Workshops

WS1
Everyone together: discussion of inclusive practice

Presented by:
Maxine Gregory, Senior Research Fellow,Sheffield Hallam University, England
Dr. Chris Kay, Senior Research Fellow and Rebecca Sutton, Researcher, Leeds Beckett University, England

Interactive, participatory discussion on the issue of ‘what constitutes inclusive practice’ and how we can ensure that these principles are embedded into design and delivery? Project examples will be presented (Get Out Get Active and Battleback), followed by group discussion on what makes an environment truly inclusive.

The workshop is designed to enable small group discussion facilitated by multiple facilitators to support the sharing of ideas.

Topic: Welfare and the power of the outdoor

Objectives:

1) To stimulate discussion on what consistutes inclusive practice, exploring different examples, and sharing ideas and good practice.
2) To work collaboratively to develop a better understanding of how inclusive practice can be achieved (overcoming barriers and maximsing opportunities).
3) To generate a series of recommendations to support the implementation of inclusive practice.

Maximum number of participants: 30

WS2
Ecorunning

Presented by:
Alessio Brancaccio, Centro Sportivo Educativo Nazionale, Italy

You will hear about the development of the Ecorunning practice implemented within the Marine Nature Reserve of Punta Aderci in Vasto, in the Abruzzo region in Italy.

The main objective of the project is to involve as many people as possible in the practice of this new sport that combines running and developing environmental knowledge.

Topic: Be Active, Be Healthy, Be Outdoors

Objectives:

• To draw up an inventory of convergences and divergences on grading systems in Europe
• To take advantage of the french experience in its own hiking trails grading system
• To identify good pratices and put them in regard of their environnement
• To stimulate discussion on what constitutes an efficient grading system, from the point of view of the hiker as well as from the one of the concepters
• To discuss on the means to overcome local specificities and avoid barriers in standardizing grading process

Maximum number of participants: 50

WS3
Outdoor Sports and Protected Areas – Best friends forever?

Presented by:
Teresa Pastor, EUROPARC Federation, Germany

In the context of the SEE project (Sustainability and Environmental Education in Outdoor Sports), we have identified the main issues that Protected Areas managers perceive as impacts of Outdoor Sports practitioners. However, we need to find out how Outdoor Sports practitioners can be in a constructive dialogue with Protected Areas to better accommodate their sports and reduce their impact.

In this participatory workshop, you’ll have the opportunity to look at what can be put in place to develop better partnerships as a first step to start building a dialogue between Outdoor Sports and Protected Areas.

Topic: Balancing access, activities and protection

Objectives:

1. To understand the expectations that the Outdoor Sport sector has from Protected Areas
2. To identify good practice and shared actions and how these can be developed further between Protected Areas and Outdoor Sports sector.
3. To understand what barriers may exist when it comes to establishing dialogue between the Outdoor Sport sector and Protected Areas

Maximum number of participants: 20

WS4
Towards a movement for environmentally sustainable solutions in outdoor sports

Presented by:
Professor Peter Fredman, Mistra Sport & Outdoors, Sweden

Loved by many, practiced by even more, outdoor sports contribute significantly to society, support public health, civic spirit and democracy. However, the growth of outdoor sports also generates some serious environmental deficits, for example: damage to fragile ecosystems, emission of greenhouse gases, air and water pollution, land use changes and waste.

The complexities of these impacts call for collaboration across boundaries and between stakeholders. In this workshop we present results and experiences from the Mistra Sport & Outdoors program (www.mistrasportandoutdoors.se), a Swedish research and co-creation programme for environmentally sustainable outdoor sports involving over 30 researchers and 50 partner organizations.

Participants in the workshop will discuss opportunities and challenges to co-create knowledge between academia (researchers) and practice (outdoor sport organizations and agencies) to create a movement for environmentally sustainable outdoor sports.

Topic: Balancing access, activities and protection

Objectives:

1. To present results from the Mistra Sport & Outdoors program
2. To discuss opportunities and challenges from the co-creation of knowledge between academia and practice
3. To generate new ideas on how to create a movement for environmentally sustainable outdoor sports.

Maximum number of participants: 30

WS5
Outdoor and health-related educations

Presented by:
Pelle Mortensen, Outdoor institute, Denmark

Studies have shown that it can be difficult to implement outdoor activities in welfare settings, e.g. as part of rehabilitation, at nursing homes, for people with disabilities etc. Some studies suggest that increased practical know-how among the professions could be a part of the solution. Could outdoor activities be embedded into the curriculum of health-related education?

The workshop will present various findings that indicate the importance of practical knowledge among professionals. We will discuss the possibilities of incorporating outdoor activities in the curriculum of health-related education.

