Trekkify

The training in Italy  took place every Friday from February to April 2022 and involved 10 participants who participated until the very end of it. Concerning the 10 participants, they actively took part in all the activities and stimuli proposed by the educators. Moreover, they were always involved in all the organizational processes of some of the activities of the training, which resulted in an increase in their level of autonomy and social interaction. They were particularly participative in the lessons before the hiking, where they discussed together what to bring with them in the backpack and what clothes to wear. Furthermore, at the end of each training session, short English lessons were held in order to provide participants with additional tools to interact with others once they will be in Croatia. Certainly, what emerged most clearly during and at the end of the training were the participants’ interest and curiosity for the topics covered, in particular their enthusiasm to learn without having to give up nature. In fact, it was found that the moments of greatest participation and activity were those in which, after the theoretical lesson, they went to the park or to a green area to discuss what had been learnt or to carry out the activities foreseen by the toolkit such as the construction of a birdhouse.

From February to April, our Croatian partner Health Life Academy in collaboration with SU Veliko Srce engaged in a pilot test of the newly created Toolkit Hi-Ability for educators. Pilot action was consisted of 12 activities for adults with PWID who were trained and followed by the educators.  Through 3 months beneficiaries took role 12 activities related to hiking. Main activities were walking and bicycle riding with few educational activities indoor. During the activities participants had a lot of fun but also learned a lot as well. They also contributed to the project by helping with mapping some of the routes they walked during the pilot activities. During the walk they learned and discussed related topics like what kind of equipment to take and use, how to orientate and follow the signs, and also some specific information about a certain trail. Other than walking, the same group went on a few bicycle trips in group which was very interesting for them as they could further and see some trails that they couldn’t reach only by walking. Besides walking and cycling they learned lot of new things about nature and environment through organized workshops with educators. In order not to have only activities related to hiking, participants occasionally had fun sport activities like football, bowling, swimming etc. more hints The participants had great time with participating in pilot and other activities and showed great interest in having even more activities outdoor.

Health Life Academy organized a full week end 12-14/03/2021 dedicated to field research with two focus groups sessions: one with PWID and the second one with trainers, guides, parents and association members. The research in Croatia was combined with field visits during the morning hours in Sv. Martin na Muri and Koprivnica where the participants had the possibility to test two hiking trails for PWIDs in order to experience a direct observation. HLA involved 10 PWIDs and their families, representatives of the Croatian Mountain Association, a member of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Association and some physical trainers working in the PWID Associations (“Veliko Srce” from Koprivnica, “Ivan Štark” from Osijek and “Pogled” from Nedelišće). www.packersmoverschennai.org

Last March, Greek Carers Network Epioni and EPOS Fylis implemented the first focus group with mental illness and intellectual disability, involving 12 individuals. The second focus group addressed mental health professionals, educators, physical education professors and family caregivers took place last 12/3/2021 and involved 14 participants. The meetings were organized in collaboration with some local NGOs active in the intellectual disability area: ESTIA, ERGASTIRI and Down Syndrome Association of Greece and PEPSAEE. Both Focus Groups revealed the relevance and the benefits of outdoor learning and environmental education for people with disabilities. click here for more info

The first focus group was held on the 17.03.3021 with 7 participants and two moderatos. The second focus group involved 9 people with ID and two moderators. Some of the participants have had no experience about outdoor learning, but all agreed that being in contact with nature is an important added value for education purpose and an opportunity to acquire new skills, change perspective, seek new stimuli and get in touch with themselves. navigate to these guys

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