Winter Outdoor eXperience is a multilateral youth exchange in Slovakia, hosted by Outdoor Institute. It will be held partly in the city of Banska Bystrica, but mainly in the mountainous area of Stiavnicke vrchy at Skalka pri Kremnici mountain resort, central Slovakia, between 16^th and 24^th March 2012. During 9 dynamic programme days 30 participants from Portugal, Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Germany, and Slovakia will be exposed to real, specific winter conditions and provided with necessary skills and knowledge for staying outdoors in winter. This will be conducted in an experiential way and their active engagement will be necessary which aims to accelerate their personal development by fostering their future active engagement as citizens in their particular environments. These conditions will strengthen the objectives of the project which is to explore and experience the topics of active citizenship, sustainability, raising their sensitivity, empathy and participation, taking responsibility for oneself and for the team, evolving team work and leadership with a deeper understanding and a transfer of the experienced topics into their future life. The project will strengthen and enlarge participants´ physical, psychical and social borders, too, towards themselves as well as other participants, in which intercultural learning will play a crucial role. Stress will also be given to the topics of the nature protection and preserving it to the next generations. This is to be achieved by implementation of various kinds of activities, games, lectures, and workshops, individual, group and team work activities, and reflection techniques. The applied methods are based on principles of non-formal education, outdoor experiential education, best practice sharing and experience exchange.

Pictures, posters and further information to be added shortly. For more information you can also visit www.outdoor-institute.sk.  and/or e-mail outdoor.institute@gmail.com

Video from this project available here.

Project partners:

Outdoor Institute SK (IYNF Partner)
Cseszneki fiatalok HU
Associação Liláz PT
Oddział Akademicki PTTK w Krakowie PL (IYNF Member)
Jeugdhuis De Schakel BE
Young Naturefriends Germany DE (IYNF Member)

This youth exchange will be funded by the Youth in Action programme of European Union