The initial point was the observation that it can be very difficult for learners of basic education to orient themselves in and explore their own neighbourhood, let alone further away places. As this can lead to social exclusion and the absence to educational programs, one goals was to tackle that obstacle and provide chances to promote social participation and empowerment. Another entry point was the great potential nature and outdoor activities provide to foster health, wellbeing and resilience, but that those potentials are not easily accessible for learners of basic education because of the abovementioned challenges to orient themselves and be mobile. Therefore, we wanted to explore the potential of nature-based educational offers, and how it can be related to the development of both health and resilience as well as digital competences. We set to develop educational material for educators that would provide both an informative background on the why and how of nature-based education, as well as proposed activities of how they can be combined with the development of digital competences to be integrated in basic education courses.
The project aimed to reach two target groups with different needs: Pedagogical staff in basic education institutions: They should be given theoretical background knowledge and practical suggestions for the design of nature-based educational programs, as these have hardly been available so far - especially in combination with the use of digital tools. The target group of learners is often massively limited in their mobility, because it is difficult for them to visit unknown places. This restricts their freedom of movement and action, which in turn makes it more difficult for them to find their way to educational opportunities. Here, access to natural and social environments should be facilitated by providing low-threshold offers - in order to increase their social mobility and to use the health-promoting effect of experiencing nature.