Adventure Mind 2020
A conference series exploring the importance of adventure to wellbeing and mental health. For outdoor professionals, wellbeing practitioners, researchers, brands, policy makers & all adventurers.
AGENDA
The 2020 event was aimed at the international researchers in the fields of Tourism, Adventure Education, Outdoor Education and Psychology. With presentations under the following topics:
The Wellbeing Impacts of Adventure
Transformation
Growth and Post Traumatic Growth
The Hero’s Journey
Enduring Resilience and Performance
Embracing Fear
Embracing Failure
The Adventurer’s Mindset
Belinda used the conference to present these previously unconnected disciplines and ideas together for the first time, in order to ask the international research community to reassess how they are approaching and framing ‘adventure’.
To ask the researchers with help to rebrand and reclaim ‘adventure’. From something that has overwhelmingly been viewed and studied by researchers as something elite or unusual (even practiced only by those with a ‘death wish’). To the way Belinda views adventure, as a way to improve wellbeing and connect with the planet.
Belinda also asked for collaboration and shared the ideas underpinning her upcoming book “Adventure Revolution: the life-changing power of choosing challenge” the first book to finally explain the psychology of why adventure is essential for our wellbeing
ADVENTURE MIND 2020 OVERVIEW REPORT
The first ever conference on the importance of adventure for wellbeing!
The conference was hugely impactful, so much so that future Adventure Mind conferences will now focus on supporting adventure-for-wellbeing practitioners instead of trying to push the need for research in this area. These are just a few of the outcomes:
Researchers and practitioners from eight countries gathered and were presented a new view of adventure, one that promotes adventure-for-wellbeing and the desperate need for more research in this area.
Multiple new adventure-for-wellbeing research projects were begun inspired by the conference, involving researchers from six different countries.
Researchers connected for the first time and agreed to create the first academic textbook about the psychology of adventure and wellbeing. Researchers from the conference are writing this book to be published in 2022.
Multiple connections were made between researchers and adventure practitioners. This will be important over the coming year for improved measuring and recording for impact reporting, essential for organisations. And allow individual outdoor leaders to facilitate adventure activities to be even more beneficial to wellbeing. And give researchers better access to new data.
Adventurers were encouraged to take on further research into this area. Two professional adventurers decided to take on Masters research into resilience as a result of this conference.
A new podcast was launched to spread the word about the importance of adventure to wellbeing.
A collaborative approach to delivering adventure for wellbeing was drafted.
Thank you to all who joined us, who spoke, who volunteered, and who worked hard to make it such a productive and inspiring two days. If you’d like a first-hand account of the conference, this blog from Zoe at HeadRightOut does a great job of bringing it to life.
Here are some photos from the event. Many thanks to Greg Childs, our brilliant photographer.
Belinda Kirk and Explorers Connect want to ensure adventure is woven into everyones’ lives. We are rallying the troops: with the ultimate aim to get adventure on the national agenda, to make it accessible to all, and delivered as effectively as possible.
To achieve this, we are doing what we do best: establishing a solid community with a shared ambition. Explorers Connect is in a unique position to bridge the gap between the practitioners, the researchers and the public - to build momentum for adventure theory and provide a channel to execute that theory and report back on effectiveness, via our 28,000 strong community of adventure enthusiasts.
Read Belinda’s article about what led her to create Adventure Mind here.
“I’ve been taking people on adventures for over 20 years and I’ve seen its positive impact on mental health again and again. There is more research each year supporting the idea that adventurous activity promotes wellbeing. The aim of the conference is to strengthen this message, empowering outdoor professionals, supporting adventure organisations and promoting further research. Together we can engage more people in adventure to promote mental health and personal development”
QUESTIONS?
If you'd like to know more about the conference please email belinda@explorersconnect.com and we'll do our best to help you.