As youth organizations working across diverse European contexts, we have always believed in the power of learning outside the four walls of a classroom. For us, nature isn't just a backdrop, it’s a space that naturally invites cooperation, exploration, and reflection. We’ve seen firsthand how being outdoors helps young people build soft skills, improve their physical and mental wellbeing, become more active and connect with others, and this inspiration has driven us to make the environment a central part of our work. We love what we do, but we also recognize that youth work requires us to constantly adapt to new realities. Today, that means addressing the digital overload, stress and the increasing pressure that young people feel every day. Research shows that outdoor and nature-based activities improve psychological well-being, reduce anxiety, and strengthen social connectedness and inclusion (Vasilaki et al., 2025). While many of our youth workers are highly motivated to take their groups outside, we noticed a common challenge: many activities remain purely recreational or activities are too risky, not inclusive and lack clear learning outcomes. There is a clear need for a more structured way to facilitate these experiences, a need for more confidence in managing outdoor risks and better tools for turning a simple walk in the woods into a real learning moment. In response, we created The Nature of Growth, which features a 7-day training course in Latvia as its core activity for professional development. This project is about moving from just being outdoors to intentional, resilience-based youth work. We want to support 27 youth workers from 9 countries in developing a practical framework that they can take back to their daily practice. We’ve built a hybrid program that blends the healthy challenges of outdoor and adventure adventure with restorative nature immersion. The idea is simple but effective: our participants first experience these methods themselves to build their own resilience, and then they shift from participant to practitioner to analyze the tools from a professional perspective, focusing on how to facilitate them for others. A big part of this growth happens in our practice lab, where participants work in international teams to design and test their own outdoor workshop prototypes. This isn't just about gaining skills, it’s about making youth work more sustainable. We know that our colleagues are often working at full capacity, so we’ve integrated practical, nature-based self-care routines that they can realistically fit into their busy lives to stay grounded and effective. Our general aims for this project are: 1) Equip 27 youth workers with the competences needed to facilitate outdoor adventure education (OAE) and restorative nature immersion activities; 2) Support 9 organizations to lead physically and emotionally safe learning activities, by providing frameworks like risk-benefit analysis and challenge by choice; 3) Reduce burnout risks among youth workers by introducing practical self-care routines that help professionals stay grounded and resilient; 4) Increase the physical and mental well-being of partners' target groups (youngsters) by developing a “Nature-Based Activity Toolkit” with easily replicable outdoor activities; 5) Strengthening the use of OAE activities by sharing a guide of nature-based methods and hosting local events to ensure these tools reach our wider teams and local youth. By doing this, we are strengthening the quality of youth work across Europe. We are helping our partners move toward a more intentional way of working, ensuring that the outdoors becomes a high-quality, inclusive classroom where young people can grow into active and resilient participants in society.