Position Paper on Outdoor Education

In light of the growing need for a more holistic and practical approach to education, this position paper advocates for the integration of outdoor practices into mainstream curricula. Indeed, the traditional classroom often falls short in providing a quality learning experience for children and youth, that enhances their overall development, well-being, environmental awareness and social skills.

 

Emphasizing the framework of Education in Nature (or nature-based education) and backed by extensive research carried-out in the framework of the DEN project, the document explores historical roots and diverse approaches in order to outline the manifold benefits associated with outdoor education.

Download

For more information, please reach out to Gabrielle Franck: [email protected]

More publications

Rescuing play: why schools should take it seriously

Too often, for adults, teachers, risk-averse institutions and school systems, play appears as something problematic: risky, unproductive, difficult to manage and almost impossible to measure. The article challenges this view by pointing to the increasingly pernicious marginalisation of play and to the risks this represents for children and for society more broadly.

Joint Statement: A Roadmap for Every Child

The next European Union (EU) long-term budget has the potential to invest in all children, everywhere.

Nothing about the Planet’s Future without youth

For the last two years, we worked with young people across 5 European countries who are living through the reality of the socio-ecological crisis. Using Youth-Led Participatory Action Research (YPAR), they took a deep dive into the emotions that come when their lives and futures are taken out of their hands, and figured out how to turn this into collective action and empowerement.