Nature connection - experienced connection to oneself, to others and to nature - is presently assumed as a precondition for responsible and future oriented living (c.f. Quartier, pg. 16) and hence considered to be the overall objective of the project. That is why three organisations active in sectors vocational training (D), adult education (S), community education (RO) exchange their approaches in nature experiential education in their typical landscapes. In each of the 3 short term learning experiences a total of 24 beneficiaries (staff and students) of BSH der Hoffbauer gGmbH, Sjöviks Folkhögskola and Outward Bound Romania will live the Swedish concept Friluftsliv, the commonly in Germany practiced concept of Coyote Mentoring as well as adventure educational activities at Outward Bound Romania. The activities are going to be prepared during a project meeting in Romania in October 2019. Project outcomes are going to be shared with a broad public during a project meeting in Germany in May 2022. The duration of the project is scheduled for 36 months. The exchange will focus on 3 main objectives:-Getting to know approaches of the partners on outdoor expriential learning, the landscapes as well as regional characteristics. For that every partner is preparing a 10 day learning experience for the other partners. -Complementary to each partner´s educational profile the international experiences of those exchanges will be assured in form of a concluding companion with guidelines as a didactic and professional review by the other partners.-A practically oriented transfer of international experiences shall result in a Coyote Camp as a unique form of inservice training at Internationaler Spielmarkt 2022 which is visited by a broad range of professionals of all sectors of education. Hence the results could effect not only a whole region but also spread around Europe. Besides intercultural exchange, ecologic education and personal development the applied project is about-initiating different forms of learning by practical and playbased activity under professional guidance -the common establishing of the basics (methods, learning places in the wilderness, safety precautions, outdoor gear) so that beneficiaries will be able to feel safe and at home in nature-teaching and acquiring of so called primitive skills (putting up a camp, making fire, building shelters, etc.), practicing mentoring tools and core routines of nature connection (art of questioning, awareness raising techniques, sitspot, animal forms, story of the day, etc.), making own outdoor gear (snow shoes, foldable saw, cooking utensils) as well as methods of reflexion (e.g. talking circle, ...). For German, Swedish and Romanian outdoor mentors for experiential learning the focus is on practicing, attempting and reconsidering professional competences and developing language skills, social and organisational competences.For Swedish full-time Friluftsliv/Hantverk/Ledarskap students, German future childcare practitioners and youth workers as well as for customers of OB Romania the main objectives are self development, acquiring practical wilderness skills, expressing their needs and wishes in English, getting to know representatives of other cultures. Because of the encounter of representatives of three nations all partcipants share a common culture in which appreciation rather than competition have priority. Concerning communication using the English language will create connection. By close contact with the wilderness and the group partcipants will get into touch with their roots and their own rythm. So they will develop an understanding for their needs, they will set priorities and overcome fears. That will change their routines in the long run. They will connect their senses, their thinking and their imagination with the world around them and hence they will care for it. No matter where based in the future participants will be able to implement acquired competences by exhibiting appropriate attitudes and routines when collaborating with others and the greater community of life. As an innovative element all participants will keep and feed a personal Nature Connection Learning Journal that is being developed before the project activities are taking place. The most valuable outcomes that participants are willing to share will find their way into the European Companion of Outdoor Experiental Learning. It is considered to be one of the final outcomes of the project.By organising Coyote Camp as an inservice training for a broad professional public and spreading innovative didactic materials to support experiential learning outdoors the partners will have gone a pioneering step disseminating project results. This will foster development for sustainable education not only within participants of the project but the whole community. Quartier, Ulrike et.al.: Weltsprache Natur. Die Naturwerkstatt der Laborschule Bielefeld.Bad Heilbrunn 2013

<< Objectives >>The project involves 3 outdoor organizations from 2 countries, with the aim of 1) having highly trained first-aid staff in wildlife first aid, able to design and maintain even more exciting, high-risk and more effective wildlife programs for adult learners 2) to develop a a knowledge-sharing platform and a common protocol, which could be the basis for later joint international trainings 3) development in professional networking and exchange of experience in Western Europe.<< Implementation >>During the 18 months of the project, in addition to its ongoing management and communication activities, there will be 3 international meetings in online format. And there will be two presence skills and competencies with the involvement of external trainers. The online events are 3 days long, the developments are planned for 4 and 5 days, with the active participation of a total of 28-30 trainers.<< Results >>We expect that with the extra development, the quality and quality of our organizations' programs and the efficiency of our work in adult education will increase. We expect that as a result of our good example and success, the recognition of the NOLS protocol in the region will increase and a quality assurance system for outdoor trainings will begin to develop. We also expect our instructors to better represent their values ​​and interests in the training market, also in Western Europe.

