Integrating outdoor learning into formal education

Being in contact with the outdoor has a considerable positive impact on the cognitive, behavioural and emotional development of human beings since prehistory. Even nowadays it is not unusual to feel inspired, intimidated or even influenced by walking in nature or admiring a natural or urban landscape. Outdoor  education is an innovative teaching approach that offers the possibility to address two of the most important topics of today’s society: providing long-lasting high quality education and raising awareness on the importance of preserving our planet in the face of the daunting threat of climate change. 

The new edition of the course “Outdoor education: a new way of teaching and learning” took place in Palermo from 15/03/2026 to 21/03/2026. The participants came from all across Europe, with Karoliina and Heidi from Pitäjänmäen peruskoulu in Finland, Minna from Live-säätiö sr/Live Vocational College in Finland as well, two participants coming from Belgium: Barbara from Enseignement de la Province de Liège – IPES Verviers and Lydie from Enseignement de la Province de Liège – IPES Herstal, and finally Stefan from Otto Hahn Gymnasium Ostfildern in Germany.

Starting from the definition of Outdoor Education, we explored the diverse ways in which we can guide our students to come in contact with the outdoor, which doesn’t imply to always be in nature and forests. Indeed, we dedicated one part of the training to Urban Outdoor Education in the city. The participants learned to teach subjects like science, PE, music, art, language and more by testing activities which guided their attention to the surroundings.

Another part of the course was focused on practicing many tools in a natural environment in local parks, such as Villa Trabia. All the games and activities tested were much appreciated and gave inspiration to our participant not only in sharing their activities with the rest of the group, but also to create their own Outdoor activity. In fact, after testing some of the course’s activities, the participants started using their creativity, by making new games ready to be used also for their students.

Participants also explored the concepts of Non Formal Education (NFE), a pedagogical approach in which many of the outdoor activities fall in. This approach puts at the centre of the learning process the concrete experience that students live when they are performing  an activity or a task. By following the entire cycle and making sure we ask our students the correct reflecting questions, they are able to relate the new knowledge acquired to their lives and apply it. In fact, the participants challenged themselves by guessing which one of the possible activities showed could be: formal, non-formal or informal.

The last part of the course was dedicated to designing an outdoor experience ad hoc for each participant’s target group. After studying the principles of outdoor learning approach, discovering the 10 Kurt Hahn rules and their true meaning, and also getting in touch with many different urban and natural activities, the participants were ready to design an outdoor lesson based on the subject taught. Taking into consideration the level of age of their students, and the skills and topics they wanted to address, each teacher planned in detail the session, presented it to the other participants of the course and received feedback on how to improve it. ​This week was a true example itself of the efficacy of experiential outdoor learning: with our hands-on approach, participants had a real taste of what an outdoor education activity looks like and acquired the knowledge needed to plan one for their pupils.

During this course participants were able to explore a vast series of activities and games that they will be able to replicate with their students, showing that learning doesn’t happen only inside a classroom!

Discover more about this course  here.