Wilderness Knowledge: Outdoor Education je v Idriji potekal med 17. do 24. avgusta pod vodstvom ekipe Mladinskega centra Idrija. Gre za del evropskega programa Mobilnost za mladinske delavce, ki ga financira Evropska unija. Program je združil 21 mladinskih delavcev iz osmih različnih držav — Češke, Estonije, Francije, Grčije, Italije, Litvanije, Poljske in Slovenije — ti so se skupaj učili o naravi in kako skozi različne aktivnosti povezati njihove lokalne mlade z naravo. 

Že od začetka so bili udeleženci vrženi v naravo, saj je bila prva aktivnost pohod do koče v gozdu, kjer so postavili šotore in nato v njih preživeli cel teden obkroženi z naravo. Delavnice so bile raznolike, od teoretičnih do praktičnih, in so vključevale teme, kot so najpogostejši strahovi v naravi in kako se z njimi spoprijeti, razumevanje, kakšni mentorji moramo biti za mladino, ko jo peljemo v naravo, kako se orientirati v naravi, kako narediti ogenj, na njem pripraviti večerjo in kako postaviti nujno zavetje. 

»Ko si v naravi, je vse boljše. Če bi bil projekt v zaprtih prostorih, bi bilo drugače in ne bi se toliko naučili.« Veronika Pokorná 

Tekom projekta smo  za izvajanje delavnic povabili različne strokovnjake, ki so z nami delili svoje izkušnje in znanje o naravi. Domen Uršič, direktor CŠOD Cerkno in nekdanji načelnik Zveze tabornikov Slovenije je predstavil osnove načrtovanja in priprave na nepredvidene dogodke v naravi, na kaj pomisliti preden peljemo skupino v naravo in na kaj vse razmišljati med bivanjem v naravi. Nepredvidljiv dogodek so udeleženci doživeli tudi na lastni koži, saj je močna nevihta nekoliko spremenila potek progama (na srečo pa nič, kar ne bi mogel rešiti pomožni načrt).  

“Ko je prišlo do izrednih razmer, so se mentorji zelo hitro odzvali in smo se z njimi počutili varno. Nismo se prestrašili, ko nas je zajela nevihta in smo morali reševati svoje zalite šotore.” Dionysia Nikolakopoulou

Eno od delavnic je vodil Rdeči križ Idrija, s pomočjo študenta medicine Ceneta Skrta, ki je z udeleženci delil osnove prve pomoči v naravi. Udeleženci so pridobili znanje o najpogostejših nesrečah pri delu na prostem in kako nuditi pomoč z omejenimi sredstvi. Z izkušeno lokalno zeliščarko Darjo Vrana so se tudi naučili ločiti med užitnimi in naužitnimi rastlinami na slovenskem travniku, tekom tedna pa smo preizkusili različne načine kuhanja v naravi; chili con carne v kotlu nad odprtim ognjem, browniji v pomaranči spečeni v žerjavici in omleto s svežimi zelišči. Zadnja delavnica, vesolje nad nami, je udeležencem odprla oči o delovanju vesolja, kaj lahko vidijo na poletnem nočnem nebu in tudi nekatere osnove o tem, kako se orientirati s pomočjo zvezd. 

»Pričakoval sem, da bom slišal klišeje o naravi, a vse, kar sem slišal, je bilo novo. Veliko sem se naučil tekom treninga.« Rigó Bőti  

Ob vrnitvi v Idrijo udeleženci s seboj niso prinesli le novo pridobljenega znanja, temveč tudi globlje spoštovanje do narave in večjo samozavest. Opremljeni s praktičnimi veščinami in teoretskimi osnovami, so zdaj bolj samozavestni za vodenje lokalno mladino v naravo. Ta izkušnja jih ni le opremila z orodji, ki jih potrebujejo, temveč tudi prižgala strast, da mlade iz urbanih okolij, ponovno povežejo z naravo okoli njih.  

Eden od rezultatov usposabljanja so video povzetki delavnic, ki so jih pripravili udeleženci. Ogledate si jih lahko tukaj: 

Hvala vsem organizacijam, ki so sodelovale v usposabljanju: https://rb.gy/ow2yq2 

ENGLISH: 

Wilderness Knowledge: Outdoor Education took place in Idrija this past August, from the 17th to the 24th. It’s part of the European program Mobility for Youth Workers funded by the European Union. The program brought together 21 youth workers from eight different countries —Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovenia— in the Slovenian town where we learned about nature and how to connect youth and nature through different activities. 

We experienced complete immersion in the nature from the very beginning, as the very first activity we did was a hike to a cottage in the woods, where we would set up our tents and spend a whole week surrounded by nature. Workshops were diverse, ranging from theroretical to practical and included topics such as the most common fears and how to deal with them, understanding what kind of mentor you need to be for the youth when taking them outdoors, how to orient in the nature, create a fire, meal and emergency shelter.   

“When you stay in nature, everything is better. If the project had been indoors, it would have been different, and we wouldn’t have learned that much.”- Veronika Pokorná 

We also had some guests coming to our camp that shared with us their knowledge about the outdoors Domen Uršič director of CŠOD Cerkno and previous Chief of Slovenian Scouts, held a workshop on how to create contingency plans, something the participants got to experience at first-hand since we had a big storm changing some plans in the program (but fortunately, nothing that a back up plan couldn’t fix) 

When we had an emergency, the facilitators responded really quick and we felt safe with them. We didn’t feel scared when the storm striked. - Dionysia Nikolakopoulou 

Another workshop was lead by Red Cross Idrija and it was about the basics of First Aid in the nature lead by Red Cross Idrija and medical student – Cene Skrt. Participants learned about the most common accidents while working outdoors and how to offer help. Participants also learned to identify edible and non edible plants in the nature with experienced local herbalist Darja Vrana and how to cook in the nature in different ways; chili con carne in a cattle over the open fire, brownies in an orange thrown into the fire and omelet with freshly picked herbs. 

The final workshop, universe above us, gave the participants some knowledge about how the universe works, what you can see in the summer night sky and also some notions about how to orient yourself with the stars. 

“I was expecting to hear cliches about nature, but everything I heard was new. I learned a lot through the training.”- Rigó Bőti 

Returning to Idrija, the participants carried with them not just newfound knowledge, but a renewed sense of purpose. Armed with both practical skills and theoretical insights, they are now more empowered to guide their local youth in the nature. This experience has not only equipped them with the tools they need but has also ignited a passion to inspire the next generation to reconnect with the nature around them. 

One of the results of the training are video recap of the workshops made by the participants available here: https://rb.gy/ow2yq2  

Thank you to all the organizations that took part in the training.

** “Financirala Evropska unija. Vendar izražena stališča in mnenja zgolj stališča in mnenje avtorja (-ev) in ne odražajo nujno stališč in mnenja Evropske unije. Zanje ne moreta biti odgovorna niti Evropska unija niti organ, ki dodeli sredstva.”