1. Green Horizons-Building Solidarity through outdoor programs 2.Volunteaming

Outward Bound Romania has the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) Accreditation since 2021 related to volunteering projects. We created an action plan for the period 2021-2027 with the following objectives:

-to promote inclusion of young people with different backgrounds in order to ensure diversity and solidarity acting among local youngsters and European volunteers, and the local community

-to raise awareness about environmental sustainability and to enable behavioral changes for individual responsibility towards consumption habits and greener lifestyles among local young people, short- and long-term European volunteers, and the local community

-to develop efficient state management and to build resilience in difficult times among local young people and short- and long-term European volunteers

All activities are co-financed by the ESC program of the European Union

In the second year, we implemented:

  1. Green Horizons – Building Solidarity through Outdoor Programs: a long-term individual volunteering program for 5 young people: one volunteer from Spain for 12 months, two volunteers from Hungary and Romania for 9 months, one volunteer from Latvia for 5 months, another volunteer from Latvia for 3.5 months.
  2. Volunteaming: a short-term team volunteering program for 27 young people from Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, Germany, Slovakia, France, Austria, Latvia, and Romania, held between September 27 and October 10, 2023.

Location: Outward Bound Romania Youth Center in Sovata, Gurghiu Mountains, and Bezid Lake.

Participant Profile:

  • Aged between 18–30 years
  • Open-minded, enjoys working with groups of children, youth, and adults
  • Interested in gaining practical experience in outdoor education and youth work
  • Eager to grow physically and mentally through challenging activities, adventures
  • Loves nature and outdoor activities
  • Good English language skills
  • Physically fit,  and healthy
  • Highly motivated to participate in the projects, work, and develop together with other youngsters coming from the EU

Informational Letter for the Short-Term Volunteering Program:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1FIj4hw6eQJXpBKrlDD-z3Cru7EDxk4if 

Informational Letter for the Long-Term Volunteering Program:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1TR68ret5yWbBwr_1GzMBlgZl9aPIQv6s

Short-Term Team Volunteering Program Activities: Icebreaker and team-building activities, expedition, renovation of the yurt, painting outdoor furniture (benches, tables, gates, pavilion), building a fence near the small lake at our youth center,  hiking trail and Bezid Lake shore cleanup, preparing camping areas for other youth groups in the Gurghiu Mountains, climbing in the ropes course and canoeing on Bezid Lake, cultural activities, city-bound exploration, and a trip to Red Lake and Bicaz Gorges.

Results of the Team Volunteering Project:

  • Through authentic adventures, volunteers developed confidence, trust in others, teamwork, leadership, and decision-making skills.
  • By pushing personal limits and facing various challenges, volunteers discovered their resilience, which they can rely on in future difficult situations.
  • Volunteers experienced that being active helps them achieve goals more easily and become more responsible toward themselves, their community, and nature.
  • They learned about solidarity through their voluntary work, creating a more comfortable space for local youth participating in our educational programs.
  • Volunteers became more open to understanding and accepting cultural differences, perspectives, and collaboration with people from diverse backgrounds.
  • They also built new relationships both personally and professionally.

Tasks of long-term, individual volunteers:

  • Learning outdoor experiential education methods: each volunteer participated as a participant in an international program during their first month to experience our methods and activities. After this, they attended internal training sessions on using outdoor equipment, managing the ropes course, and organizing expeditions.
  • Organizing and implementing outdoor educational programs: in the early months, they acted as observers in programs for both national and international participants (children, youth, and adults). They gradually became more active, leading energizers and connecting with participants during their free time. Step by step, under our trainers’ supervision, they took over larger parts of the programs and worked in the ropes course too. 
  • Individual projects

Results of the Long-Term Individual Volunteering Project:

  • Volunteers learned to prepare and plan outdoor programs with educational objectives, gaining both theoretical and practical knowledge about our methods and group facilitation. They became more confident in working with people and developed leadership skills.
  • During the advanced TOT course, they learned theories and practices of outdoor education and experiential pedagogy, which enhanced their technical and facilitation abilities, making them more skilled in working with youth groups.
  • They improved their language skills (Romanian, Hungarian, and English) and overall effective communication abilities 
  • They built their resilience
  • Cultural awareness is an important topic for volunteers

Photos from the program:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=outwardbound.ro&set=a.988297530009566 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=outwardbound.ro&set=a.723167023189286