NEED FOR ADVENTURE EDUCATION

“One gram of experience is better than a ton of theory, simply because every theory becomes vivid and can be proven only through experience“.

 LANDSCAPE OF LEARNING IS CHANGING

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” — Saint Augustine

With the dawn of a new era, the system which once served the Industrial revolution has been collapsed. We are in a dire need of new learning avenues which can pave the way for more deep and real learning.

We are only beginning to explore the 21st century skills. Competencies—such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration and adaptation are those that are valued in our changing environments. The important issue, however, is whether these can be addressed in mainstream education systems.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING INITIATIVE:

Confucius once said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” As the educational establishment puts more pressure on teachers to follow strict standards and prepare for standardized tests, extending the classroom to the outside world where students can learn experientially is an increasingly vital aspect of the learning process in the 21st century.

The Center for Experiential Learning at the University of Colorado Denver defines experiential learning as “a process through which students develop knowledge, skills, and values from direct experiences outside a traditional academic setting. Well-planned, supervised and assessed experiential learning programs can stimulate academic inquiry by promoting interdisciplinary learning, civic engagement, career development, cultural awareness, leadership, and other professional and intellectual skills.”

HOW EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING CREATES GROWTH MINDSET:

 One of our main goal is to focus on Growth mindset and for that the great way is ‘Adventure travel’. We believe Adventure Travel is a carefully planned combinations of tours, site visits exploration and hands-on learning opportunities, built around clear learning objectives. Instead of describing everything in theory, why not show our learners the real thing?

Once a learner experience the empowerment and growth in any given place or culture, they’re well on their way towards a lifetime of learning and multi-cultural appreciation no matter where they go. They’ve learned to see the world and themselves in a new light which will pay off for the rest of their lives.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IMPACT ON THE FUTURE CAREER:

Experiential learning provides unmatched exposure to a variety of potential career paths for the students to consider as they progress through college and eventually graduate and move on to the real world.

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW STANCE ON ADVENTURE BASED TRAVELLING

According to a renowned author at Harvard Business Review, “We often choose to spend our hard-earned dollars for comfort, predictability, and relaxation, and there are benefits to doing so. But I believe that travel should routinely be used to achieve the opposite: to get out of your comfort zone, expose yourself to uncertainty, and eschew rest for exploration and learning. The result is personal growth — greater emotional agility, empathy, and creativity.”

AIMS OF ANY ADVENTURE PROGRAM

Adventure youth development program will provide transformational experiences for urban youth through outdoor education. The program will help build resiliency, character, confidence, multicultural teamwork, leadership, women empowerment, connect them with Nature, provide digital detoxification, their takes them to the journey of self, relax their mind and nourish their soul, create stewardship and community involvement, all through outdoor adventure. 

OUR ADVENTURE INITIATIVE

“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” —Edmund Hillary

Our Adventure Educatio program allows participants to broaden their world - to learn from experience, take appropriate risks, work with others, and connect to a larger world. These crucial skills are needed if they are to help solve the world’s problems when they sit in our shoes. Adventure is the most effective way to grow responsible, accountable youth who can work in teams and keep the big picture in mind.

Our Adventure program for youth focus on different aspects of human growth. The program is designed in a way that it covers almost all the important aspect of human life.

VISION: 

We envision a world where every young person gets the opportunity to discover themselves by actively engaging with the natural world.

 MISSION:

Our mission is to provide the best opportunities for experiential learning, develop leadership skills through outdoor experiences that expand horizons, increase confidence, and build collaboration skills.

OBJECTIVES:

1. Providing opportunity for youth to develop leadership

2. Promote adventure based learning

3. Connecting humans with Nature

4. Promoting healthy lifestyle

5. Promote Eco-tourism around the world

6. Highlighting the UNESCO world heritage

7. Promoting environmental awareness and Stewardship among the youth

8. Promoting the Power of Passion and curiosity

9. Creating awareness about the landscape and geology

10. Promoting Adventure mindset which promotes Growth Mindset

OBJECTIVES OF THE ADVENTURE EDUCATION PROGRAM:

Below are the clear objectives which will help our youth to prepare themselves to face the challenges of 21st century with thought, innovation and leadership.

