Tree climbing as learning

Tree climbing is all about learning. Learning about your body, about the trees, and about the nature all around you. In the fabulous Horizons, the magazine of the Institute of Outdoor Learning (IOL), my articles discuss tree climbing and inclusion, the beneficial effects of tree for health and wellbeing, and considers how climbing trees can make us better thinkers.

The IOL is the professional body for organisations and individuals who use the outdoors to make a positive difference for others. With an incredible wealth of resources and expertise, they have workshops and webinars on all aspects of working in the outdoors.  As well as being jam-packed with ideas and experience from practitioners from around the UK, with news, views and events, the magazine also arrives in compostable packaging, I love it!

Horizons magazine Winter 2024

In the Spring edition, (SPRING 2024 pp22-25) I “examine the importance of risky play in childhood and how exposure to ‘risk’ helps set us up for life by developing our ability to assess situations.” This was a great opportunity to consider all aspects of risk and play and their importance in our lives as kids, and later in life too.

Horizons: Spring 2024

The IOL also runs online and in-person events for its members. This week I attended a webinar about going to the loo in the outdoors! Now this may seem like something most of us take for granted and yet it can be, and is, a barrier to accessing the outdoors for lots of people, especially those with no experience, those from different cultural backgrounds. This evening’s expert Elspeth Mason was fantastic and opened our eyes to lots of aspects including ways to approach what can be a bit of a socially-awkward conversation when people are not used to discussing such things!

It's my 7th year now as a member of the fabulous Institute for Outdoor Learning. If you are an outdoor educators or practitioners, I highly recommend joining.