Joining the dots: Towards a more connected outdoor learning sector

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The outdoor learning sector is rich with activity. Across schools, centres, youth organisations, community groups and independent providers, there is a great deal of purposeful work taking place. Opportunities are being created, relationships developed, and experiences offered that clearly matter to the people who take part. Yet, when viewed as a whole, the sector can feel less coherent than this level of activity might suggest.

Provision is spread across many organisations, each working with their own priorities and interpretations of what outdoor learning is for. Collaboration certainly exists, but it is often localised or project-based rather than part of a more sustained, shared approach. The result is a sector that is productive, but not always well connected.

This is not a criticism of individual organisations or practice. Rather, it reflects the nature of a field that has grown in a distributed way, shaped by local priorities, funding pressures and organisational needs.

A disaggregated field

Outdoor learning has been described as an overlapping patchwork of provision, where experiences are shaped by who offers them, to whom, and for what purpose. From a participant perspective, this can result in a series of opportunities that are not always linked, with progression depending as much on circumstance and awareness as on design.

From a sector perspective, the same pattern is evident. Multiple organisations and systems contribute, but not always in ways that align with each other. As a result, there is a risk that opportunities to extend participation and create more coherent pathways are missed.

A more connected sector would also be better placed to articulate its value and advocate for outdoor learning.

The issue here is not a lack of activity, but the degree to which that activity is aligned.

Sector-wide collaboration has happened successfully in recent years, for example, as a response to proposed Working at Height Regulations and the impact of the Covid pandemic, but this has been responsive in nature. Greater coherence could shift the emphasis from reactive to proactive.

The question of purpose

If there is to be greater join-up, it may be helpful to return to a simple but important question: what is it, collectively, that we are trying to achieve?

This is not about imposing uniformity, but about identifying a shared direction that allows different forms of provision to connect more effectively. Without some sense of common direction, collaboration can remain partial, even when it is well intentioned.

Thinking in terms of interdependence

One way of approaching this challenge is through the idea of an ecosystem.

In an ecosystem, different organisations play different roles, but none operates in isolation. Schools may provide early experiences, youth organisations offer continuity, providers develop specific skills, and families and communities sustain engagement over time. Each part has value, but it is the connections between them that determine how effective the system is.

Seen in this way, the focus shifts from individual delivery to collective contribution shaped through a shared ‘value proposition’.

Making the landscape visible

A practical challenge in creating a more joined-up approach is visibility. It is not always clear who is doing what in a given area, where organisations overlap, or where gaps exist. Understanding the landscape is a starting point, but the more significant issue is relational. Knowing that organisations exist is not the same as understanding how they connect, or how they might work together more effectively.

The role of leadership - and followship

Within this context, leadership becomes important, not in a formal or hierarchical sense, but in the willingness of individuals to look beyond their own context and engage with the wider sector. This might involve building relationships, recognising shared interests, or identifying opportunities for collaboration. That same outward looking approach also creates awareness of initiatives to get behind and support. These are often small, incremental steps, but over time they contribute to a stronger and more connected system.

Linking practice and system

There is also a useful connection between what is valued in practice and what is needed at a sector level. Outdoor learning places a strong emphasis on relationships, on working with others, building trust, and engaging as part of a group. Those same capacities are relevant when operating across organisations and systems, where collaboration depends on the ability to connect and work with others. While this is not the primary purpose of outdoor learning, it does help explain how the conditions for a more joined-up sector might develop.

Moving forward

Developing a more coherent approach is unlikely to come from new structures alone. It is more likely to emerge from strengthening the connections between what already exists. This might involve clarifying shared aims, improving understanding of local provision,  recognising complementary roles or creating space for relationships to develop.

None of this is straightforward, but the potential benefits - in terms of improved access, continuity and impact - are significant.

Concluding thoughts

The outdoor learning sector does not lack commitment, innovation or expertise. Across the country, there are people and organisations doing thoughtful and important work, often in challenging circumstances. What can be less evident, however, is how these efforts connect.

Developing greater cohesion is not simply a matter of creating new structures or additional programmes. It is about recognising the interdependence that already exists and finding ways to strengthen the relationships that sit between the different parts of the sector.

Encouragingly, there are already initiatives beginning to move in this direction, bringing organisations together, exploring shared aims, and attempting to create more coordinated approaches at local and national levels. These are important developments, and they suggest that the conditions for a more joined‑up sector are starting to emerge.

The goal, perhaps, is not a bigger outdoor learning sector, but a better connected one, where the value created by individual organisations is amplified through stronger relationships, shared purpose and coordinated action.

The question is how far this can be taken, and how widely this thinking can be adopted.

A call to action

If a more connected sector, coalescing around a shared message is something we want to move towards, then the starting point may be relatively simple:

• Taking time to understand who else is working in our space and what their aims are

• Looking beyond our own organisation to the wider system

• Recognising where our work connects with that of others

• Being open to conversations that may not have an immediate outcome

  
  

For some, this work is already well underway, while for others, it may represent a shift in emphasis rather than a change in direction. Either way, the opportunity is there.

A more joined‑up approach will not emerge fully formed. It will develop gradually, through the relationships we build and the ways in which we choose to work alongside each other. This perhaps is the key point: the sector we often describe in structural terms is, in practice, shaped by the connections between people.

Part 2 explores what a shared aim might look like.