Going outdoors is all about enjoyment – or at least it should be. whether we realise it or not, there’s a hefty dose of judgement and barriers that prevent many people from venturing out into nature in an accessible way.
In partnership with Ellis Brigham, The Accessible Outdoors Guide explores three key areas of the outdoor experience where barriers can present themselves: Safety, Accessibility, and Diversity. In collaboration with some top experts, explore how we can all improve our outdoors experience and how these intersect.
Explore the Code
Safety in the outdoors, of course, should be one of our main concerns when undertaking any adventure – whether it’s scaling a huge mountain or a walk in the woods. However, there is a lot of information out there that can seem incredibly off-putting and looks to demonize people’s outdoor experiences as unsafe or ‘could have been done differently’. This can have a big impact on accessibility and can even put people off the outdoors entirely for fear of doing something wrong. Enjoying it safely is about exploring how safety can be communicated and how we can enjoy the outdoors in a way that feels accessible, safe and considerate of the environment and people around us.
Exploring What’s Possible is, at its heart, about discovering what feels unique to us in the outdoors and being inclusive towards the wide range of different experiences of the outdoors; Not just our own. A shift in the stories we hear when it comes to what our experiences should and can look like can have a big impact all round. For disabled folks, this can help improve the ability to access nature entirely, whilst also feeling safe to explore what’s possible in the outdoors in an individual and adaptive way.
Much has been written about diversity in the outdoors. However, we often see this presented in a very simplified way. The ‘solutions’ that are sometimes presented do not actually fully rectify or address the problems that are faced as these issues can often be intersectional, complex, and full of nuance. The notion and concept for celebrating our diversity comes from the idea that working towards solutions that provide better access for certain people can help improve access for others in interconnecting ways.
Click on the Articles Below to Discover More...
Watch the Learn Something New Episodes on tea:tv Streaming with Simon, Ani and Soraya. Click on the Episodes Below to Stream for Free...
Want to Learn More About Simon, Ani and Soraya?
Read Ellis Brigham’s Q&As by clicking the links below…
Simon Pitman Q&A
Ani Barber Q&A
