Not only in Germany, but also in many other European Countries youth work generally concerns a raising tendency of non-formal education to be exploited as a simple co-actor of formal education in terms of enable more young people to meet the requirements of the labour market. Therefore, in Germany the discussion about basic orientation and the future of youth work is recently more and more focussing on a change of this paradigm moving to more adequate strategies to "enable youth" (BMFSFJ) or "giving free spaces for young people" (AGJ). The strategic partnership ENOC - European Network of Outdoor Centres, wants to link with this new orientation and strengthen the programmes of outdoor education centres on both, national and European level. The main methodical approach of this project relies on the ideas of outdoor adventure education and experiential learning and focuses a differentiated aesthetical practice. Examples of best practice from each partner organisation will be collected, systemized, and further developed within the implementation of this project in order to provide a handbook with appropriate tools to address the power of youth work more to the necessities of a pleasant youth. The five involved organisations can refer to a long experience in outdoor pedagogy and reach thousands of young people each year with their non-formal educational programmes. Some aspects about the understanding of aesthetic approaches: In natural and outdoor settings they offer opportunities for individually perceived experiences. Understood as learning processes with the use of all senses, aesthetic approaches contribute to a successful process of personal development for all young people - and in particular for those with fewer opportunities. The involved organisations are important players on each of their national level of youth work with strong connections to the formal learning sector, which gives additional potential of strengthening of concepts - such as aesthetic approaches - focussing on open processes of (experiential) learning. Main objective of the project is the exchange of good practice in the work with groups of young people in outdoor centres. At the end of the project all outdoor centres should be provided with new methodologies and approaches in the field of the aesthetic, which in turn leads to a benefit for all future participants of outdoor education programs of the involved organisations. At the same time the project aims to a stronger and deeper collaborations and networking of al partner organisations on a European level. By establishing a web-page this network should become a strong pool of outdoor centres with a good visibility for other interested people. To summarize the project objectives: We want a) to publish a handbook with examples of good practice of outdoor education with aesthetical approaches, b) to implement a „Train the Trainer“-seminar, c) to evaluate the examples of good practice during a long-term period of implementation into the daily work of the outdoor-centres, c) to create better conditions for a cooperation between all partners in terms of other projects on European level (e.g. youth meetings, job shadowing). The most important part to reach these goals are three planned project meetings, which serve to develop a professional concept, to consider theoretical aspects, to share the best practice and to evaluate and disseminate the project results. Being part of the project means to further develop the professional standards and methodical diversity of each organisation in their daily work. This leads to a stronger appearance of the outdoor learning programmes for potential partner and target groups. As a whole, the project marks a starting point of the implementation of a network of outdoor education centres across Europe. Thousands of participants of their programs of non-formal education will benefit each year from the outcome of this strategic partnership. On the basis of a functioning network we hope to win new members and continue to share ideas, methods, good practice and experiences on a bigger European level. All involved organisations see the project as a chance and good start to deepen their connections to Europe and establishing youth work on a more transnational level.
ENOC (European Network of Outdoor Centers) pursued the goal to further develop the European cooperation of outdoor centers in Europe and to initiate a steady network of organisations working in the field of outdoor adventure and experiential education. This specific strategic partnership put its focus during the project span on the topic "Aesthetic Education" in youth work. For this purpose, a practical handbook was developed which contains a collection of best practice activities combined with several articles dealing with different aspects of and approaches to aesthetic education. The project started with a kick off meeting in Marburg/Germany in order to set a common ground of the understanding of the aesthetics. At the same time all organisations presented their work with youth groups, backgrounds, target groups and own professional approaches (again with focus on aesthetic education). By this the cornerstone was laid for the development of a train-the-trainer seminar, which was carried out in a next step for a total of 20 professionals from all organisations involved. The implementation of the train-the-trainer seminar (Radenci/Slovenia) made it possible to carry out best practice activities of each involved partner organisation and to systemize them and reflect on it in accordance with its possible uses and limits in the work with youth groups. Subsequently, each partner took the new practical impulses back into the individual working contexts during an intensive testing phase of best practice. All new experiences with those activities were briefly documented. At the same time all partners were engaged in spreading best practice approaches and didactics of aesthetic education within the own organisation. From time to time also multiplying events were held in order to inform others about the project and to share experiences in the field of aesthetic education. A second project meeting of all partners in Ambleside/England was used to evaluate this testing and implementation phase in detail. This resulted in a collection of best practice activities, which was – in a next step - prepared uniformly to transfer those with a didactical processing into the planned handbook. A content concept for this publication was also developed. Besides the best practice activities it was decided to include a number of articles into the handbook contributed by some experts involved in the strategic partnership project. As part of the final meeting (again in Marburg/Germany) the results were brought together and experience gained from working with aesthetic education was again collected, exchanged and discussed. The whole group also visited an independent project that has a lot of experience with aesthetic education in various fields. In addition, new/previously unmentioned approaches to aesthetic education were discussed. Extensive consideration was given to the continuation of the collaboration. The partners debated on ideas/proposals for expanding the network and talked about opportunities to continue with the work on aesthetic education (e.g. developing a teaching seminar and implementing youth meeting activities). During this process also other core issues could be identified that are elementary for the work in educational and outdoor centers (including health and wellbeing, environment & sustainability, personal / social development). The partners: Institutions from Germany (bsj Marburg), England (Brathay Trust), Slovenia (CŠOD), Finland (Metsäkartano) and Poland (Centrum Edukacji Nieformalnej i Outdooru ) were involved in the partnership project. All organisations have a long tradition and great expertise in adventure and outdoor education. They carry out extensive practice in the outdoor centres of their own countries with a large number of youth and adult groups, as well as families, companies and other groups. The involved organisations are also members of the EOE network (European Institute for Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning). Results and effects: The project led to an intensive examination of processes of aesthetic education and stimulated a strong professional exchange between the organisations involved. Although all partners can be seen as institutions with great expertise in aesthetic education, the project has shown a high need for professionalisation in this area. Experience processes in the implementation phase have shown that target group-specific access is fundamental, especially in the field of aesthetic education, and that specialists are faced with major didactic challenges to implement this practice when working with large and sometimes heterogeneous groups in outdoor centres. The intensive examination of the potential of aesthetic education, but also of the corresponding success factors, has led to professional development within the organisations and has made aesthetic education a central part of the work of all partner organisations. In addition to the reached impact and development of the topic itself, the network now is represented by a website and established different ways (social media, leaflets) to address other potential partners, to promote the products and results of the project (best practice handbook) and to advertise for the benefits of engaging with ENOC. A huge impact will come from the new handbook, which will serve as a tool for professionals across Europe and beyond and also can raise the importance of the often underrepresented field of aesthetic education in schools and formal learning settings as well as in many informal/non formal learning settings, too. This, in turn, means that thousands of participants of the programmes of outdoor centres benefit from the project results and the growing European network that brings raising opportunities for the youth as well as for practitioners and involved organisations in general.