I have just come back from a week in Arctic Finland, at the Oivanki Youth Centre, where there is just 3 hours of actual daylight and lots of snow, this time of year. I was taking part in an Erasmus+ project investigating and sharing knowledge around Developing Adventure Educational Camps in the Far North.

 

The project enabled individuals to come from all over Europe, sharing their practices from the organisations they work with. Being in the company of such a wide range of individuals, has energised me to build into my work models and knowledge shared. I am aiming to use the adventure models shared at the conference in my teaching of a module at the University of Derby on Adventurous Journeys. The models on developing a process for delivering adventure, will aid the students to build their own adventurous journey and the reflective process in the reviewing of their journey.

 

During the week we used the environment around the centre for reflective walks and leisure activities, such as skiing, curling, dog sledding, and ice- fishing. The evenings were used to explore the different cultures of the countries, with the sauna and ice hole dip becoming a main stay of the evenings. In all the winter weather and dark days was an amazing background to explore the topics of Adventure Education Camps in the Far North.

By Pete Gilliver, Senior Lecturer, University of Derby