Event Name: European Outdoor Educators (EOE) Conference
Event Dates: 25th-27th September 2019
Location: Institute of Technology, Tralee
Delegates: International: 110 | Domestic: 94
Event Name: European Outdoor Educators (EOE) Conference
Event Dates: 25th-27th September 2019
Location: Institute of Technology, Tralee
Delegates: International: 110 | Domestic: 94
The EOE conference is the annual event of the European Institute for Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning. In 2019, the event was held for the first time in Ireland, hosted by the Institute of Technology Tralee, which holds the UNESCO Chair in Inclusive PE, Sport, Recreation and Fitness.
The EOE Network is a vibrant association of outdoor education practitioners and academics from around Europe and across the globe. The theme of the 2019 three-day conference was Diversity and Inclusion in Outdoor & Experiential Learning. As a key networking event for social and youth workers, teachers, educators, students and academics, the conference was a mix of practitioner case studies, practical workshops, and academic presentations.
IT Tralee has been hosting outdoor education programmes and leading in disability inclusion in outdoor adventure for over 25 years. Hosted at the new purpose-built Kerry Sports Academy building it ensured lectures, practical and theory-based break sessions were hosted with universal access.
The proximity of high-quality outdoor venues along the Wild Atlantic Way for practical workshops was a key consideration in the awarding of the conference. Nearby locations, such as Fenit Harbour, Banna Beach, Ballyseedy Woods and the woods and parklands on campus were used throughout the event.
The EoE network has at its heart, connecting people with their environments which framed a “sustainability agenda” as a core ethos to the event. Conference organisers adopted vegan and vegetarian as the norm. For the gala dinner, a unique menu featuring locally sourced produce, including Atlantic seafood from Dingle was created with our hotel partner, The Meadowlands Hotel.
The conference served 1,400 teas and coffees over the duration of the 3 days and did not use any single use cups or single plastic water bottles. Delegates received a custom keep-cup on arrival, which was used for all breaks. Only Fair-Trade tea/coffee was served.
Conference organisers designed the programme to combine oral presentations and active outdoor sessions. This was crucial to the success of the conference and created a fantastic opportunity to engage with the Atlantic landscape in Kerry, which was enjoyed by delegates from 22 countries.
In the 25-year history of the organisation, this was the largest ever EoE conference, and the feedback from delegates about their time in Kerry was very positive.
The prominent inclusion of the sustainability agenda in this conference has influenced the EoE board to the point where it is guaranteed to be included centrally in all their future European conferences.
It’s wonderful to be here in Tralee, Kerry with its beautiful landscape for this unique conference, where people from all over the world can share knowledge on the growth of outdoor experiential learning.
Anders Szczepanaski from Linköping University, Sweden
Organisers worked with various stakeholders to execute this innovative conference.
A serviced conference campsite was set up on campus at IT Tralee, beside the new Kerry Sport Academy building and a significant minority of delegates chose to brave the Autumnal chill and set up camp for the duration.
As an active learning institution, students from a variety of programmes gained valuable experience through supporting and engaging with the conference.
Students from across the institute including the new BA (Hons) Event Management degree provided delegate liaison throughout and led a ‘walking bus’ from the conference hotel to the venue each morning. This limited the use of cars in keeping with the sustainability agenda of the conference.
Local bus providers were used to transport delegates to outdoor activities at local beaches & hiking trails, thus limiting the need for multiple cars/ taxis.
Books of abstracts, delegates lists etc. were all supplied electronically to delegates, thus ensuring minimal use of paper for the conference.
Unique individual delegate name badges were made from compostable wood which was harvested and made on campus at IT Tralee.
The amazing conference banquet at Meadowlands Hotel featured fantastic locally sourced produce including Castlegregory carrots, fresh mackerel Baile na nGall, and even crab apples and elderberries from north Kerry hedgerows!
Local boutique street food and private catering company, Rustic Pantry was also engaged to provide catering during the event, with the entire menu selected showcasing local and sustainable ingredients.
While no formal tours etc. were part of the programme, many delegates chose to continue their visit into the weekend, and avail of the huge range of attractions in the region.
