Wilderness Education 1 – Year-Long Training Program (part-time)

In our Primitive Survival training courses, we teach the knowledge and skills needed to live and survive in nature with minimal equipment. The aim is to compensate for the lack of equipment through knowledge, skills, improvisation, and physical presence. The focus is on the four basic needs: fire, water, shelter, and food. Getting to know, testing, and gradually expanding your physical and mental strengths sustainably changes how you see yourself. Knowing that you can ultimately find your way and ensure your survival anytime and anywhere creates a profound sense of security in today's uncertain times.

In this training, we will immerse ourselves deeply in the wilderness around us together with the participants. Over the course of a year, participants will learn extensive survival and wilderness skills, alongside skills for meeting the basic needs of warmth, shelter, food, and water. This involves expanding one’s perception, reading the landscape, making food found in the wild edible, the psychology of survival, understanding oneself and community, tracking, navigation, and physical presence and fitness. A deep connection with nature forms the basis of all these areas and runs through the training as a central element. The aim is for participants, after completing this year, to move through nature with new eyes. Tracks on the ground will tell stories. Their comfort zones will have expanded, and fears will have lost their power. They will perceive their surroundings as alive and full of possibilities.

In our Primitive Survival trainings, we teach the knowledge and skills needed to live and survive in nature with minimal equipment. The goal is to compensate for the lack of equipment through knowledge, skills, improvisation, and physical presence. The focus is on the four basic needs: fire, water, shelter, and food. In this three-day wilderness training, we will teach skills that go beyond the basics of surviving outdoors. Knowledge and skills for meeting the basic needs of warmth, protection, food, and water will be expanded and deepened. The training also includes professional survival topics such as navigating at night, anticipating and avoiding dangers, primitive weapons, trap building, concealed fires, and more. To participate, you must have completed a Primitive Survival Basic or Women Survival course, or an equivalent course at another wilderness/survival school.

Building on Survival Guide I or the one-year Wilderness Education training course (with us or another wilderness school), the journey continues. You have learned to feel at home outdoors, move through and navigate the forest, make fire, build your own shelter, and you know some wild herbs and the warnings of the birds. You also know what it means to take on the tasks within and for your clan. Alongside your growing wealth of knowledge and experience, your awareness has also grown of the problems you encounter when you are outdoors with fewer and fewer aids. You are becoming increasingly aware of the practical, social, biological, and mental skills and knowledge you still need to learn and develop. Over these two years, you will become increasingly independent of civilization as you make the tools and everyday items you need outdoors. Your knowledge of how to obtain edible food will expand. In particular, your mindset will repeatedly be challenged in a vivid way to secure your survival outdoors. In doing so, you will benefit just as much from new scientific findings as from Indigenous ways of life. By the end of the three-year training program, you will have become at home outdo

Outdoor Trainer – Experiential Therapy Training The Outdoor Trainer/Experiential Therapy Training* includes 7 training courses offered by Outside e.V. and lasts two years. This combination provides comprehensive qualifications for working in the outdoors. On the one hand, as an outdoor trainer/experiential therapist, you will master the skills of an outdoor guide. For example, you can work as a wilderness tour guide or lead activities in youth work. On the other hand, you will also be trained in team training and wilderness education. The training also includes wilderness therapy training. This helps you get to know yourself well, including your strengths and weaknesses. You can also help a wide range of teams in schools and businesses grow closer together. Trekking guide and bushcraft guide instructor training are also part of the program. This training is therefore a combination of all our entry-level training courses, including the outdoor guide training and the experiential education training.

The wilderness educator training takes you back to the origins of being human. It gives you in-depth knowledge of nature, traditional skills, and the ability to live in and with the wilderness. It is not just about learning techniques, but about developing a deeper connection with nature, understanding natural cycles, and cultivating a mindful, sustainable way of life. Whether you want to use your knowledge for personal development, career opportunities, or a life close to nature, this training opens the door to an immersive experience of nature. Are you ready to sharpen your awareness, expand your skills, and see nature with fresh eyes? Then your journey begins here.

Many people have experienced the tremendous power that wilderness education unleashes in seminars. As we sit around a campfire with like-minded people, we feel alive, connected, peaceful, and creative. Yet when we return to our everyday lives, we are often left with the feeling that we are living in two separate worlds. It can be challenging to bring the power of wilderness education’s core elements into our present-day lives, which follow different rules. This very process of transferring them is at the heart of our innovative year-long course. When we bring wilderness education into our everyday lives, we experience not only personal joy, resilience, and direction. Wearing the Coyote’s cloak, we also become inspiring role models for others. As we put the core elements of wilderness education into practice in our own lives and develop them further with the people around us to meet today’s needs, we become pioneers of a future Earth culture that sustains life. The training comprises five consecutive modules, with a total of 20 in-person seminar days, transfer exercises in between, and supplementary videos. Training topics 1. Friendship with nature2. Gift exchange3. Sharing reso

In one year, you will learn to move through nature with such confidence that it becomes your home. Over six weekends, you will combine wilderness education with the traditional knowledge of the Alemannic region – outdoors, around the fire, and in community. Nature mentoring (Coyote Teaching) is the fundamental teaching approach. We work with questions and riddles, as well as with the direct sharing of knowledge. In this way, we support you in finding your own solutions and make that process your own experience. What you will be able to do afterward Feel at home in natureWork in greater depth with children, young people, and adults on the subject of natureProvide others with appropriate support as they learn natural skills and competenciesCreate and lead high-quality, in-depth nature programs – training sessions, courses, and excursions that enable a personal and lasting connection with naturePass on wilderness education – independently or as part of a team

A year-long training course that fosters a deep connection with nature, ourselves, and the community. This cultivates the ability to pass on knowledge gained through experience as a mentor. Six modules, in-depth exercises, and an internship. Training Modules Introduction to the fundamentals (4 days)Birds & the language of nature (4 days)Plants & life in the wilderness (4 days)Trees & the mentor’s path (4 days)Mammals & the art of tracking (4 days)The power of community (4 days) Training Objectives Learn wilderness skills to feel at home outdoors without relying on outside aidsDevelop awareness and knowledge of nature in order to build relationships with all living thingsDevelop leadership skills and the ability to pass on knowledge gained through experience as a mentor We offer the training in various regions of Germany. An overview of all training groups, dates, and locations is available at wildniswandern.de/ausbildung WILDNISWANDERN is a provider of tours, seminars, and training courses in the great outdoors. Our wilderness school was founded in 2000 and aims to foster people’s connection with all living things.

Become a wilderness educator 2026/27 – Your journey into nature begins in May 2026 🌿 👉 Would you like to immerse yourself more deeply in the wilderness, learn practical nature skills—and inspire others with them? 👉 Would you like to enrich your everyday life with a connection to nature, a sense of self-efficacy, and community? Then the one-year 2026/27 wilderness education course at Wildnisschule Ausserfern is just right for you! --- What can you expect? You can find the complete overview of the training content on our website—here’s just a small preview: Nature education & awareness Wilderness skills: fire-making techniques, shelters, navigation Plants & medicinal herbs Nature crafts & making tools Independent planning & delivery of (educational) events Experiential learning & personal transformation Project work as a final assignment And much more … (You can take all the equipment home with you at the end, e.g. fire-drilling kits, jewelry, bowls, and traps.) At the end of the course, you’ll receive a certificate from Wildnisschule Ausserfern—you’ll then be qualified to design your own nature and wilderness education programs. --- Details & information 📅 Start