Hitchcock Center programs are designed to use the study of science and nature, its models, systems, processes, and elements, as a means to provide creative inspiration to solve human problems sustainably. Our programs serve to develop a continuum of competencies that begin at the earliest, most formative years and progress through a process of lifelong learning to engender a greater understanding of the interdependence of the environment, economy, and social issues. Our approach to education uses the environment as classroom and defines place at a variety of scales - the schoolyard, the backyard, the neighborhood, the park, the farm, the town, the forest, the pond, the mountains, and the watershed. In these settings, the Hitchcock Center helps thousands of children and adults see and understand the impacts of our actions. Through our programs, we make connections to where our food comes from and where our waste goes. We help people understand our intimate relationship with the critical life-sustaining processes that support us.