Written by Jani Belvalkar, Stirling University, summer placement
The outdoors has long been a space for transformation and learnings; a place where our illusions of control momentarily fall away, leaving us face to face with the elements and with ourselves. In this environment, the lessons one learns are rarely just technical. My placement with the Green Team exposed me to a deeper understanding of leadership, pedagogy, and the nuances of growth as an individual- insights that align with both philosophical inquiry and scientific observation.
My role: learning for all of us
At the outset, I had imagined my role to be one of instruction; helping out with the teaching of skills and sharing my recently learned knowledge from my degree. As days unfolded, I realised how much of my role was about offering the younger people the space to stumble, to question, to discover through their own encounters with uncertainty. As the young people navigated unknown terrain, stepping back and allowing them to engage with the environment on their terms, to face some challenges, to help each other and ultimately build their own confidence was an essential part of my learnings. I had the opportunity to work on multiple projects of the Green Team and this provided me with a diversity of experiences. Working with various groups of younger people, with varying levels of experience of being in the outdoors, of conservation, of socialisation and of being away and out of their comfort zone created an environment for me to learn so much more about my mindset and my attitude during the days, and my own capabilities. I truly enjoyed the projects that were as long as four weeks with the same group of young people. Through these, I witnessed how layers of social interactions were stripped away, and the roles were mixed up and there was an atmosphere of honesty with oneself and others.
my placement: patient support
Throughout the placement, I was provided with every type of support I required with a chance to start slow and observe and learn and then try and lead sessions, one task at a time. I had the opportunity to work alongside many of the Green Team Staff members in a very short time, enriching my understanding of my role in multiple dimensions. Observing them, I noticed that while they were all guiding the younger people through the same skills and teachings, each one of them had a unique approach. While one focused on something more scientifically, others emphasised the philosophical aspect of patience and persistence. A beautiful way to illuminate the importance of a personal touch in teaching. The experience revealed the multilayer complexity of even the simplest outdoor skills.
A memory that will stay with me through the years was of the fire we lit on my first day out with the Green Team. Lighting a campfire is a task I had practiced many times and yet, watching one the staff from the Green Team guide the young people through this, I had a moment of profound realisation. A task that had always seemed extremely straightforward, suddenly became an intricate demonstration of patience, of perseverance, of science, of forming a connection with nature and with the elements.
Through the past few years, I spent a lot of time volunteering in conservation projects, and I will always cherish it. Although, there has always been an inwardly inquiry about the reason one might choose to work towards the conservation of the natural environment. From a personal standpoint, I found myself stumbling upon opportunities to connect with nature. The love for being in the wilderness and the feeling of safety I feel within it, combined with the frustration due to the injustice towards it and the people dependant on it for livelihoods causes me to fight for it endlessly. I see people realising the severity of the climate devastation at the moment and the pain it can cause. This pain has a possibility of making it more challenging to work for the betterment of it and thus I believe that any chance of connecting with nature as a child is extremely important as it will provide a significantly more positive path and reason to want to protect it. This was the core reason I am passionate to work with the Green Team. The placement to me was an ideal way of stepping into and working alongside rangers, conservationists, outdoor educators, people actively working in the field I aim to enter.