International Perspectives in Outdoor Education Research

Abstract

In November 2013, a group of about 120 outdoor education researchers gathered at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. We had come together at the 6th International Outdoor Education Research Conference (IOERC) from many corners of the world. Without such events, it can be easy for us as outdoor education researchers (and practitioners) to limit our perspective and inquiry to the people and places of our home range, forgetting that outdoor education is happening in some shape or form in most countries around the globe. The biennial IOERC has become a time of renewal and sharing of ideas for many researchers, a time to be inspired by colleagues’ research, which in turn reframes our own research, and we start viewing and understanding it through a more diverse international lens. In Dunedin, we were selected to co-convene the 7th IOERC and chose to host it at Cape Breton University, on Unama’ki (Cape Breton Island) in Nova Scotia, Canada. The purpose of this special issue of the Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership (JOREL) is to showcase examples of international research, some of which was presented at the 7th IOERC, where 150 researchers from 17 countries lived and learned together. Subscribe to JOREL