Natural Curriculum – Promoting Outdoor Adventure Learning in the Framework of Education and Youth Work

The idea of the Natural Curriculum and its partner organizations was to advocate for the development of new, holistic, and inclusive approaches in education and youth work. As youth workers, trainers, and VET teachers engaged in diverse fields such as civic education, vocational training, and human rights education, the project team was dedicated to refining their methods. Specifically, it was about exploring and promoting the broader use of Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE), supported by research highlighting its positive impact on learner engagement, sensory development, and overall educational quality. Particularly relevant in the context of heightened stress and digital saturation among youth due to the Corona pandemic, OAE offers strategies for stress reduction, motivation enhancement, and promoting values like sustainability and respectful interaction with nature. This project addresses the needs of various stakeholders involved in education and youth work, focusing on enhancing staff competencies, sharing best practices, expanding organizational capacities, and improving the educational experiences and skills development of young people.

There were six main objectives implemented within the project. First to elevate youth work and education quality showcasing and exploration of good quality practices of outdoor adventure education (OAE) methodology and their impact. Second was to promote OAE transformative force for education and youth work as it is seen as an holistic methodology and to spread it on local, European, and international levels. The third objective was to empower and train professionals through study visits, training, joint sessions and resource exchange. Another one was to create educational opportunities for young people. Fifth objective was to create and use intellectual outputs for sustainable impacts. The concrete resources which we brought together should have a sustainable impact on partner organizations and their broader professional networks. Last objective was the “cross-sectoral collaboration”, because the Natural Curriculum strived for a collaboration among formal and non formal education and different youth sectors for building a new collaboration.

The Natural Curriculum activities are structured around four key stages: Training and capacity building, producing project results, testing and improving project results, and dissemination and multiplying of the results. Key activities include: Three Transnational Project Meetings (TPMs) for planning and coordination, beginning with a Kick-off Meeting in Potsdam in Germany in Spring 2022, followed by meetings in Lupeni, Romania (which was changed to an Online-Meeting early 2023) and concluding with an evaluation meeting in Norway January 2024. The Steering Committee maintained ongoing communication through various online channels. Additionally, there were four Learning-, Teaching-, Training- Activities (LTTAs), each hosted by a partner organization, featuring study visits to explore organizational methods and activities. The project produced two main results: an E-library of Open Educational Resources (OER) and an E-Learning platform with an educational module focused on "Civic Education through Outdoor Methods." These products were tested locally and refined based on feedback. Finally, two Multiplier Events in Germany and Georgia promoted project outcomes to a wider audience of stakeholders, enhancing project impact and visibilit

The project was expected to yield significant tangible and intangible outcomes throughout and beyond its timeline. Specifically, it aims to: enhance the professional competencies of educators, staff, and partner organization representatives through the Study Visits or Learning, Teaching, Training activities and Transnational Project Meetings; develop personal and professional skills among young people involved in project activities, benefiting from improved youth work and educational opportunities; and generate concrete outputs including an E-library of Open Educational Resources (OER), featuring materials in Outdoor Education, designed for accessibility and user-friendliness across different educational contexts. Additionally, an E-Learning platform is hosting a variety of "Outdoor Education Methods" structured in modules for practical use by educators, youth workers, NGOs, and educational institutions. Overall, the project aimed to advance and promote the use of Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) in youth work locally and within the Erasmus+ program, contributing to broader youth work advancements in Europe.