We wanted to develop activities and tools for positive experiences of outdoor education, while also enabling the professionalization of youth workers and offering young people the opportunity for transformative and informal learning experiences that contributed to their personal growth. Our aim was also to implement methods from this field, to expand our knowledge in the local environment and to raise awareness of the (untapped) potential that this type of work brings to various organizations in our environment.
We applied for the project because we wanted to upgrade the knowledge of youth workers in the field of outdoor education, provide them with a healthy working environment and offer everyone involved opportunities to spend as much time as possible in nature or elswhere outdoor. In addition, we wanted to raise awareness in our local communities of the untapped potential for working with young people in nature and to contribute tested tools for transformative learning experiences to the common treasury of knowledge. The project represented an enrichment of our programs and a new opportunity for young people (even young people with fewer opportunities) both on an individual and group level. We offered them and the youth workers opportunities for active engagement, care for their physical and mental well-being, more movement, less contact with technology, outdoor activities instead of indoors, teamwork, initiative taking, care for nature. It was also important for us to get to know and connect with organizations that work with young people in nature, and to exchange knowledge with them.