I believe the spring and summer of 2020 has the potential to have some big impacts on the world of Outdoor Learning; more than the many lost learning opportunities and challenging economic and social impacts. The really significant interruptions to routine and established practice experienced by most of us, have forced a time of reflection and raised questions about the role and value of purposeful and planned time in the outdoors.

There had many reasons to pause and reflect in the last quarter.  The reasons include a clear endorsement of a more joined up sector from the HSE, a very encouraging and stimulating sector wide conference and the passing of Roger Orgill, a key influencer of the shape the Institute for Outdoor Learning is today.  All this and more has prompted me to revisit our common purpose as Outdoor Learning practitioners or put another way, to reflect on why we are striving to ensure what we all do is better understood, is more impactful and better valued?

‘Affective’
(Adjective) Relating to moods, feelings, and attitudes. English Oxford Living Dictionaries

You might reasonably accuse me of banging on a bit about the need for affective experiences in and through the outdoors.  It’s not only me getting excited about the role of outdoor learning experiences that involve significant feeling or emotion.  Natural England’s Strategic Research Group are also clear that environmentally sustainable behaviour and healthy lifestyles are a product of affective experiences in nature.  The concept of Nature Connectedness, so clearly spelt out in DEFRA’s recently published 25 year environment plan, is based on affective experiences leading to personal relevance and care for the natural environment.

So what are we doing about it?  Well quite a few things actually and I’m keen that we all consider the role we play in ensuring that the role of outdoor learning is well understood and valued.