Youngsters living in foster home institutions are are particularly vulnerable groups of our society, who will be permanently pushed to the edge of the society without the support of self-reliance development processes. Due to the poor family backround they have lack of self-esteem, behavioral and personality disorders, learning difficulties and reach lower educational level than their peers. Additionally, the deprivation level of the environment - unemployment, housing problems, health and mental deficits – are present in their lives in multiple forms. Without having development processes that boost their self-reliance and positive self-image, these youngsters will suffer even more from the earlier mentioned disadvantages by the time they leave the foster care institutions. This will result in higher rates of unemployment, drug use, homelessness and criminality of the youngsters living in foster care compared to their peers brought up in families. The aim of the project is to contribute to the provision of the youth in foster care (with a special focus on youngsters with special needs) with efficient development processes in order that they become responsible, creative and active citizens with entrepreneurial skills, so that their employability, social inclusion and well-being will increase in Europe.The partnership composed of 2 child care institutions and 2 youth organizations expert in non-formal education methods wishes to reach the set targets through the following steps: based on a collection of good practices two innovative development plans and methodologies will be elaborated targeting on one hand the youth workers of child care institutions with high multiplying potential, and, on the other hand, the youth living in child care institutions. Thus, the development process will result in the elaboration of easy to use handy guides presenting practical solutions (case-studies, success stories) and composed of practical tools/methods that are searchable by several dimensions (e.g. development need, target group, age).The innovative character of the project is due to the fact that both development plans and methodologies will be elaborated with an integrative approach contributing to the institutional learning that is with the active involvement of foster care workers (20 people) and youngsters in foster care (40 people) in all steps of the development, testing and finalization. Additionally, the outputs will be finalized based on the evaluations results of the test phase. The institutional and financial sustainability of the results will be supported by the development of an implementation and resources plan for both child care institutions, while the wide-spread promotion and dissemination (e.g. thematic conference and workshop) of project results, as well as the continuous international stakeholder involvement will also be the guarantee of sustainability.Results:40 disadvantaged youth living in foster homes with increased basic and transversal skills and higher capacity for social and labor market integration20 foster care workers with increased professional knowledge, higher motivated, higher recognition and with a more mature personality4 organizations with increased capacities, cooperation potentials and professionalismQualitative indicators :Improvement of the attitude and professional knowledge of the staff of foster homes;Increase of the social and labor market inclusion, self-esteem and self-confidence of youth living in foster homes, plus the decrease of their personality disorders;Contribution to the recovery of social deficits of youngsters living in foster homes (e.g. attachment, social relationships, social integration , communication, aggression and conflict management, less hospitalization, gender and ethnic group identity) and to overcoming learning difficulties and the development of basic and transversal skills;· Providing a positive lifestyle patterns;· Improvement of the attitude of society towards young people growing up in foster homes· Improvement of the recognition, prestige and professionalism of the youth workers. All in all, thanks to the elaborated development plans and methodologies and continuously collected best practices the quality of the youth work in foster care institutions will improve guaranteeing the sustainability of project results. Thus, the basic and transversal skills of highly endangered youthliving in foster homes will be continuously developed on a long term as well. Thus they will become active, creative and promoter citizens with entrepreneurial skills, so their employability, social inclusion and well-being will increase even after they will have left their foster homes.Moreover, the whole society will attain more knowledge and understanding about the youth living in foster homes and their special needs, that will also contribute to the social and labour market inclusion of this youth with fewer opportunities.

