About

• Environment And Climate Change

• Digital Skills And Competences

• Physical And Mental Health, Well-Being

Nature For Fun Therapy and Learning (NFTL) aims at increasing young people’s connection with nature and society, improving their mental and physical well-being, and foster a proper use of technology through creative outdoor nature-based learning activities combined with digital tools.

There is extensive data at an European and international level on the significant increase in social anxiety, unhealthy habits and dependence on digital media in young people after the pandemic, and the statistics increase for those with access to fewer opportunities facing geographical and socio-economic barriers. In particular, partner organisations noticed that disadvantaged youth aged 18-25 were those who tended to isolate themselves the most from their peers and support networks, as they feel increasingly pessimistic about their future.

Driving from these common issues in their target group, the partners aim to increase their response to address their young peoples’ issues and harness the potential of technology, while offering the opportunity to actively engage in empowering activities and learn from the exchange with their European peers.

There is a growing body of evidence in youth work, the education sector and the scientific community of the effectiveness of outdoor nature-based learning approaches in tackling young people’s current issues related to poor mental health, lack of self-improvement skills, demotivation and alienation. Outdoor learning positively affects physical and mental well-being, stimulates curiosity and develops a sense of appreciation of the surroundings. In addition, such approaches in youth work have been proven to be an effective strategy to engage disadvantaged groups and those with anti-social behaviour to bring them into the centres. As a result, some of the partners who have already implemented outdoor learning activities in their communities report a growing demand of their local cohort for activities in contact with nature. The same applies to our partners whose young people coming from huge metropolitan areas expressed the willingness to spend more time engaging in nature after taking part in similar activities. In accordance with their cohort’s interests and supported by international findings on the effectiveness of reconnecting with nature to increase people’s living standards and well-being, the partner organisation have the objective to increase their transnational cooperation and competences in outdoor learning opportunities in order to be able to offer more nature-based opportunities for their young people and inspire other youth organisations at a local/national and European level to do the same. In addition, as technology is intertwined in young people’s life, partner organisation will exchange good practices in order to be able to incorporate digital tools in outdoor learning activities and improve young people’s digital skills.

Therefore, our concrete objectives are the followings:

• to provide outdoor experiential learning activities to young people, opportunities to interact and share experiences with their peers, and experience nature first-hand

• to increase young people’s social inclusion, well-being and personal development skills

• to enable behavioural changes in terms of environmental awareness and promote appropriate use of technology, and make young people be perceived as role models by their peers in their communities

• to bring innovation and expand the partner organisations’ knowledge and capacity to offer more outdoor learning activities for fun, therapy and learning in order to be responsive to their young people’s needs and demands related to mental health, the environment and technology.

NFTL will involve a total of 36 participants from across partners countries, 5 young people and 1 group leaders per organisation. They will form the “youth project team” and be the primary target group of the project, as well as have a leading role in all project activities listed below. Additionally, partners will ensure that local planned activities are accessible and engaging for other young people, aiming at targeting at least 10 young people per session in each country, totalling around 60 participants across partner countries.

Our project will primarily target young people aged 18-25 with fewer opportunities:

• categorised as NEET or early school leavers

• displaying anti-social behaviours in the community

• suffering from mental health problems that hinder their participation in community life

• facing geographical and socio-economic obstacles

• coming from migrant or Roma backgrounds

Group leaders will be young people aged 18+ volunteering with the partners’ organisations and with a background in youth work and group management. This will ensure continuity throughout the project, as well as quality and innovation in youth work practice in partner organisations.

In order to achieve the stated objectives and specific outlined learning outcomes, the project include the following planned activities:

• preparatory workshops on project topics

• youth-led mobility in Ireland focused on outdoor learning activities combined with technology

• follow-up local sessions and nature-based workshops

• follow-up virtual webinar for exchange of best practices and experiences

As part of the project, the partnership will develop the following main results:

• a Toolkit on Outdoor Learning opportunities (available online and in printed format)

• digital brochures for project visibility

• project website

Young people will also be involved in the dissemination strategy of the project to increase their digital tools and help the project reach a broader audience among their peers.

By taking part in the project and having a leading role throughout the project, young people will directly benefit from the activities, as they will have a positive impact in 4 key areas: 1.mental and physical health, 2.understanding of the world, 3.personal development, 4.positive relationships

Thus, by having an active role before, during and after the mobility, the project will foster a sense of commitment and personal responsibility in participating youth, as well as strengthen their new and well-established relationships with their local peers.

By incorporating the use of digital media and tools in the project activities, the project will also have a positive impact on young people’s relationship with technology. They will perceive it as a resource to enhance the quality of their experiences and be more involved in the present moment, instead of relying on them only for virtual social interactions/means to establish their social status among peers.

Young people will also benefit from the cultural exchange and are expected to develop a sense of European citizenship and to practice their English language skills that will benefit their education and personal life. Their leading roles both in project activities at the local and European levels are expected to empower them to be group leaders and positive models for their peers, as well as carry their new environmental awareness and eco-friendly behaviours in their everyday life beyond the project lifecycle.

The project is expected to have a lasting impact on youth work practices and opportunities in partner organisations. Thanks to the exchange of good practices, they will increase their knowledge and skills in the project topics and be able to offer more outdoor nature-based learning activities to their young people addressing their needs, keeping them interested and engaged with the youth services, which is mutually beneficial for both parties.

After the project ends, our Romania and Polish partners are expected to increase the number of nature-based activities for their rural communities, while our Portuguese, Dutch and Turkish partners will be encouraged to diversify their activities for their city-based young people.

By taking part in the project delivery, partners will also increase their capacity to coordinate participants on a bigger scale and to cooperate at a transnational level, as well as strengthen their collaboration for future strategic partnerships inthe project’s field, thus contributing to the creation of long-term impacts on the organisations.

Thanks to the project, partners are also expected to build a local and European community that supports the quality of outdoors learning projects and activities for their cohorts. This will allow them to be more involved in similar European projects, and to collaborate with local/national outdoor learning centres, offering more access to such activities to young people. By having strong links with the educator sector, partners will also disseminate the project to local schools and incentivise them to include outdoor learning approaches in their curricula.

The project will also have an impact at a European level, as it will contribute to the 6th European Youth Strategy Goal by increasing the number of opportunities for young people in remote areas and fostering a positive image of rural areas. Other youth organisations at a local, national and European level will benefit from the digital availability of the project resources and will be inspired to integrate outdoor learning activities into their youth work, thus contributing to innovation in sectoral practices across Europe.