ABSTRACT

The twentieth anniversary of the European Institute for Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning is an excellent time to reflect. This chapter provides a sense of where outdoor adventure education and experiential learning have gone since 1996, primarily in relation to how Canada is situated in relation to Western Europe. It focuses on how programmes in the K-12, the higher education system and sometimes the informal learning system have changed. Some of the greatest connections between Canada and Western Europe have occurred with relation to conferences and research. Canada’s elementary and secondary systems are run at a provincial level, and territories tend to develop their curriculum from the provincial models that lie immediately to the south, perhaps again in a way similar to Europe with some regional similarities there. In Canada, the connections between outdoor adventure education and experiential learning have drifted towards eco- and adventure tourism in a significant way.