Course overview

Outdoor education is on the rise in Europe and beyond and there is an emerging trend of integrating outdoor learning activities in formal education and bringing the outdoors inside. Not only does outdoor education help students become in tune with their surroundings and gain an appreciation for the natural world, it also plays an important part in bringing what they learn in the classroom into real life through application and observation and highly contribute to their personal and social development.
This course is designed to provide teachers and other education staff with the basic skills and tools to lead a range of group exercises and challenges, problem solving games, experiential activities in the nature, on school sites, in local parks as well as in urban settings.


​Learning outcomes

This course aims to provide participants with tools, ideas and best practices as well as practical experience and first-hand knowledge on how to integrate outdoor education in formal education.
The general aim of this course is to foster excellence and innovation in education by equipping teachers and education staff with the basic knowledge and skills to integrate outdoor education activities in their education programs.

Thanks to this course the participants will:
  • Get acquainted the key elements and growing trends related to outdoor education and teaching outside the classroom;
  • Learn and discuss the principles and the cultural aspects of outdoor education;
  • Learn how to design, plan and deliver inspirational outdoor education activities;
  • Experience and practice environmental and outdoor education working methods and approaches;
  • Get to know and experiment practical activities and group games that could be used and integrated in a real course;
  • Learn how to use outdoor education for personal, social and relational development (e.g. self-confidence, team building, leadership…);
  • Exchange best practices and share experiences about outdoor education with teachers and education staff coming throughout Europe;
  • Network with individuals and organizations working in the education field in Europe through everyday cooperation and team-building activities.

Courses planned

2024
07/04/2024 - 13/04/2024 (Bologna)
05/05/2024 - 11/05/2024 (Palermo)
19/05/2024  - 25/05/2024  (Tenerife)
26/05/2024 - 01/06/2024 (Bologna)
30/06/2024 - 06/07/2024 (Bologna)
30/06/2024 - 06/07/2024 (Tenerife)
29/09/2024 - 05/10/2024 (Rimini)
13/10/2024 - 19/10/2024 (Palermo)
13/10/2024 - 19/10/2024 (Porto)
27/10/2024 - 02/11/2024 (Tenerife)
27/10/2024 - 02/11/2024 (Bologna) 
17/11/2024 - 23/11/2024 (Tenerife)

2025
02/02/2025 - 08/02/2025 (Tenerife)
09/03/2025 - 15/03/2025 (Bologna)
09/03/2025 - 15/03/2025 (Porto)
09/03/2025 - 15/03/2025 (Thessaloniki)
04/05/2025 - 10/05/2025 (Tenerife)
01/06/2025 - 07/06/2025 (Bologna)
01/06/2025 - 07/06/2025 (Palermo)
08/06/2025 - 14/06/2025 (Rimini)
08/06/2025 - 14/06/2025 (Tenerife)
14/09/2025 - 20/09/2025 (Bologna)
14/09/2025 - 20/09/2025 (Rimini)
14/09/2025 - 20/09/2025 (Porto)
14/09/2025 - 20/09/2025 (Thessaloniki)
26/10/2025 - 01/11/2025 (Bologna)
26/10/2025 - 01/11/2025 (Palermo)
26/10/2025 - 01/11/2025 (Tenerife)

If none of these dates suits you please mind that if there are at least 8 participants interested we may organize an additional session ad-hoc for your school.

Target audience

This course is addressed to teachers, trainers, educational counsellors, career counsellors, school psychologists, headmasters, school management and administrative staff working in primary schools, secondary schools, vocational schools, training centres, adult education schools, higher education, kindergarten and NGOs.
Please mind that the course may include teachers from different school levels. 
If you are teachers, directors, managers, educators and other staff of preschool and childhood institutions with pupils aged 0 - 6 years old,  please consider enrolling in the course "Outdoor education for preschool teachers".

Language

The course is held in English. For groups with at least 8 participants, we can organize an ad-hoc session in a different language. 
Please write an email to [email protected] to get more information about it.

Past participants say...

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"This course will teach you to know yourself and others with all you heart, all your senses, even if you do not know the language well. Why? Because you are close to Nature and this is our mother."

- Justyna Lis, Poland

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"This course gives you pratical hands on information about how to best care about lessons in the outdoors. The sessions are interesting and fun and can be aadopted to all age groups."

- Bernadette Stivala, Malta

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"This was a course that really gave me good ideas to use when I come home to my school. The ideas are adaptable to many subjects and can easily be used without too much preparation ahead."