Our project starts from the all over the world relevant problem: unemployment, lack of practical knowledge among youngsters.The aim of the project is to transfer the concept of outdoor education and share best practices about the positive influences of the method on unemployed youth. We would like to launch, test and implement youth work practices such as outdoor education methodology in order to develop socio-professional skills and competences of unemployed youth. Objective 1: to increase the capacity of 16 youth workers in the fight against youth unemployment and to support them in triggering positive changes in the lives of disadvantaged youth, through transferring practical land theoretical knowledge about outdoor education focusing on unemployed youth, in the frame of a 10 day and of a 6 day training of trainers. We will realize this objective with the help of Action 2and3, the 10 and 6 day training of trainers. Result1: well prepared youth workers for organizing more various and effective development programs for unemployed youth, who are ready to cooperate with companies. Objective 2: to empower 30 disadvantaged youngsters with essential social/life skills and competences to become more confident to overcome the barriers in their professional carriers, in the frame of a 10 day youth exchange. Result 2: the youngsters get ready for entering the job market with confidence and perspective.Objective 3: to expend the possibilities for unemployed youth to interact and build connections with young managers from the business field, in the frame of a 10 day youth exchange trough common experiences and discussions. Result 3: personal contact with decision makers from companies and gaining valuable insight into the mentality and culture of the corporate world.Objective 4: to increase the capacity of NGOs and relevant stakeholders other than project partners to operate internationally and to share best practices about the fight against youth unemployment. R4: the dissemination of the project results for different international NGOs and building of their capacity in using the methodology of outdoor education and collaboration with companies. The stages of the 2 year long project:-Action 1: Kick of meeting-Belgium -A2: Training of trainers about the expeditionary learning-Romania-A3: Advanced training of trainers (soft skills) -Belgium-A4: YE1 in Brazil and YE2 in India-A5: Conference - RomaniaThe added value of this project is: the transfer of the know- how of outdoor education and its positive effect on the life of the unemployed youth in order establish themselves in the labor market. Another innovative character of the project is the cooperation between the non -profit field and business field.Impact: we expect this project to build the capacity of NGO`s not restricted to the partner organizations, in field of youth work against unemployment, to build the knowledge of youth workers, and to influence the employability of youngsters.

The project “Outdoor Academy coaching and outdoor education in youth field” is a broad activities based on wide partners cooperation, involving organizations from Poland, Italy, Greece, Germany and Romania.The project will run from 1 February 2017 to 30 August 2018, is aimed in frame of international partnership to work out a solutions, based on outdoor education and coaching methods, contributing to the improvement of the quality of work in the youth sector, as well as directly to the development of competencies and skills trainers, educators of youth.The objectives are the development of leadership skills, communications, building an enterprising attitude and spirit of initiative and promote a healthy and active lifestyle among young people.As an outcome of actions arise results in the form of innovative educational tools: 6-month educational program for young people based on the process work supporting the development of entrepreneurial activity, leadership skills and communication and also guide for trainers and educators in the field of outdoor and coaching.The project will bring together over 100 young people, as well as about 20 experts, trainers and youth workers, and teams of partner organizations.As part of the results dissemination tools developed will be tested and implemented in the partner organizations.Prepared educational program will be implemented as the base of regular after project activities with youngsters among partner organizations, as well among new developing network of organizations working with outdoor education methods. Guide for trainers will be on of the main lecture during all planned trainings, exchanges and youth projects in international and local context. On more effect will be developing regular youth exchange, youth initiatives and training based on outdoor education, involving network partners, as well new ones.