Treehouse Camps – a method to strengthen key competences and integration in Youth Work Erasmus Project

Project Title

Treehouse Camps – a method to strengthen key competences and integration in Youth Work

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Integration of refugees; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Treehouse Camps – a method to develop key competences and integration in the context of youth work

Project partners:
– Programmbereich Erlebnispädagogik in der CVJM-Akademie (EPÄD)
– Verein Outdoortech (OT CEVI)
– Stichting Buitendoor (BUITEN)
– Netzwerk Jumpers – Jugend mit Perspektive (JUMP)
– CVJM-Kreisverband Lüdenscheid (LÜD)
– CVJM-Hochschule (CVJM-HS)

A. Background and Context:
Promoting integration and developing key skills of and with young people are among today’s big challenges of European society. Currently existing concepts of youth work do not adequately address them:
– one, because youth work often only reaches already well educated young people with offers that have a more intellectual emphasis, and
– two, such offers of open youth work that do still reach children and youths of non-educated classes usually focuses more on providing spaces for development which are only marginally managed pedagogically.
For these reasons, “hands-on”, proactive and holistic methods of a stimulating and appealing nature are needed, that systematically fosters young people in their development and enable integration.
One such method is the treehouse camp, founded in Switzerland and now spreading continuously all over Europe. Those youth work organisations already working with this method have had excellent experience: youths are stimulated intensively and develop strengths, skills and competencies. There have also been initial, particularly positive and encouraging, experiences with young participants with refugee and/or migrant background.
For the very reason that the treehouse camp has spread all over Europe over the last few years, it is essential to undertake this scheme in a distinctly European context. Moreover, the higher goal of this project is the further expansion of the method in Europe, which makes a transnational collaboration fundamental for its success.
So far, though, there are many different ways and techniques to construct the treehouses, as well as only rudimentary pedagogic concepts. At the same time, more and more youth work organisations want to start using and implementing this method.
For this to happen in a sustained and effective way, binding standards and high-quality methods are needed as well as training concepts to qualify staff members for the treehouse camp.

B. Goals:
It is the fundamental goal of the project to develop and publish material that enhances the safety and quality of treehouse camps, and to use the pedagogic potential. To this end, the following Intellectual Outputs are being developed:
– building regulation
– guidelines for project management of treehouse camps
– ready-made pedagogical methodology tools
– training concepts to qualify staff members for treehouse camps
In the end, these outputs serve the main goal of the project, namely the sustained and lasting multiplication and spreading of the method in Europe. To achieve this, there will be multiplication events as well as extensive press work and public relation activities.
All Intellectual Outputs will be published online using database technology.

C. Methodology
The development of Intellectual Outputs is a core purpose of the project. For this, working groups work on the planning and elaboration of the individual projects. Additionally, there are feedback loops within the steering committee and the associated partners.
For research, the method of qualitative interview research is used.
To disseminate the results at the multiplication events the following methods are used: workshops, lectures, tutorials, seminars.

D. Participating Persons
The main participants are ca. 40 experienced staff members of the partner organisations (employees as well as volunteers), whose know-how and experience are necessary to achieve high-quality Intellectual Outputs.
Furthermore, 30 youths and staff members of treehouse camps are involved in the context of the interview research methodology. These results are an essential basis for the development of the Intellectual Outputs.
About 20 staff members (employees and volunteers) of the associated partners are involved to get feedback about the Intellectual Outputs.
At the multiplication events, around 200 interested youths, staff members and decision-makers of organisation are reached.

E. Results and Impacts
By producing the afore mentioned Intellectual Outputs, a very important foundation will be laid to spread the method “treehouse camp” in youth work all over Europe.
In addition, the project partners as well as the “network treehouse camp” benefit from the results, which will bring the treehouse work to a higher level.
The “network treehouse camp” also spreads the method treehouse camp further in Europe, beyond the project time frame; new treehouse camps become part of the network.

Project Website

http://treehouse-camp.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 177068 Eur

Project Coordinator

CVJM-Akademie gGmbH, Kassel & Country: DE

Project Partners

• CVJM-Hochschule – YMCA University of Applied Sciences
• Verein OT Lagermaterial
• CVJM-Kreisverband Lüdenscheid e.V.
• Stichting Buitendoor
• Jumpers – Jugend mit Perspektive