- Åsa Flatland, Norway

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Standard daily programme

Please find below the standard indicative daily programme that will be personalized on participants needs and professional profiles.
Our standard program comprises 7 days of course, of which the first one is dedicated to networking, preparation and cultural immersion and the last one to follow up, specific needs and cultural activities. Please note that we always do our best to accommodate the specific needs of our participants in a flexible way, including but not limited to budget restrictions and travel arrangement. Participants can choose to arrive 1 day before the start of the course and/or leave one day after the end of it in order to enjoy a deeper cultural immersion. Upon specific request we can organize longer or shorter versions of this course.
Sunday
-  Participants arrival
 - Orientation and information about the venue and the city 
 - Networking activities
 - Walking tour in the venue’s city
Monday
 -  Course introduction
 -  Teambuilding activities
 -  Needs and expectations evaluation
 -  Key principles and benefits about outdoor education and outdoor learning
 - The value of outdoor education for personal, social and relational development
-  Reflection on participants’ current outdoor teaching practices 
Tuesday
-  Out in the nature
- Experimenting journey wilderness-based experiences, team building activities and  games in the nature
- Debriefing and reflection on the activities
- Cultural activities in the venue’s city
Wednesday
- Understanding the link between non formal education and outdoor teaching
- Discovering the 10 principle about outdoor education in a non formal way
- Sharing ideas and best practices
- Optional cultural visit outside the venue’s city 
Thursday
- Teaching outdoor in urban settings: outside the classroom there isn’t only nature
- Experiencing group exercises and challenges, problem solving games, experiential activities in the
city centre
- Creating an engaging urban outdoor activity
Friday
- How to design, plan and deliver outdoor education activities
- Site & risk assessment and health & safety issues of taking students outside the classroom
- Educational space planning
- Creating your own outdoor  workshop
- Cultural activities in the venue’s city
- Farewell dinner
Saturday
 - Space for discussion of future cooperation and planning follow up activities
- Course roundup and final evaluation
- Validation of learning outcomes and certification ceremony
- Additional training session tailored to specific needs (optional)
- Participants departure
    Pre-registration
    ​Read here our privacy policy

Other relevant facts about our Outdoor Education courses

  • Methodology
  • Costs and Erasmus+ Funding
  • Certification and Validation of learning outcomes
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We tailor the working methods based upon participants’ needs, attitudes and professional profiles in order to ensure high productivity, effectiveness and transferability into practice.
The standard methodology is highly practical and participative with hands-on approach that comprises real-job examples, case studies examination and simulations. We embrace collaboratively working methods that foster mutual learning and cooperation among participants. Our focus is on learning in an interactive and international environment knowledge applicable to the real contexts and/or in the classroom. The pedagogical methods that we use are based upon experiential training, group and peer activities, learning-by-doing and best practices’ exchange. They include visits with local schools and institutions allowing the participants to better understand the local education system as well as exchange ideas and contacts.
Morning Wrap-up and brief daily evaluations are foreseen to ensure quality of education and to adapt the learning programme to participants' needs better tailoring the education.
We organize optional social, networking and cultural activities in order to give participants the opportunity to know Italy as well as to exchange best-practice and establish professional cooperation and links.
The training and staff team is multinational thus giving a full European dimension to the course.
​​Teachers, trainers, headmasters and any other staff of education organizations are eligible to receive an Erasmus+ grant covering all the costs to attend our training courses including travel, board and lodging, cultural activities and all fees. Our training courses are tailored to be fully funded by Erasmus+ and we offer different options to ensure the best comfort and quality at a price that is within the Erasmus+ grant.
We are proud to tailor our training courses to both participants' learning and practical needs and to ease your participation at our training courses, we will gladly take care of all the practical arrangements. If you prefer, you can take care of some of the practical arrangements by yourself (e.g. meals, local transport...), though we will manage the organization of your accommodation in order to ensure optimal logistic organization, safety and time-efficiency. We always provide board and lodging in the same hotel in which we organize the course  thus ensuring optimal comfort and potential of networking with the fellow participants. Read more about  how we take care of your subsistence and practical arrangements. 
The most common option that we offer to schools and organisations in 2025 costs 1405 EUR in Bologna, 1330 EUR in Tenerife and Thessaloniki and 1225 EUR in Palermo, Porto and Rimini and includes course fee, certification and support fee, accommodation in single room, 2 coffee breaks per day, walking tour in the venue’s city, a sum-up dissemination video. The standard option in Bologna, Tenerife and Thessaloniki includes all meals from Sunday lunch to Saturday lunch, while in Palermo, Porto and Rimini includes all breakfasts and three networking meals in local restaurants. Few of our courses include extra services and activities hence having a different pricing option, which will be communicated upon receiving the pre-registration.​
For schools sending 2 or more participants we can offer accommodation in double rooms and we can provide as well accommodation for people or relatives accompanying the participants.
When attending our courses, we recommend you to request 9 days of individual support for your subsistence costs, 7 days for the course plus 2 additional days for the travel. In this way you can have more flexibility in planning your stay and you can enjoy all the cultural activities planned from the first to the last day of course. You can read here more about the Erasmus+ funding. Shall you have need any help with filling the budget during the application stage or have any problem with your grant please let us know and we will see how to support you.
At the end of the course, each participant will be awarded a certificate of attendance, together - if requested - with the Europass Mobility Certificate. The certificate are in line with the Erasmus Quality Standards and include a short description of the course and its learning outcomes, dates, venues, the name of the course provider and the course instructor(s).
We support the participants in every step of certification and validation of learning outcomes with specific focus on European instruments and Erasmus plus requirements such as staff mobility/learning agreement, quality commitment and Europass mobility certificate.
We experienced that schools and education organizations may require additional documents to certify the competences learned or the presence in the training course. Upon request we can provide additional certification and reporting documents as well as we provide photos of the training course and a sum-up video that can be used for visibility and dissemination purposes.

Videos and photos of previous Outdoor Education courses

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