Viristar’s Director, Jeff Baierlein, will be presenting at the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of the Association of Experiential Education in June 2023, in Singapore.
The theme of the conference is “Sustainability and Inclusivity in Experiential Education.” The three-day event is hosted by Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) in partnership with Republic Polytechnic and Outward Bound Singapore.
Jeff will be presenting two workshops. One is entitled “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Experiential Education: A North American Perspective.” This is an update on a keynote presentation Jeff gave on the topic at the Outward Bound Asia Regional Staff Symposium in 2020 in Halong, Vietnam.
The workshop will offer an overview of how considerations of diversity, equity and inclusion are unfolding in experiential, outdoor and adventure programmes in North America, particularly in the USA.
The second presentation will be on “Integrating Environmental Sustainability Education into Outdoor Adventure Education.” The workshop is a follow-on to a similar session provided at the AEE International Conference in North Carolina, USA in the fall of 2022.
The presentation will discuss principles of environmental education curriculum design, and the challenges and possibilities inherent in combing environmental and adventure education.
Viristar, Asia and AEE
Jeff has been presenting at or attending AEE regional and international conferences for over 20 years, and Viristar’s connection to the experiential education community in Asia is a long one. Viristar got its start in Asia, in fact, providing training courses in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, China and Vietnam, before expanding its services to the Americas, Oceania, Europe and Africa.
Viristar has worked closely with a number of experiential and adventure education providers in Singapore over recent years, including throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and it will be great to see friends, clients and colleagues in person.
East Asia is a global hotbed of outdoor adventure learning and experiential education. A number of globally leading providers are based in locations such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok. And a multitude of international schools in the region provide experiential and outdoor education opportunities, through co-curricular experiences; the Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) element of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, or through the youth development programme variously known as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Award for Young People, or International Youth Award.
To learn more about the AEE Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, or to register, visit the event website.
Viristar is looking forward to a terrific conference!