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Director, Outside-In and HKOLA

Walking the Walk, Talking the Talk: Intention or Filler?

Everything we do on a programme has a purpose. But do we always know what it is?

This interactive session takes a choose-your-own-adventure approach to a multi-day programme. Participants choose the route through a series of days: prep day, first day, big day, first aid day, bad weather day and final day. Along the way we unpack the choices facilitators often make on autopilot. What are ice breakers actually for? When does kit get checked, and by whom? When is the right time to debrief? Who makes the call when the weather turns? What are incident forms and reviews really there to do?

Throughout, the facilitation is made visible. Participants will leave with a sharper eye for the difference between intention and filler in their own practice.

Michael Hoskins

Outdoor Learning Lead, Dalton School Hong Kong

Launch Your Expedition: How a "Basecamp" Classroom Can Build a Better Future

How can we transform the traditional classroom into a dynamic "Basecamp" that prepares students for the ultimate expedition of life? 

We will explore practical frameworks to turn physical and conceptual learning spaces into collaborative hubs of inquiry, resilience, and action. 

Rooted in experiential practice, this session will guide educators through hands-on mapping activities, collaborative brainstorming, and a brief outdoor simulation. Attendees will walk away with a concrete "Basecamp Blueprint" to foster student agency, environmental connection, and real-world impact back in their own schools.

Fabio Di Salvo

STEM Educator

Designing Outdoor Learning That Lasts

Outdoor learning is often praised for being engaging, memorable and exciting—yet a powerful experience doesn’t automatically become lasting learning.  This interactive session shows outdoor educators how to move beyond creating memorable moments to deliberately designing powerful learning. 

Drawing on cognitive science, experiential education and real-world examples from international schools, fieldwork, expeditions and STEAM programmes, we’ll explore how prior knowledge, retrieval, spacing, elaboration and transfer can strengthen learning long after the experience ends.

Kitty Tam

Programme Lead, Civic Exchange

Outdoor Education in a Changing Climate: Policy, Nature and Opportunity

In this session led by Kitty Tam and her team at Civic Exchange, attendees are invited to explore how policy work on climate, nature and learning is shaping the future of outdoor education in Hong Kong.  

Civic Exchange will share its ongoing efforts to inform government policy in ways that affect the outdoor education sector today and over the next decade, from nature-based solutions and biodiversity strategies to eco‑tourism and environmental education.

Vito Tam

Senior Project Officer, OWLHK

Playing Board Games for Ecology

Participants will experience a locally-designed board games, "Law of the Forest" to learn more about the ecology of Hong Kong’s forest in a fun way. 

Through the game experience, participants will also be guided  to review our daily impact and explore ways to make changes in their daily lives accordingly.

Stuart Slay

Director, Slay Risk

Six Lessons from Camp Mystic for Outdoor Programs Amid Climate Change

On July 4, 2025, a flood in Texas killed 28 people at Camp Mystic, including 25 campers and two counselors. 

This session presents the case from the official investigation, alongside a 2024 study on the impacts of climate change on outdoor programs. Attendees connect the lessons to recent severe weather in Hong Kong and their own programs.