Conferences

Euro Conference 2010 "Encountering, Experiencing and Exploring Nature in Education" Held in Slovenia on 22-25 September 2010. For more information please click here. Workshop presentation application form.


We would like to invite you to attend our upcoming conference, "The Spirit of Place," which will take place August 1-3, 2010, at the Sami cultural heritage center - Arran - in Tysfjord community, Nordland, Norway. www.Tysfjord.kommune.no (For more info click here)

Organised by: bsj Marburg/Germany in partnership with theEuropean Institute for Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning (EOE) Date: 23rd- 26th September 2009 Zerum Ueckermünde, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Programme If you would like to give a workshop please find here the workshop presentation form.

EOE 2008 Conference titled: Landscape, Youth and Outdoor Education: What are we doing? What should we be doing?The Centre for Outdoor Education Studies (Trinity College, University of Wales) in partnership with the European Institute for Outdoor Adventure & Experiential Learning (EOE)17th- 20th September 2008 Trinity College, Carmarthen, Wales, UK

*First International Conference on Financially Self-Sufficient Schools* from the *4th to 6th of December *2007 at *the **San Francisco Organic Farm. For more information click here.

EOE-10 the Anniversary conference 14-16 September 2007 in Poland at Frajda-Czarnocin Read the Conference Report ( Message posted on 5 December 2007) EOE Annual General Meeting 2007 -Agenda ( Message posted on 16 May 2007) 11th

EEEurope Meeting, Dounans, Aberfoyle, Scotland, April 26 - 30, 2007 (pre-conference April 23-26) The web site for the 4th International Adventure Therapy Conference in New Zealand in 2006 has recently been completed with a call for papers.

OLD TRADITIONS-NEW TRENDS Youth European Seminar Organised by Brathay Hall Trust in cooperation with the EOE. 15 September 2004- 19 September 2004 at Brathay, Cumbria, the UK. Click here to obtain the conference paper (PDF-1.42Mb).

5th European Conference 2003 in Poland. Sharing Diversity and Building up Networks. With financial support from the European Union EOE organises its 5th European conference from 4-8 October 2003 in Czarnocin / Poland. See Images and Presentations (Images from the conference)

International Outdoor Education Research Conference. La Trobe University Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, July 6-9, 2004 "Connections and Disconnections: Examining the reality and rhetoric. International perspectives on outdoor education theory and practice."

International Conference UK: The 'Outdoors' and 'Adventure' as Social and Cultural Phenomena. April 8-10th 2002 Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College. .......... See Conference Report and pictures!!!!!!!

Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning in European Exchange Projects Marburg, Germany 4th-8th October 2001. See CONFERENCE RESULTS***

International symposium on Nature and Identity September, 6-9, 2001, in Alta, Norway.

The Third Brathay Youth Conference "Transitions-Experiential Learning and the Process of change". Monday 17th September to Wednesday 19th September 2001.

Other Ways of Learning Rimforsa, Sweden September 2000 Celebrating Diversity - Learning by Sharing Cultural Differences Edinburgh,UK September 1998

Youth and Social work on the Move:Youth and Social work through adventure and outdoors Spital, Austria October 1996 Finland Welcomes Europe and the World Tornio, Finland April 1995 Outdoor Activities

Prague, Czech Republic October 1994 Europe a home for people Wetzlar, Germany December 1994 FICE Conference-Young people and their families in the metropolitan areas of the world. Outdoor Activities Prague, Czech Republic October 1994

The main foundation-building meetings were held in: Prague 1994. - Prague at the Charles University during October 1994 where the report "Outdoor Activities Prague 94" clearly said that, "The time has come for a Pan-European discussion". Twelve different countries attended this event to add to the home participants from the Czech host nation.

The Norwegian University of Sport in Oslo partnered this event and cosponsored the publication with "Erlebnispedagogik" Luneburg. Wetzlar 1994. Europe a home for people Wetzlar, Germany December 1994 This large event was described in the publication "Sportbezogene Sozialarbeit in Europa" by "Sportjugend Hessen" where the leading theme was "Europa - ein Haus der Menschen" (p.9) or roughly in English, " Europe a home for people". There were again twelve participating countries plus the hosting nation Germany.

After the Prague and Wetzlar events cooperative work was carried on in all related fields. In both the Prague and the Wetzlar events groups of people were chosen or volunteered to carry on cooperative work in all fields that were seen as part of the main areas of outdoor, adventure, education and pedagogy, experiential learning and the allied fields of youth, social and community work in all forms. At this time there were many discussions concerning European integration and cooperation from many different perspectives and organisations.

Finland Welcomes Europe and the World Tornio April1996 In April of 1996 there was another move towards the European Institute. In Tornio, Finland, a small conference was organised and a publication made 'Finland Welcomes Europe and the World' (published by The Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor leadership.) This conference did two things. It brought together people and ideas from the past conferences in Germany and Prague while remaining with a European theme that past conferences had wanted to be activated. Youth and Social Work on the Move:Youth and Social Work Through Adventure Spital, Austria October 1996 Held in Spital, Austria, 2nd-5th October 1996 it was a 'working congress' where participants, in small groups, developed European projects, which utilised adventure and experiential learning as 'vehicles' for integration.The Institute was formed during the Spital-Pirn Congress of 1996. At this meeting the participants agreed upon the Statement of Intent that underpins the work of the Institute.

After many foundation-building meetings between different European groups during the 1990s the European Institute for Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential learning was finally agreed and formed during the Spital-Pirn Congress of October 1996 in Austria.

