Facilitator Biography: Karen Begley is an educational consultant from B.C who works with educators, families, and organizations, to align care and learning practices with the values of the community, families, and organizations. She is a strong advocate of child-led learning, learning through play, and place-based programming. Karen's background includes 20 years of working with children of all ages and their families in place-based outdoor education and arts-based programming, 10 years of teaching elementary school, and 6 years of facilitation. Karen holds a B.Ed. with a specialization in ECE, a B.A. in History (focusing on the social history of education), and a post-graduate diploma in Teacher Librarianship where she focused on early literacy experiences, all from the University of British Columbia. She has extensively studied the Reggio Emilia Approach and Place-based learning principles in her formal education and professional development experiences and uses these as the foundation of all her programs