Outdoor -crossing notice board (m.T)

We are fast approaching our 10th year of activity in Outdoor Education and Science based field activities. For those of you who haven’t been in contact with us for quite some time this e-mail might come across as a surprise, we hope a pleasant and welcome surprise.

Admittedly, this is a long Notice Board e-mail, however, we do hope you will find time to read at least most of it...

Before up-dating you with our latest news, I think I should go back and have a quick look at some of our latest events and give thanks and congratulations where thanks and congratulations are due...

First of all I would like to thank all those who have supported our work since the launch of our new website www.outdoor-crossing.com last year. We’ve had our ups and downs but overall this new operational platform has been very successful. (Please note the two websites we used under the previous name Virtual Outdoor Centre do not exist anymore and have been replaced by Outdoor-crossing.com)

I would also like to congratulate our Forest and Mountain Waters team who successfully completed a hiking expedition to the Tatra Mountains in April. (For most of the team members this was yet another step forward after taking part in a hiking and camping expedition in the Scottish Highlands the previous year).

I would also like to congratulate the British lads, who successfully carried out a two day outdoor field course in Comino during the month of May.

Now for the latest up-dates:

1. The summer months:

Presently, we are mostly focusing on maritime activities, snorkelling and canoeing. Each snorkelling programme consists of 6-7 sessions with the last 3 requiring slightly more experience than the first 4 sessions. This snorkelling programme is an introductory one. If you’d like to join, the second cycle is due to start shortly. Please do contact us as soon as possible.

2. Coasteering (Education & adventure):

We are activity planning to introduce ‘’Educational Coasteering’’ to the Maltese Islands. This should be especially attractive (and useful) to geographers and biologists and well as those interested in bouldering and coastal hiking in general. Needless to say, students also stand to benefit, and we are currently designing a version of this new initiative specifically for schools and pupils. This should be operational by September.

The underlying concept is to fully appreciate the island nature or our Island State and learn more about the maritime influence on our natural Capital. Coasteering should lend itself very well to our islands (and climate), as it can operate all year round using sea-based activities instead of land based ones during the hot summer months. Individual partners as well as partner institutions wishing to take part are kindly asked to enquire as soon as possible.

3. WILFE:

WILFE, Water is life for everyone (please refer to website for details), was launched in 2010 and so far one programme, Forest and Mountain Waters, has been successfully implemented as part of this initiative. WILFE was designed to last at least 2 years, so we are currently looking for new ideas and projects, (local or overseas), which relate to the importance of water and the consequences of its presence (in all its forms) in nature. If you do have ideas, projects or educational/adventure activities in mind, please do come forward.

4. New partners & members:

We are currently looking for science teachers/educators or university students willing to take an active part in disseminating good practices in Outdoor Activities, be it for education, leisure or sport. Specifically, we are interested in hearing from Geography, Biology and Science teachers as well as student- teachers that are willing to embrace Outdoor Education, and use the tools it provides in science teaching/learning, field activities and obviously life in general for a healthier life-style.

5. Camping and Hiking:

For the 3rd year running we are offering a camping and hiking course that will include an overseas expedition. Please visit www.outdoor-crossing.com (Mountain Pass èActivities and events è sample programme 1) for more details. If you would like to enrol, or if you would like to form your own camping & hiking group please do contact us.

6. Overseas fieldtrips for science teachers:

This is a new initiative, launched in March 2011. The entire programme consists of a local component together with an overseas excursion and focuses on observing nature and natural phenomena, field techniques for teachers, leadership and group management in the outdoors. The first two overseas localities being proposed are the Isle of Arran in Scotland and the Alps (Parco del Gran Paradiso) in Northern Italy.

7. Workshops:

Locally, Outdoor Education as a general educational tool and as an avenue to appreciate nature is rather poorly developed. Consequently, we have set ourselves a goal, to organise at least 1 half-day workshop for any group of individuals or institution that is willing to host us and invest a few hours to learn more about the core themes as well as the many ramifications of Outdoor Education. Enquiries welcome.

8. Intermediate & Advanced Outdoor Education activities:

For those with a reasonable amount of experience in outdoor activities and adventure outdoors, and who probably consider themselves travellers, we intend to offer two possible overseas programmes, both within the Mountain Pass section of the Outdoor-crossing platform. If you fall within this category you may wish to contact us to form part of a new team that will become operational between September and October.

9. Where do we go from here?

This is as far as we got so far... Over the next couple weeks we would like to hear from as many people as possible. We would like to hold consultation meetings with you and we are obviously very interested in your feedback and queries should you have any. We look forward to start new teams and enlarge existing ones. We are more than willing to help you participate in one or more of our initiatives and activities.

The next phase, also to be completed before the end of this summer, will then be the planning phase for 2011-2012. We have set the following time-windows for plenary sessions.

15th July – 25th July

3rd August – 13th August

5th September – 17th September.

Do let us know which of these dates fit you best.

Well that was the last item on the list... We have gone a very long way since the early days of Planet-Blue, but there is still so much more to do, so much more to discover. We hope you will join us in this life-long journey of discovering what Planet Earth has to offer to its guests and guardians....!

While hoping to hear from you soon please do not hesitate to contact us about any enquiries you may have.

Best Regards

Konrad Pirotta