In early November, IMBA Europe met with the project partners of the SEE Project (Sustainability and Environmental Education in Outdoor Sports) in Viana do Castelo Portugal for the second exchange meeting. The goals of the programme were to get practical insights into water sports and trainer education systems especially from within Portugal. Also, the meeting was used to share and test pedagogical methods with the group and collect good examples of environmental training from partners and practitioners.
Whilst the focal point of the second exchange was on water-based outdoor sports, there were many learning outcomes that we as a mountain biking organisation can translate to the mountain biking world. One such inspiring example is the WiSe scheme, presented by our project partners Sport Northern Ireland. The WiSe scheme is the UK’s national training scheme for minimising disturbance to marine wildlife. WiSe scheme was originally created for sea operators (boats) however, the framework and principles can easily apply to outdoor sports in marine environments.