Topic: Welfare and the power of the outdoor

Objectives: To share knowledge and awareness about outdoor, education and welfare

Maximum number of participants: 100

WS6
NAT:KIT – A toolkit for visitor management in protected areas

Presented by:
Nico Graaff, Tilman Sobek, Nora Mühling, Mountain Bike Tourism Forum, Germany

The popularity of almost every type of outdoor activity is increasing. There are a range of challenges that result from increased participation such as inexperienced user groups or overcrowding in some areas. We believe that implementation of visitor use management can help to ensure nature-friendly outdoor recreation activities in the future.

This workship will give you a general introduction into visitor use management, explain the theory behind its pillars (offer development, visitor monitoring, visitor information, visitor guidance) and outline the meaning of the customer journey’s role in this context. We also provide insights into the development process of our NAT:KIT project and toolkit.

We will share with you how we created a database and how we identified and chose suitable measures for each of our three German model regions.

Topic: Be Active, Be Healthy, Be Outdoors

Objectives:

1. Share our experiences from the NAT:KIT project,
2. Knowledge transfer within the group of participants with different backgrounds and approaches,
3. Facilitate the creation of a network and finding new contacts.

Maximum number of participants: 30

WS7
Show us your Outdoor Facilities

Presented by:
Jens Øyås Møller, Casper Lindeman, The Danish Foundation for Culture and Sports in collaboration with The Danish Sports Confederation, Denmark

This workshop will focus on sharing ideas and examples on outdoor facilities from all over Europe.

We will discuss the design process, operational perspectives, user groups and sustainability. Outdoor facilities can be buildings, trails and other infrastructure elements.

Topic: Be Active, Be Healthy, Be Outdoors

Objectives:

1. Learn how other countries work with facilities
2. To bee inspired to design and operate facilities in new ways
3. Be inspired by many innovative solutions presented by your co-participants

Maximum number of participants: 30

WS8
Creating a better rating of walking trails in Europe

Presented by:
Aurore Ivaldi, Fédération française de la randonnée pédestre, France

The Federation identified that the current rating systems are not able to give complete information to the hiker to plan his trip.

The FFRandonnée has created its rating system to take into account the physical difficulty, the technical difficulty, and the level of risk of a trail. It aims to be an information and decision support tool, allowing hikers to choose hikes adapted to their abilities. The system seems to have potential and other national hiking federations might face the same issues and be interested in our system.

A reflection on the adaptation of a complete rating system on a European scale can be a real project for the future.

Topic: Be Active, Be Healthy, Be Outdoors

Objectives:

1. To discuss the existing systems of rating in the various sports and the various countries.
2. To disseminate best practice.
3. To try to have more homogeneity in the rating systems at the European level.
4. To find the best communication tools to ensure that the public knows, understands, and adheres to the rating systems.

Maximum number of participants: 100

WS9
BeActive, BeOutdoors, BeSustainable

Presented by:
Mike McClure, Sport Northern Ireland, Ireland

As outdoor sports seek to be more environmentally conscious and sustainable, this workshop will share some of the knowledge and learning from the first two stages of the SEE Project (the Sustainability and Environmental Education project).

The workshop will very much involve participants physically and actively using some of the ideas and methodologies and providing feedback to the organisers.

Topic: Balancing access, activities and protection

Objectives: To share findings from the SEE project research on how federations communicate on environmental issues and to look at how through collaboration and sharing ideas, we can better promote environmental conscience among leaders, guides and instructors.

Maximum number of participants: 100

WS10
Paddling through the pandemic; membership growth & environmental campaigning

Presented by:
Ben Seal, British Canoeing, United Kingdom

This workshop will outline the key success factors behind British Canoeing’s incredible membership growth over the last two years.

It will explore how British Canoeing positioned its Go Paddling brand as an industry leading customer for recreational users. The workshop will highlight some of the products and services that British Canoeing created in order to meet the needs of recreational paddlers.

The workshop will explore how British Canoeing launched the Clear Access, Clear Waters Campaign, becoming an influential voice on environmental and access policy. It will look at how we have framed the need for greater access to blue spaces and the priorities of the campaign. It will look at how the organisation has approached ‘lobbying’ for change, on issues such as water quality, access, plastic pollution and Invasive Species.

Topic: Be Active, Be Healthy, Be Outdoors

Objectives:

1. To share the key success factors behind British Canoeing significant membership growth over the last 3 years.
2. To share our approach to using insight to understanding our market.
3. To share how we have transitioned to become a ‘campaigning’ Governing Body of sport.
4. To share how we have approached understanding and meeting the needs of our members.
5. To challenge traditional thinking about how National Governing Bodies of sport work.