* MOVING TOWARDS REAL ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION:

Our goals are focused on developing individual competencies to work toward solving problems, as articulated in the Belgrade Charter (UNESCO 1975) and ratified as the Tbilisi Declaration (UNESCO 1977), which states:

‘The goal of environmental education is to develop a world population that is aware of, and concerned about, the environment and its associated problems, and which has the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations and commitment to work individually and collectively toward solutions of current problems and the prevention of new ones.’

This program will provide a perfect atmosphere to explore the environmental issues in our local and global contexts.

* EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:

The boundaries between schools, universities, communities and the private sector are blurring as a result of a number of trends, including the call for lifelong learning; globalization; information and communication technology (ICT)-mediated (social) networking education; the call for relevance in higher education and education in general; and the private sector’s growing interest in human resource development. The resulting ‘boundary crossing’ is reconfiguring formal, informal and non-formal learning and changing stakeholder roles and public-private relationships. This new dynamic provides a source of energy and creativity in education, teaching and learning, which itself provides a powerful entry point for ESD (Education for Sustainable Development). The program will provide the basic know how about environmental issues which we are facing globally.

 * HEALTHY BODY; Walk a mile in nature!

"Being in nature is ingrained in our DNA, and we sometimes forget that”.

Gregory A. Miller, PhD, president of the American Hiking Society

According to Webmd.com, hiking is good for us. Hiking is a powerful cardio workout that can lower your risk of heart disease, improve your blood pressure and blood sugar levels, boost bone density, since walking is a weight-bearing exercise, build strength in your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and the muscles in your hips and lower legs, strengthen your core, improve balance, help control your weight, and boost your mood.

* MENTAL HEALTH THROUGH ADVENTURE:

Individuals of all ages can benefit from Adventure camping in Natural environment. Moreover, it is proven to be an effective tool for overcoming a wide range of mental health challenges. As a result, adventure activities offers ways to care for mental illness for people recovering from eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and teen substance abuse.

Additionally, it is a powerful anxiety and depression treatment approach. It can also help those who are working to come to terms with personal loss. As well, Adventure based activities can add an exciting and productive element to family or relationship therapy.

* Therapeutic Power of Nature: Spending time in nature through outdoor adventure can improve mental health in a number of ways. For one, time outdoors has been shown to decrease levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. Moreover, being outside in nature is proven to reduce stress by lowering the stress-associated chemical cortisol. Additionally, being surrounded by nature can inspire newfound tranquility and positivity.

* The Science of Awe: Research has found that experiencing awe, such as one might feel while immersed in a lush forest or surveying a scenic mountain landscape, can encourage more generous, positive social behaviors. It also takes us out of our own heads, helping us focus us on something bigger than ourselves. Furthermore, unplugged time in nature helps regulate mood disturbance and nervous system arousal caused by too much time in front of screens.

Adventure Program will provides participants with ways to better understand their thought processes, behaviors, and coping strategies. It can help them feel a greater sense of empowerment, self-awareness, and responsibility. It is also effective at encouraging an improved understanding of risks and consequences; a more optimistic outlook; and a greater willingness to confront challenges and step outside one’s comfort zone.

* EMPOWERMNET THROUGH ADVENTURE: The program is designed in a way to secure female representation from all walks of life and especially the younger generation. We believe that adventure traveling will provide our young girls to come out of their shell, gain confidence, get better self -image, fight their vulnerability, develop strong determination, polish their risk taking skills, and finally going to persue their passion. The program will boost their courage and help them change their thought process and belief systems.

In any adventure program, starting from negotiation with family to planning, from actual traveling to adventure activities, girls get the sense of Freedom, can be better prepared with life skills, have increased self-awareness and a feeling of self-empowerment; construct their adventure identity, can achieve heightened bodily experience through extra ordinary physical, emotional and sensual experience, and powerful sense of belonging to mother earth; all these earned by a simple act of participating in adventure activities.

* RE-CONNECTING HUMANS WITH NATURE: Humans have long intuited that being in nature is good for the mind and body. From indigenous adolescents completing rites of passage in the wild, to modern East Asian cultures taking “forest baths,” many have looked to nature as a place for healing and personal growth.

Now, a large body of research is documenting the positive impacts of nature on human flourishing—our social, psychological, and emotional life. Studies have shown that being in nature, living near nature, or even viewing nature in paintings and videos can have positive impacts on our brains, bodies, feelings, thought processes, and social interactions. In particular, viewing nature seems to be inherently rewarding, producing a cascade of position emotions and calming our nervous systems. These in turn help us to cultivate greater openness, creativity, connection, generosity, and resilience.

