah spearheads the Sustainable Libraries Initiative and is principal author of the National Climate Action for Libraries, providing a roadmap for library leaders on sustainability issues. 

Post–conference, the group continued the conversation with regular calls, informal and unscripted, including partners from Aarhus Public Libraries, METRO, SeeArt Foundation, Froghouse design studio, Alameda County Library, Anythink and others. Here was an opportunity to develop a testing ground for sustainable learning based on relationships, passion and expertise.

The group pursued funding to make convening easier, and through a grant issued by the Danish Ministry of Culture, the project was formalized to include “Creative Fertilizer Sessions,” online knowledge exchange in eight online sessions; “Collective Learning,” which includes the dissemination of case studies for inspiration; and “Practice-Driven Change Camps,” a series of three camps to be held in Aarhus (May 2025), New York (Oct. 2025), and Seoul (May 2026). These camps would be spaces for experimentation around sustainable learning involving partners and cultural actors incorporating creativity, wonder and play.

Camp by the Sea

The first camp had us observing nature in our immediate environment outside the SDG Lab at Dokk1 and mapping what we saw.

Camp #1 was hosted just before NEXT Library 2025. Curated by Helene and Aarhus Public Libraries Development Officer Sidsel Bech-Petersen, the camp invited us to explore natural elements in the cracks and crannies of concrete dockside, eating mussels and drop biscuits over an open fire next to the library, and continuing our 2023 conversation through thoughtfully designed exercises centering discovery, mindfulness, movement, art, nature and togetherness.

This offered a special way for us to reconnect before the full conference. It also provided perspective about how access to green spaces was so different for each of us. Living in Colorado, outdoor exploration is a lifestyle embedded in our culture. But what is that relationship with nature for our colleagues in New York? Arizona? Seoul? California? Denmark? Boston? Philly?

Menno Schilthuizen, sustainability keynote for the conference, further reinforced this concept during his talk on urban naturalism, discussing the power of nature discovery in urban environments. Alameda County Library (ACL) Family Services Coordinator and captain of creativity Andrea Davis hosted an "Out to Sea" field trip, inviting NEXT attendees to explore the waterfront aboard a local ferry, offering guided sensory exercises inspired by ACL's "Engaging the Senses" equity-based 2024 summer program.

The fellowship created in this camp gathering was exactly what we hoped to reiterate in my own keynote with colleagues Schamichael Hallman and Tommi Laitio, “Why We Show Up: Cultivating Hope and Community Action in Uncertain Times."

These shared, treasured memories have forged deeper bonds with our colleagues from South Korea, the U.S., and Denmark. Building trust and sharing inspiration, play, fun and laughter are not to be underestimated. Intimate, vulnerable learning about each other’s cultures and gaining a deeper understanding of each other’s needs and challenges enables us to talk more openly, creating the foundation for future partnerships – a fertile environment for true global collaboration.

The Library Field

Many times, when we’re presented with revolutionary ideas, we have to see it to understand it. And although I’ve heard METRO Director Nate Hill talk about the Library Field project since its early inception, and with such passion and vigor, it still didn’t totally click in my brain until I met the staff and saw it in action.

This past week, the conversations continued as we gathered in New York at the Library Field. Colleagues from South Korea, Aarhus, and across the U.S. gathered for Camp #2. This is when the synergy really kicked into high gear. Standing at the gates of the Library Field, seeing the sign, hearing Nate welcome us… it all started to make sense.

“Oh, for people IN the library field!” Oof, I have my moments. But once it came together for me, fireworks started going off in my brain. Ah, the opportunities!

The Library Field is an “open air laboratory” on 26 acres of forested land near Ossining, NY, that will be available to METRO members.

METRO Executive Director Nate Hill greets us at the gate to the Library Field. Photo courtesy of Froghouse.

According to their website: “METRO works to create a sustainable culture of creativity, collaboration, and open exchange for libraries, archives, museums, and cultural institutions in the Metropolitan New York region and around the world. We accomplish our mission through leadership, grant making, resource sharing, professional learning, research, technology services, creative practice, and more.”

Purchased in July 2025, the Library Field is a space where staff from METRO’s expansive network of over 150 libraries, museums, universities, hospitals, and other institutions can use it for outdoor learning opportunities, leadership development, prototyping, retreats, partnership development – and a whole slew of ideas that haven’t been thought up yet.

Nate has curated a Library Field tour that takes you to 16 different landmarks throughout the property – both manmade and natural way posts. These landmarks include everything from an abandoned root cellar to a white oak tree. A group of us camped on site for the evening, truly immersing ourselves in the experience. We were the beta testers.

So many things make this project special, and while significant thought and work has been put into the project so far, it’s still taking shape.

My head is swirling with ideas from this week’s trip, but here are a few thoughts that are front of mind as I reflect on our time together and our continued conversations.

First and foremost, libraries can play a significant role in expanding our connections with nature – both as stewards and as an intrinsic part of nature ourselves. The more exposure library staff have to natural spaces as part of their work, and meaningful connections with each other in these spaces, the more they may be inspired to prioritize and support sustainability, environmental stewardship and the use of nature as a tool among their staff and community. Library leaders embedded in the Field may feel more inspiration to adopt sustainable practices as guiding values in their organization’s culture and in design of buildings, operations and programming. The skills learned by exploring nature – curiosity, discovery, risk, courage, empowerment, empathy, connectedness – are directly transferable to the work METRO member staff do each day.

Next, creating an outdoor space for library professionals to learn, grow, collaborate and retreat is incredibly nurturing in a time when many library staff are experiencing the stresses of book bans, funding shortages, compassion fatigue and burnout. Now more than ever they need a meaningful way of caring for each other so that they can continue to care for the people they serve.

Finally, the Field is a space that allows for daydreaming and stepping outside of the normal day-to-day, which is typically where innovation happens. With the many threats to libraries in our world, finding creative ways to offer support, build community and establish joy as an essential service are critical. There’s much talk about AI, dropping literacy rates, polarization, anti-intellectualism, and so much more that libraries have to address and combat. A safe, beautiful space for people to ideate is what’s needed now. Because the work libraries do is not optional – it’s crucial.

NEXT Library Seoul

The stone bridge is one of 16 landmarks highlighted in the Library Field field guide. L-R: Becca Quon, METRO; Daphna Blatt, New York Public Library; Carl Bowman, Froghouse; Lisbeth Maerkedahl, Aarhus Public Libraries; Yoonmi Eom, SeeArt Foundation; Shannon Mattern, METRO; Stacie Ledden, Stacie Ledden Consulting; Nate Hill, METRO; Kyle Brown, METRO; Grif Peterson, Froghouse; Keewon Moon, SeeArt Foundation; and Andrea Davis, Alameda County Library

Camp #3 will be held May 2026 during NEXT Library Satellite in Seoul, South Korea. The group will bring their lived experiences together once again, along with other thought leaders from the region and around the world.

In the meantime, the knowledge exchange for our camp crew will continue virtually. Networks are expanding as additional staff and partners are brought into the conversations. Questions continue to mount on how to engage both frontline staff and library leadership around the topics, offering additional space at the table for their important perspectives.

While this project is a grand experiment started by one tiny spark during a conference lunch break in 2023, the individual and collective work happening by all of the players is impressive and already shaping a new way of approaching international collaboration around sustainability.

As the project grows, so do we.