Maximum number of participants: 100

WS11
Participatory science and environmental communication through outdoor sports

Presented by:
Alberto Robles Garcia, Surfrider Foundation Europe, France and Spain

In this joint workshop presented by the Plastic Originis and Bluebro projects, the idea is to motivate participants through videos in which kayaking is presented as a discipline through which carrying out citizen science activities, pointing out the importance of communicating correctly and getting the message across to different sectors.

Firstly, both initiatives are presented through videos that allow an emotional connection with the public, fostering an understanding of the value of outdoor sport as a tool when carrying out conservation and dissemination projects. Secondly, the methodology for collecting plastics, data analysis and communication elements, necessary for a project that develops a comprehensive and effective approach, is presented from a technical point of view.

Topic: Be Active, Be Healthy, Be Outdoors

Objectives:

1. Motivate participants to take part in citizen science participation through outdoor sport.
2. Engage with representatives from different sectors.
3. Explain methodologies to collect plastics and to analyse the state of water ecosystems.
4. Promote ideas for an effective communication.
5. Encourage participants to carry out a test activity in the water during the Euromeet events.

Maximum number of participants: 20

WS12
SPORTOUT

Presented by:
Maxi Kullmann, German Olympic Sports Confederation, Germany

Presentation of the EU co-funded project SPORTOUT with the aim to network, share ideas and get ideas. The project is in an early stage of its implementation and is looking for content-related support.

In this workshop you will learn about: the project content and its relevance against the backdrop of current challenges such as climate crisis, COVID-19-pandemic, and species extinction. We will discuss the challenges ”sport for all“ sports clubs are facing, like loss of members, lack of sports infrastructure, or limited availability of indoor sports facilities.

Topic: Be Active, Be Healthy, Be Outdoors

Objectives:

1. Share the idea of making sports clubs strong outdoors as well as in nature.
2. Receiving best practice and ideas from the participants.
3. Discussing the challenges as well as the benefits/ opportunities.

Maximum number of participants: 100

WS13
Digital and Screens – Opportunity or threat for the outdoors

Presented by:
Pierre-Emmanuel Danger, PRNSN ministère des sports, France

You may have asked yourself the following questions before leaving for an outdoor activity session: where can I practice while disturbing the fauna as little as possible? How can I report any damage to the environment during my outings to the site management authorities? How can I choose routes that respect private property? How I can notify the relevant people tothe presence of a hunter on the route?

We will explore in the workshop digital solutions imagined in different countries to improve the experience of outdoor practitioners and engage them in responsible approaches.

Topic: Balancing access, activities and protection

Objectives: Make known different experiences where digital is a way to actively engage practitioners in the preservation of outdoor spaces.

Maximum number of participants: 40

WS14
Meeting future demands in outdoor recreation

Presented by:
Trine Top Klein-Wengel and Mathilde Skov Kristensen, Syddansk University (SDU), Denmark

Increased multi-use of recreational resources increases the potential for conflicts. This calls for a better understanding of 1) where outdoor activities take place, and 2) where and why conflicts arise.

Novel methods combining georeferenced information with user characteristics may offer valuable insights that support municipalities in providing good settings for outdoor recreation.

Topic: Welfare and the power of the outdoors / Balancing access, activities and protection

Objectives: Novel methods combining georeferenced information with user characteristics may offer valuable insights that support municipalities in providing good settings for outdoor recreation.

Maximum number of participants: 70 / 50

WS15
INCLUSEA and the challenges of adapted surf

Presented by:
Javier Cantera, INCLUSEA, Spain

Participants of this workshop will get a good view of a structured approach to the teaching of adapted surfing in Europe.

A research project that aims to promote better equality of opportunity in the sport and facilitate greater inclusion in the blue environment of people with disabilities; enhancing health and well-being, connecting with nature and the ocean, and allowing for participation for competitive, recreational, and/or therapeutic purposes.

To discover more about the topic, participants might get further information at www.inclusea.eu

Topic: Balancing access, activities and protection

Maximum number of participants: 70

WS16
Conceptualizing the idea of a ‘outdoor gear storage’ and creating a small-scale Erasmus+ project

Presented by:
Pelle Mortensen, Outdoor institute, Denmark

6 out of 10 people with disabilities would like to make more use of outdoor activities – and more than 80% find that outdoor activities improve their mental well-being and mood. But at the same time, people with disabilities are experiencing numerous challenges when participating in outdoor activities.

A Danish report From the University of Copenhagen has shown, that 30.6% of citizens with mobility impairments rarely or never visit outdoor areas. The corresponding number for the general population is 6.9%. One of the challenges is a lack of suitable outdoor gear specifically for citizens with disabilities.

We discuss the possibilities of making an outdoor gear storage, which everyone has access to, and the possibility of making a Erasmus+ project.

Topic: Welfare and the power of the outdoors

Objectives: To share knowledge and awareness about outdoor, education and welfare

Maximum number of participants: 70