EOE CONFERENCE

SEE THE PICTURES

From 13^th till 16^th September 2007 in "FRAJDA" resort in Czarnocin an international conference "The Individual and the Community In Formal and Non-Formal Outdoor Education" took place. It was organised by The European Institute of Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning (EOE) and Non-Formal Education Centre "FRAJDA" - Association For Human Development.

There were 30 guests participating in the conference, coming from different European countries: Poland, Norway, Finland, Germany, France, Great Britain. They were also representing all the stages of professional development and a variety of educational environments:

- to begin with those who are taking the first steps in experiential education;

- through those working in associations focused on educational work with children, adolescents and adults using the natural environment and outdoor activities;

- to mention finally school and university workers carrying out academic research and organizing certificate courses concerning non-formal education.

The most important and basic aim of the conference was to come into contact among European organisations in order to realize common project, advertise the idea of non-formal education, exchange outdoor education experiences between practices of various countries.

Following subject were touched on the conference as well:

- getting to know and understand better educational work methods of European people;

- exchange of experiences between instructors, teachers and social workers;

- the support and co-operation while creating international projects.

Six of the participants prepared their presentations:

- Jari Kulaja (Finland) made speech "Intensive, adventurous outdoor programme in Finland" concerning a diversity of outdoor programmes and ways of working among the teachers in Finland;

- Di Collins (Great Britain) in her presentation "Creating exploratory and spontaneous environment for learning" explained the differences between formal, non-formal and informal education and she also described many ways of understanding the process of education.

- The idea of the "Theme Villages" presented by Magdalena Jakubowska (a representative of Village Development Foundation, Poland) referred to setting up and further living of the theme villages in the neighbourhood of Koszalin, according to dr. Idziak’s programme. This fresh look at the rural areas renewal and the stimulation of a big human capital of local communities to activity was enthusiastically welcomed by the rest of the participants.

- Zbigniew Głąbiński (special interest in extraschool education in Poland) showed the statistics connected with non-formal education in Poland in his speech "Heritage and active tourism as a factor of local identity in West-Pomerania region". Additionally, he presented to future partners the up-to-date level of knowledge about extraschool education in Poland. Apart from that, he highlighted the problems the Polish education system has to cope with nowadays.

- Next guest in Czarnocin was Wojciech Spychała, "Youth in Action" programme coordinator in Poland, who explained how the Polish education system has changed during the period of 1989-2008. He mentioned the projects and youth programmes for 2007-2013 as well.

- "Alternative Education" was the subject of Steve Allaman’s speech which referred to a big selection of alternative methods of work with children and adolescents in London mainly.

"The idea exchange" was a particularly important part of the conference. Its purpose was to create new projects and intensify international co-operation. During the brainstorm some propositions of international and local projects appeared, e.g.:

- German-Polish sailing undertaking connected with nautical education among the youth from the Szczecin Bay shore;

- exchange of the experience between Poland and Great Britain;

- creating international standards of certificates and abilities in the domain of experiential education;

- sharing the research findings and supporting the graduates of outdoor academies.

There also arose a new idea of exchange of experience between the leaders of Polish and British rural areas, strongly motivating to personal development.

Apart from the presentations and lectures some activities were prepared for the guests to make their stay more attractive. Just to mention the horse wagon trip, the shadow theatre show and dinner and handicraft presentation in the Viking’s Village on the Wolin Island.

To sum the conference up, non-formal education seems to be very important in personal, interpersonal and environmental awareness development. This intercultural system is essential for Europe to become a real community.

The conference met a warm reception from the participants and turned out to be a positive experience for everyone. Developing intercultural projects and building a strong system of people involved in the work in the young Europeans’ advantage must become successful.

author: Di Collins