* DEVELOPING MINDFULLNESS:

Time in nature or viewing nature scenes increases our ability to pay attention. Because humans find nature inherently interesting, we can naturally focus on what we are experiencing out in nature. That will certainly add mindfulness in our lives.

* NATURE TREATS BURNOUT:

Today, we live in a web of technology which is eating our brains with information. But many scientists believe our brains were not made for this kind of information bombardment, and that it can lead to mental fatigue, overwhelm, and burnout, requiring “attention restoration” to get back to a normal, healthy state. Nature is the best healer. the adventure program will provide time to relax, and gain our energy back.

* SELF DISCOVERY:

By stepping into nature, we step into a place of solitude. Far away from the hustle and bustle and superficiality of everyday life, it’s possible to rediscover a sense of purpose for your life. Natural landscape provides a wonderful opportunity to connect with our inner world. In silence we awaken our spirit and we get our inner guidance. The HImalyas being one of the greatest mountains on earth brings us back to the notion that there is something bigger than ourselves,  that ultimately takes us to the path of self discovery!

* DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF LITERATURE:

If you analyze the thousands of contributions from great thinkers and poets, from the present to thousands of years, one theme that persists, particularly in the poetry of the ages, is a fascination with nature. These soulful writers seem to immerse themselves in nature and create poems that stem from their state of bewilderment and ecstasy. 

In Adventure trips, one can allow William Wordworth’s poetic observation to inspire oneself to go out into the wilderness of mountains. Imagine the poet simply listening to the sounds of a bird, and listening with such intensity that he could write down words of this very basic yet universal human experience. Here one can realize that everything in nature contains all the powers of nature – everything is made of one hidden stuff. This includes all that is natural, including us. We too are a part of this world of nature. We all desire to be in solitude, to be free, to be our natural self, to follow our own intuition, to sing without being criticized, to flow as the rivers do, are natural instincts that are often ignored.

* ADVENTURE AS A THERAPY FOR ADDICTION AND OTHER RELATED ISSUES:

Researchers all over the world are turning towards Nature as a guide and treatment for all kinds of ailments. Spending time in nature is often a highly positive experience as it provides a sense of perspective and can be calming. Nature is viewed as an alternative therapy, and combining the outdoors with learning that addresses the whole person — social, emotional and intellectual — often yields excellent results for those struggling to find their way out of a difficult period in their lives.

We believe we are facing the same problems of drug addiction, mental health issues and psychological symptoms in Pakistan. There are various reasons for that, and we believe it’s the time to use Nature as a therapy. Adventure therapy provides emotional support while allowing participants to explore their capabilities with as much freedom as possible. Adventure therapy focuses on mental stamina and emotional growth that can be applied to solving life’s challenges long after the program has ended.

* HIKING WILL CREATE A BIGGER BRAIN:

 Research indicates that hiking or walking grows brains. Typically, the hippocampus gets smaller once we hit your mid 50s, leading to memory loss. But a 40 min walk or a hike a week for a year grow our hippocampus on average, by 2 percent, which could improve the retention for years. Hiking adventures will keep us mentally sharp.

 * DIGITAL DETOX: GET A BTTER CONNECTION, LET’S CONNECT WITH NATURE!

According to National geographic seasoned writer Lindsay N. Smith, we need Digital detoxification urgently, from intrusive email alerts to constant social media sharing, technology is an ever-present guest at our dinner tables, in our office meeting spaces, and on our morning commutes. It’s even snuck its way into experiences meant to be relaxing and revitalizing, like vacations.

Adventure program is a digital detox retreat to teach our youth  how to log-off from technology – and to explain why one should! The program offer the chance to disconnect temporarily from digital devices and reconnect with the world offline, leaving people relaxed and energized to return to their daily life. Throughout the trip, one will experience ‘logging-off’ that you can take back into your everyday life afterwards.

EVERYONE IS INVITED: Our Adventure program is an open forum for the youth of the world, they can join us from any educational institute/Organization from around the world

We invite students, employees, thinkers, designers, artists, photographers, hikers, climbers, travelers, therapists, nature lovers and those who think they might need a therapy for their addictions and ailments.

THE DREAM BEHIND:This program is a part of our vision for a better world; reconnecting humans with nature, Digital detoxification, empowerment, environmental awareness, and creating avenues for life skill learning through adventure activities…

(Message by Erum khan: Project Designer/Naturalist)