The project set out to explore and test the potential of outdoor education as a meaningful tool for the inclusion of young migrants and youth with fewer opportunities, particularly those in NEET situations. Our central aim was to understand how learning in and through nature can support skills development, improve mental well-being, and foster a sense of belonging and integration. By building the competencies of participants to take on leadership roles in their communities, we sought to empower them as active contributors to local civic life. The program was grounded in Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, encouraging reflection on real-life applications of the life skills gained, as well as on resilience, teamwork, and social engagement. With the Training Course we aimed to equip community leaders, youth workers, educators, and young people with transferable, practical tools that could be adapted to their local contexts and challenges and be used in their regular youth work practice with the respective target groups.
As the consortium of partners, In our daily work with local communities of young migrants and refugees in Ireland, Iceland, and Germany, we observed clear gaps in accessible, inclusive learning opportunities—especially for those in NEET situations. These young people often experience complex and overlapping barriers such as language, financial and personal instability, lack of trust in institutions, and limited access to community life. At the same time, our partner organizations had seen the potential of outdoor education as a non-formal learning tool to support the development of crucial skills and attitudes, such as decision-making, teamwork, self-confidence, and well-being practices. Despite the benefits, we saw that outdoor learning was still underutilized, especially in the field of youth integration. We recognized the need to develop and pilot inclusive, low-threshold methods and to better understand how youth work can incorporate outdoor education approaches that are empowering and co-created with young migrants themselves. The project was also an opportunity to strengthen cooperation between our organizations and build competences of the partners in coordination of long-term international collaborations.