Celebrating Diversity - Learning by Sharing Cultural Differences Edinburgh, UK September 1998. Multi-and intercultural problems and issues in society within a theoretical context were discussed. (Some of these issues and contexts are provided in the conference proceedings, 'Celebrating Diversity - Learning by Sharing Cultural Differences', edited by Higgins and Humberstone 1998). 'Sharing Cultural Differences' leads into the center of those societal processes and it certainly supplied actual and future discourses about European integration and identity, with much food for thought. Clearly, where cultural differences determine the situation, there cannot be a homogeneous picture. Although we may use the same concepts, which can be translated easily into different languages, our specific culturally coined experiences are backgrounds that lead to different interpretations. When for example, people from Greece, France, Finland and Germany hear the word 'forest' they all have different connotations. The international career of the German word 'Waldsterben' is obviously an indicator for the fact that cultural traditions are forming the connotations of the concepts. What is valid for the word 'forest', also is true for the whole outdoor vocabulary, for example: nature, adventure, wilderness, water, holism, mountain, authenticity and so forth. Before a common horizon can be seen, which may include all cultural horizons of outdoor adventure and experiential learning, it is necessary to begin with identifying the specificity of the different cultural approaches. To begin this attempt, the European Institute asked representatives of different countries to tell the participants at the Edinburgh meeting about their national approaches to outdoor education. These contributions were gathered together in the publication, 'Outdoors, Adventure and Experiential Learning. A Wreath of European Concepts'. The Board of the Institute hopes that this publication will give an impulse to intensify an intercultural discourse about our subject. We would welcome the continuation of this discourse in Linkoping, Sweden, where in September 2000, the fourth European meeting will take place under the title, 'Other ways of Learning-Outdoor Adventure Education in School and Youth Work'. A number of members and board members contributed to the successful national conference held in Cottbus Germany 12th -16th September 1999,' Adventure - a venue for youth? Differentiation and integration-Possibilities of Erlebnispädagogik'. The publication from this conference is published in German. Any of these publications can be obtained from BSJ in Germany, e-mail: kontakt@bsj-marburg.de Or if in the UK, the two English publications and also 'Outdoor Education and Experiential Learning in the UK' edited by Higgins and Humberstone (1999) can be obtained from afol@adventure-ed.co.uk Other Ways of Learning Rimforsa, Sweden September 2000.

Other Ways of Learning: Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning in Schools and Youth Work. Rimforsa, Sweden 9-13 September 2000 This Congress was the successful culmination of a partnership between the Center of Outdoor and Environmental Education, Linkoping University, Sweden (CMU) and the European Institute. At the Edinburgh Congress in 1998, Anders Szczepanski, head of CMU and his colleagues, agreed to take on the difficult task of arranging the Congress in Linkoping/Rimforsa. Early this year Ture Goransson took on the organisation of the Congress. Ninety people from fourteen countries came together to spend five days involved in interesting and worthwhile ways of learning based at the beautiful site Storgarden located on the shore of lake Asunden. The Congress opened at Linkoping University with welcomes from Lena Burlin, vice-chair of Linkoping City Council and Goran Farm, Member of the European Parliament. Following a number of interesting lectures the participants were given the opportunity for experiential learning with lecturers from the University departments of arts, crafts and design. A strong wind did not prevent the participants from being thoroughly engaged in drama or building sculptors from natural materials. Sunday provided opportunities for participants to choose from a number of lectures and workshops concerned with outdoor education and schools. These included 'liberal education and the outdoors', 'learning in the context of landscape', 'the ambivalent sense of place', 'outdoor education in relation to leadership and group process', 'friluftsliv' and 'memorable experiences for the mentally disabled'. Much enjoyment and new ideas were gained in the workshops that were held in the grounds around the site or further afield. In the early evening, communal cray-fishing from canoes and the pier gathered just 12 cray-fish. The day was rounded up with an excellent barbecue party. Monday was focused upon Reading the Landscape. There were opportunities to attend initial lectures on 'Folklore', 'Place-names in cultural landscape', 'Back to stone age roots' and 'Nature and design'. From midmorning outdoor workshops based on the initial lectures were enjoyed by all. The local TV news recorded the bonfire and folklore talk by the distinguished folklorist Ebbe Schon. In the evening an interesting lecture was given by Professor Juha Suoranta on cyborgs. The focus of Tuesday was youth and schoolwork and outdoor education. The parallel themes in the morning were gender and drugs. In the afternoon the parallel sessions were unemployment and violence. Lecturers and workshop facilitators came from Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Norway and the UK. These did much to emphasise the partnership between school and youth work in meeting the needs of young people through outdoor adventure education. An excellent communal crayfish dinner was thoroughly enjoyed by all. The three women folk singers were highly professional and extremely entertaining.The close of Congress featured a concluding lecture and a finalising workshop.There then followed the European Institute's AGM. During the afternoon a few remaining people had a relaxing sight seeing boat trip on the Lake.

Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning in European Exchange Projects Marburg, Germany October 4-8, 2001 Organised in collaboration with BSJ-Marburg The next Euroconference of the EOE will be held in Marburg / Germany From October, 4th-8th 2001 the EOE organizes its next conference (or better working-meeting) in Marburg / Germany under the title: „Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning in European Exchange Projects". The main conceptual ideas of the meeting are the following: -to give colleagues who use elements/methods of Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning in European contexts especially those, who work with disadvantaged youth, the possibility to exchange information and to realize networking.This will include: analyse resources of adventure based activities and methods of experiential learning concerning processes of intercultural learning. We particularly welcome colleagues who work in youth welfare organisations or in further / higher education and training courses from European countries.

The conference includes keynotes, theoretical and practical workshops. Central point will be the theoretical workshops: for two days participants should work together with colleagues in their field of interest (e.g. immigrants, social exclusion, handicapped, prevention, sustainability, training, gender, education...). After a theoretical input of an expert they should all be actively involved in exchanging their experiences with using outdoor activities in intercultural contexts and afterwards in developing a joint project that should be realized in 2002