Through Adventure Education: Using a Socio-ecological Model in Adventure Education to Address Environmental Problems

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This chapter considers the relationship between adventure education and the socio-ecological model. A first look at the socio-ecological model might leave one wondering how adventure education fits within it. Given that the model is historically about promoting health behaviours by focusing on the interactions of people with both their physical environments and socio-cultural settings in their everyday lives, adventure education may seem at odds with socio-ecological thinking. After all, the nature of multi-day adventure education programs is to take participants out of their everyday environments, or what might be called their everyday social ecology. This chapter however, highlights the connections by suggesting there are three primary reasons why adventure education programs fit well within the socio-ecological model. First, both adventure education and socio-ecological models regard positive behaviour change as a desired outcome. Second, adventure education and socio-ecological models both offer insights to address environmental problems. Third, both models highlight our social and environmental interrelatedness. Adventure education provides a unique opportunity to step away from the complexities and distractions of day-to-day life and learn directly about both human and ecological interrelationships. Adventure education can be an effective way to teach systems thinking and the socio-ecological model provides a useful framework to do so.