Keynote speach at The European Institute for Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning (EOE) -Conference at Metsäkartano Youth Centre 3.-7.10.2023.

Traditionally outdoor and adventure educator’s competencies are divided into hard and soft skills. Hard skills include competences in technical skills and risk management. Soft skills are often considered skills for instructing and leading. When educators combine these skills in practice and aim for a meaningful educational process, one also needs facilitation skills with reflection knowledge.

When training future adventure education professionals, it is important to recognize also the new needs for competence selection. The aim in training is to convey such competences to the students that give them abilities to plan and execute activities in a safe and goal-oriented manner, and give them the tools and understanding to face people in this constantly changing and unstable world. In training program curricula, we should add growing emphasis on topics such as self-reflection, resilience and emotional intelligence, in order to better support students for uncertain future. Studying and understanding the importance of these topics will benefit our future adventure and outdoor educators themselves and especially give them competencies to work with their future target groups.

My presentation will enlighten how we at Humak bring up topics such as tolerancehttps://www.metsakartano.com/en/eoe-2023 for adversity and uncertainty and resilience, and how the theoretical basis of the studies is incorporated with the experiences from our field trips.

Read more: https://www.metsakartano.com/en/eoe-2023

Avalanche Instructor has a fundamental role in promoting safety in the fells and mountains for backcountry skiers and other winter recreationists. Instructor has a great opportunity to forward knowledge and skills and pass on safe procedures.

These opportunities also bring along responsibility. Instructor needs to recognize the variety of responsibilities that comes with running an avalanche course. This presentation will highlight the responsibility to run a pedagogically sound course.

Read more: https://www.skredkonferansen.no/programinnslag-2023/avalanche-instructor-s-responsibilities-when-delivering-an-avalanche-course