Hi David,
I can’t give you any advice from a professional standpoint but I was once an underprivileged youth of colour, living in Toronto, Canada. I’ve always been interested in nature and biodiversity and currently have a 7 year old who also shares that passion, which is how I found this app and forum. I’m going to try to list some of the obstacles faced by urban youth when it comes to joining such a camp. I can only speak of my experiences or things I’ve personally seen, but I hope to be somewhat helpful and give you ideas of things to consider.
Transportation: How will your campers get from their home to you? Is it safe walking distance? If they have to take transit, can they afford it? Is there a convenient transit route? For me this was the biggest barrier. I didn’t have anyone available to drive me to the location of the activities so if there wasn’t public transit nearby or close enough for me to bike, I couldn’t participate.
Cost: Not just the cost to participate in the camp itself but also special clothing, lunches, transportation etc. If the youth you are targeting have younger siblings and parents rely on them for care while working, there is an added cost of a babysitter, or hassle of finding someone to watch the child for the week.
Time: How many days a camp runs but also the hours. You mentioned people not having a frame of reference for a biodiversity camp. Maybe a full week (I’m assuming Monday-Friday) is too long. Is it possible to do a one day biodiversity crash course camp? It could run each day so participants have options and flexibility when to attend. Half day camps or late afternoon/early evening sessions will also open you up to more youth.
Connections: Having people of colour (especially women of colour) on staff would definitely be helpful in attracting the demographic you’re after. You can also let people know who you are and what you’re doing. Is there a local green space? Can you set up a few people, signs, or posters? Allow people walking by to safely engage and show curiosity. For example, a few years ago the organization I worked for started running programs for parents, babies, and preschool children. We set up tables and posters near a public transit hub where people had to change buses to make transfers. From noon until around 5pm we tried to let as many people know about us as possible. Even if we couldn’t talk to them, they saw our signs, saw our faces, and had a general idea what we were about. We were there one day a week for 3 weeks and saw a very noticeable increase in visitors to our programs within a month.
I hope this helps. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Jezabel