German-Greek Climbing Exchange

Aims & objectives

– To provide participants with the foundations of the principles of experiential education (Kolb cycle; action, reflect transfer)
– To teach participants hard skills in climbing including: belaying, knots, abseiling, lead climbing
– To show participants how to constructively give and receive feedback, how to front-load and debrief sessions, and how to integrate active feedback methods into their outdoor education facilitation
- Foundations of risk assessment in outdoor education
– To lay the foundations – in terms of knowledge, expertise, and international networks – for organising further follow-up projects, such as international youth exchanges with outdoor educational elements, which promote social integration and inclusion.

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

Bilateral Training Course with Youth workers and outdoor leaders from Germany and Greece

Training methods used & main activities

All the working methods applied during our project were based on the principles of non-formal education, stemming from the assumption that the best learning outcomes are acquired through participants’ engagement in the process. The involvement of participants in all the project parts ensured that they made the best possible use of the competences that they already have. The activities planned during the project included outdoor dynamic games, exercises, group and individual reflection on the theoretical input, sharing best practices, methods and tools with each other and designing outdoor education follow-ups and dissemination events.

The training also included full-day climbing expeditions on some of Europe's most challenging traditional rock climbing routes in Saxony and Meteora

Outcomes of the activity

Participants developed:
– Hard skills in climbing and the competences to organise and lead outdoor education activities involving rock climbing
- self-awarenes and self-confidence, public speaking and presentational skills
– intercultural awareness and the importance of inclusion and integration in youth work
– leadership qualities and sense of initiative
– communication, cooperation, teamwork, time-management and organizational skills
– problem-solving skills
– competences in risk assessment
– giving and receiving feedback
– methods of facilitation in Outdoor Education applicable to diverse target groups
– media literacy and digital skills
– international networks and new professional contacts

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

Main organiser and trainer for outdoor education pedagogics

I worked on this training for 10 days as a full time trainer.