The final conference of the OUT4In – Outdoor for Inclusion  Erasmus+ project took place in Vienna on December 11, 2025 and brought together project partners from Austria, Italy, Finland, Spain, and Serbia, alongside experts, and organizations working in social inclusion, outdoor education, and the empowerment of refugee and migrant women. The event represented a key moment to present the project’s results and to exchange best practices for making outdoor activities more accessible and inclusive.

OUT4In was developed to unlock the potential of outdoor activities as tools for education, well-being, and empowerment for refugee and migrant women (DRM), a group that continues to face significant barriers to participation.

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The project focused on three main objectives:

1. Strengthening educators’ knowledge and skills to design inclusive outdoor activities that support social integration and empowerment.

2. Improving access to outdoor and educational activities for DRM by addressing material, linguistic, and cultural barriers.

3. Promoting inclusive opportunities for participation in nature-based learning and recreational experiences.

 

The conference began with a keynote on outdoor sports, gender, and inclusion, followed by presentations on the project’s findings and outputs:

• the Toolkit for educators

• the Local Heritage Natural Guide

• the Policy recommendations & Guidelines for Transferability

• insights from focus groups highlighting common barriers such as lack of equipment, transportation challenges, and limited representation.

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A panel discussion, “Breaking Barriers: How can outdoor activities become more inclusive?”, explored structural obstacles, good practices, and strategies for creating more accessible outdoor experiences.

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In the afternoon, participants took part in thematic round tables covering topics such as sustainability in mountain sports, co-creation of outdoor programmes, culturally and trauma-sensitive approaches, mobility, organisational diversity, and existing good practices.

In countries such as those of the project partners, nature and outdoor activities are a strong cultural symbol. However, access is not equal for all: technical language, the cost of equipment, transport difficulties and the lack of diverse role models often make participation difficult for many migrant and refugee women. OUT4In has demonstrated that nature can and should be a welcoming and accessible space for all, and that outdoor activities are powerful tools for social integration, empowerment and personal development. The tools, networks and shared experiences developed through OUT4In will continue to inspire educators, organisations and local communities across Europe.

On December 12, a Transnational Project Meeting was held among the project partners to discuss the next steps, including the organization of final events in partner countries and potential improvements to the Policy Recommendations & Guidelines for Transferability.