Outward Bound Center for Peacebuilding

01/27/2026

What a delight to be back on the beautiful campus of UWC Red Cross Nordic with an inspiring group of educators. Thank you to everyone involved for your dedication, creativity, laughter and commitment to a more peaceful world through education.

09/23/2025

Could not have said it better Natasha and Emilio - so great to see the vital work you continue to do.

✨“Peacebuilding is community building”:

Peace and Peacebuilding are at the heart of RBC’s values and of UWC’s mission statement. What can this mean in practice?

Founded by staff members in 2022, our school’s Anti-Racism Working Group (AR Group) is promoting a more structural approach to addressing issues of inequality, racism, and peacebuilding within our diverse community.

In 2024, the College put in place a steering committee, with both student and staff members of the AR Group, that reports to our school’s management.

In an interview, Natasha, Emilio and Anna, members of the AR Group, speak about their work, learnings and the idea to introduce Peacebuilding Project Weeks at RBC.

👉You can find the interview on our website!

01/31/2025

What a great look back and a powerful summary from our week-long training course with educators from across the community of United World Colleges!

Empathy as a muscle and resilience as a collective - needed today and every day.

01/18/2025

We are so excited for this collaboration. Here's to the power of learning communities and a little snow adventure!

🌟 Kicking Off Our 30-Year Anniversary with a Peacebuilding Training!
This Monday marks the start of a very special event at UWC Red Cross Nordic—the opening event of our 30th-anniversary year! We're excited to welcome colleagues from other UWC colleges to the Experiential Peacebuilding Training Programme, hosted by us in collaboration with The Outward Bound Center for Peacebuilding. We hope this week brings educators, leaders, and facilitators together to explore experiential learning, trust-building, and leadership in promoting peace and collaboration across divided communities.

We look forward to welcoming so many of you to Flekke!


Outward Bound Center for Peacebuilding UWC UWC Robert Bosch College UWC Adriatic UWC Dilijan Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong UWC Mostar UWC Changshu China

04/29/2024

We were thrilled to co-design this training expedition in Finland with partners and colleagues from around the Outward Bound world!

Thanks to everyone who made it possible!

03/21/2023

Building Back: Helping Young People Go from Recovery to Discovery

Outward Bound International has just released a timely and relevant report about the role of outdoor learning in addressing youth mental health and helping young people build back post pandemic.

Over three years ago our world was facing a global pandemic that has had lasting impact on the youth of today. In this report, Outward Bound International quantifies how deep the mental crisis caused by the pandemic runs for young people, using data gathered from various surveys conducted all over the world. Outward Bound’s work is central to repairing the damage done to young people by the pandemic and provides a vital lifeline to youth who are suffering the effects of numerous lockdowns. We must provide young people with opportunities to connect with their own true potential, their communities, and the outdoors.

Outward Bound International is grateful to Manulife, John Templeton Foundation and The Sweetgrass Foundation for their generous support; support which ensures that our member Schools around the globe can continue to provide powerful outdoor learning that offer a multitude of health and well-being benefits for both individuals and society.

Check out the Building Back report here: https://www.outwardbound.net/building-back/

photo credit:

12/19/2022

Encouraging to see a bold vision to protect biodiversity and wild places - we need to do this and so much more.

Can we get to a place where we value nature without thinking about resources for our gain - and re-focus on all that we gain from remembering we are a small part of nature?

Roughly 190 nations, aiming to halt a dangerous decline in biodiversity, agreed to preserve 30 percent of the planet’s land and seas. The United States is not officially a participant.

10/21/2022

So much in just 10 minutes - check out this great listen on trees and how they speak and listen through their roots. The power of invisible communication all around us!

Urban ecologist Marielle Anzelone is joined by nature writer Robert Macfarlane, to dig into how trees connect to each other, and the idea that each tree is a world to itself.

10/11/2022

As a cyclist - you knew I would like this - but we couldn't agree more about the power of physical movement and adventure to work wonders on our minds, our creativity and our problem-solving. Getting out and doing always helps!

Cycling is especially good for people with long-running knee problems or health issues. I've been able to do everything I've wanted to, but a clamor of what-ifs were often in the back of my mind.

09/29/2022

Thanks AORE for the promo! We are excited to join this year's conference and share the ways outdoor education connects to compassion, collaboration and peace!

Experiential Peacebuilding harnesses the power of learning by doing & reflecting in the outdoors to challenge & inspire leadership toward peace & collaboration.

Want to know more? Sign up for our pre-conference session & learn about real life examples from 10 years of Outward Bound Peacebuilding programs.

🔗 https://aore.org/pre_post_conference_workshops.php

09/21/2022

For us, Peace is Process. We build around a simple progression: Intentional Action - Connection with Nature - Time for Reflection.

Today, on the International Day of Peace, we offer three easy actions that help us.

Take A Walk (move any way you can) - Feel your body in motion? When our breathing and heart rate elevates we experience clearer thinking and stronger retention of new ideas. With each movement forward, recall the past. Where are you going today?

Sit by a tree - Practice feeling and listening. Nature models the idea of growth and change without rushing all the time. As you observe the reach of branches above you, don't forget the vital reach of the invisible roots below.

Touch Water - Put your hands or feet in water. Notice its temperature, it's texture, the way it buoys or pushes against you and moves to replace the space left when you moved.

We start with Peace in the Self.

09/16/2022

Inspired by artist Sarah Cameron Sunde who travels the world to stand in rising and falling tidal waters as an exploration of people - nature - climate.

Using your whole being to learn, to teach and to remember. Sounds a lot like an approach we can celebrate!

Artist Sarah Cameron Sunde concludes her nine-year project to stand in water on six continents and allow the high tides to slowly engulf her.