2024 Wilderness Risk Management Conference

Sometimes the best outcome is for a participant to go home before the program is over. Setting your program and its participants up for success means preparing to support both attendance and early departure. This presentation will look at strategies and tools to reduce unnecessary departures as well as identify and ease necessary departures. This will include creating clear and consistent program definitions, defining the boundaries of the program and staff skill-set, supportive and inclusive program design, and defining the pathways that lead to a participant staying or going home. We will share experiences, look at example tools and templates, and review case studies for a variety of situations and participant types. [Updated and revised version of presentation given in 2022]

How much choice do participants have in your program? Have marketing campaigns seduced them, or are they required to participate by school or parents? Or, perhaps they “choose” to go along because they want to belong in a group. Most instructors know how to offer choice; however, can they teach choice-making skills? Outdoor programs can offer opportunities for participants to make conscious choices and develop an ethic of care through intentional learning, reflection, practice, and engagement with others, which helps to make programs safer and allows participants to leave the program with more skills to travel safely outdoors. With accelerated environmental degradation and political polarization, deepening our understanding of care, on the individual and collective levels seems crucial. Group cohesion and instructor expectations impact choice and one’s sense of belonging—both of which are influenced by factors such as culture and life experiences. Instructors can help participants understand these dynamic and relational processes and develop reflective moral reasoning to increase their understanding of ethical implications of their choices (the average human makes up to 35,000 choices daily). Session participants explore ethical and practical considerations around choice and belonging and outline practical considerations to create safer feeling, equitable, and inclusive environments for people to develop choice-making skills where they can consider and understand the consequences of their choices on themselves, others, and the natural environment—all of which improve the safety outcomes of program experiences.

In this workshop, we would explore the field coaching process that Outward Bound Singapore undertakes to ensure quality and safety in programme delivery. Field coaching is a cornerstone of our commitment to excellence in outdoor education. Our coaching process encompasses a tailored coaching approach and distinct categories to address the diverse needs and profiles of our instructors. Through a combination of theory and practical insights, this workshop will delve into the components of our field coaching process and its significance in enhancing programme quality and safety. The key elements covered are as follows: • Coaching Approach that encompasses the identification of the coaching activity objectives, detailing an observation plan and the coaching model to engage the instructors in sharing of feedback and supporting their development. • Field Coaching Categories that cater to the different areas of development for various profiles of the instructors. Attendees would gain a deeper understanding of the field coaching process and its role in enhancing programme quality and safety. In doing so, instructors can be empowered to deliver quality outdoor education experiences while prioritising participant safety and well-being.

Risk management in Global Education is always a step behind the evolution of its hazards. In a world where “unprecedented” events are becoming the new normal, the need to be innovative remains paramount. We will work with the principles developed by corporate world and the U.S. military for operating educational programs in what they describe as a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous). We'll also look at lessons from the pandemic that now need to be applied to the threats that had been emerging well before the pandemic.