The sense of community built amongst delegates from all over the world was most notable, reflecting they warmth of welcome they received in County Kerry. A commitment to sustainability / low carbon principles was at the heart of the event and was a shared value amongst all.
This was the 18th and largest ever EoE conference, and its theme of diversity and inclusion are pertinent to a modern society. IT Tralee were delighted to be again leading the way in Europe in this area, through our Health and Leisure Department, UNESCO chair and CARA centre. The fact that we are focussing on sustainability in the week of global action on climate change is also important.
Tomás Aylward, conference organiser and lecturer in outdoor learning at IT Tralee
Kerry Food Share is Kerry’s largest foodbank, an initiative of North, East, West Kerry Development and St Vincent De Paul, which operates to prevent both food waste and food poverty in the County. FSK takes both FEAD (Food from the European Union Fund for the Most Deprived) and surplus food from local hotels, businesses and suppliers, delivering it to charity partners who redistribute it to families in need.
Food Cloud will take donations of excess food from events, who will collect the food on site at no extra cost and arrange for distribution to appropriate charities.
Have something that could potentially be used by a charity for another purpose such as cardboard boxes, wooden pallets etc? Left over materials can be recycled and provided to DEIS schools, such as Lyreacrompane in North Kerry to use as Arts and Craft materials.
Alternatively, liaise with the venue for assistance to connect with other local organisations who could reuse materials, helping to reduce landfill waste and further a circular economy.
As a county, Kerry is committed to ‘Keeping it Green’, putting the focus on protecting the environment and developing a green economy.
Home to both Siamsa Tíre, Ireland’s first accredited Green Theatre and Events Centre and world leading hotels such as The Europe Hotel & Resort and The Killarney Park who operate on 100% green renewable energy, and The Rose Hotel, whose Head Chef has just become the first person in the world to complete a newly established Environmental Sustainability Management in Hospitality qualification.
We are extremely proud of how our industry have embraced a sustainability ethos, and the steps that many of our hotels, venues, activity providers etc are undertaking to put in place Green Teams, implement measures to reduce environmental impact and for some, undertake third party sustainability accreditation.
Within Kerry Convention Bureau, all our familiarisation programmes and events are paper & single use plastic free.
We are members of Sustainable Travel Ireland and Green Travel and work closely with organisations such as Sustainable Events Alliance and Fifty Shades Greener to stay informed and ensure that we are adopting best practice, accessing current training opportunities and in turn, sharing these with our members.
Reducing your carbon footprint is a highly recommended step for event planners and tourism businesses that care about our climate and their emission levels. We strongly encourage visiting event planners, KCB Members and our industry partners to consider offsetting any emissions they produce.
Kerry Convention Bureau works with two organisations who offer Carbon Offsetting initiatives; Sustainable Travel Ireland and Flogas.
Both organisations have partnered with South Pole, a gold standard provider of emissions-reduction projects worldwide.
Sustainable Travel Ireland have created a group carbon-offset scheme for the Irish tourism industry, which can also be utilised by event planners when holding events in Kerry.
The scheme offers a wide array of internationally accredited offsetting projects, including hydropower, clean drinking water and forest protection schemes.
Visit Sustainable Travel Ireland for more information and handy tools to calculate and offset through one of its chosen high-impact projects. and note, members of Sustainable Travel Ireland can avail of discounted rates.
Member Hotels of Kerry Convention Bureau, who are or become customers of Flogas, can avail of the carbon offsetting scheme currently offered by Flogas to all its business customers throughout Ireland.
For a minimal fee, Flogas will purchase carbon credits on behalf of commercial customers, investing in sustainable global projects that either reduce or capture an equivalent amount of carbon emissions.
Examples of the supported projects include forest protection, providing access to clean and efficient LPG cookstoves, supporting renewable energy projects and wastewater treatment and biogas utilisation projects. For more information on how to get involved, contact Flogas.
Kerry Convention Bureau offers a free and impartial service, providing expert local advice, venue sourcing and facilitating connections to passionate, local suppliers who are committed to working together to make your event a success
A dedicated team of professionals at Kerry Convention Bureau are on hand to help event organisers bid for and host a successful conference in Kerry.
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