ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part examines the influence of militaristic and masculinist tendencies within a historical perspective on the understanding of contemporary adventure education. It discusses frameworks, processes and pedagogies that have influenced the interpretation of adventure in Germany, and the relative importance of these in its conceptual understanding. The part argues that Erlebnispadagogik is a pedagogy that is now transcending schools but does not have a theoretical foundation, and introduces Erlebnisse as emotional states of awareness as outcomes of this and other processes. It focuses on the possible implication of nature encounters for environmental concern as the contemporary manifestation of an historical process of development through 'nature protection', 'nature conservation' and 'environmental control', to the tensions between 'alternative' and 'sustainable development'. The part also argues that what constitutes outdoor studies has shifted concomitantly with the traditions and pedagogy of environmental education to a position of pluralism.
