GeoCamp Iceland was thrilled to take part in the ACAδIMIA European Teacher Training Summer Campus from 26–28 June in Epidaurus, Greece—an inspiring gathering of educators in a place steeped in ancient history.

Trainers and teachers from Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Spain, and Greece came together for an intensive training experience built around the EAR methodology (Empathy – Analysis – Reflection) and Drama in Education. As a case study, participants explored Sophocles’ timeless tragedy Antigone, connecting its themes to today’s educational and social challenges.

A highlight of the summer camp was attending the world premiere of Antigone—directed by Ulrich Rasche—at the iconic Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, famous for its extraordinary acoustics and capacity of up to 14,000 spectators. Experiencing this powerful performance in such a historic setting brought the training’s themes of empathy, conflict, and critical thinking to life in a profound way.

A Unique Learning Experience

This unforgettable experience took place in a real camping environment, adding a spirit of adventure and community. We extend heartfelt thanks to our inspired trainers—Nikolas Kamtsis, Ifigenia Georgiadou, Ntina Aidona, and Bethlenfalvy Adam—whose expertise and energy made the training exceptional. A special thank you also goes to the Action Synergy team for their dedication and positivity, and to the wonderful staff at Bekas Camping for their professionalism and warm hospitality, which made everyone feel welcome and comfortable.

The summer camp combined:

• Interactive workshops exploring Socratic dialogue, Forum Theatre, and creative drama techniques.
• Hands-on activities fostering empathy, creativity, and social awareness among educators.
• Collective reflection sessions, connecting ancient narratives with modern classroom challenges.
• Shared community moments, including meals and discussions under the Greek sky—honouring the tradition of learning together that has defined Epidaurus for millennia.

GeoCamp Iceland is excited to bring these creative, inclusive approaches back to Icelandic classrooms, helping teachers empower every student through drama, empathy, and active learning.

This summer marked an exciting milestone for both Phillips Exeter Academy and GeoCamp Iceland: the inaugural student trip of a new partnership bringing learning beyond the classroom into Iceland’s extraordinary landscapes. Over nine days of immersive exploration, 15 students and three faculty members journeyed across glaciers, volcanoes, lava fields, coastal cliffs, and vibrant cultural sites — guided every step of the way by GeoCamp Iceland’s educators.

Through Exeter’s Global Initiatives experiential learning program, students delved into Iceland’s dynamic geology and stark beauty while confronting the realities of climate change, renewable energy innovation, and the country’s deep cultural history. This first trip in the collaboration was designed around a rich curriculum that combined hands-on fieldwork, reflective discussions, and meetings with local experts.

Students investigated topics such as living on an active plate boundary, the ethics of tourism in volcanic zones, Iceland’s renewable energy transition, and the resilience of communities like the Westman Islands after natural disasters. They witnessed the rapid retreat of glaciers like Sólheimajökull, learned about the global impact of historic eruptions like Laki, and examined efforts like the CarbFix project to capture carbon and store it as stone. Each student prepared research on a unique topic before departure, enriching group discussions and deepening learning in the field.

The program also included cultural and literary encounters, such as a meeting with Icelandic author Rán Flygenring, and reflections on Iceland’s sagas as ancient narratives offering insights into modern resilience and sustainability. Activities balanced academic exploration with moments of wonder. Sailing on glacier lagoons, hiking mossy cliffs with puffins, relaxing in geothermal pools, and sharing stories during evening meals.

In June 2025, partners from across Europe came together in Turku, Finland, for the final Transnational Partner Meeting of the Erasmus+ AURORA project. Hosted in the historic Vanha Suurtori district, the meeting marked the conclusion of the project which focused on strengthening outdoor learning through technology, inclusion, and youth engagement.

AURORA – Advancing Understanding and Respect of Outdoor and Rural Areas – has brought together organisations from Ireland, Finland, Türkiye, and Iceland to co-create new methods and tools that help young people reconnect with nature in meaningful ways. From the very beginning, the project has aimed to make outdoor learning more accessible—particularly for youth who may face social, economic, or geographic barriers.

GeoCamp Iceland hosted the first Learning, Teaching and Training Activity (LTTA) in Reykjanes and led the development of educational content on climate change and nature-based learning. Working alongside partners and young participants, we helped shape two major outputs: the AURORA Guidebook and the AURORA Platform. Both resources bring together practical experience, youth input, and innovative technology, including AR and VR tools designed to enhance environmental education.

While the project may be formally ending, we believe the outcomes will have lasting value, both within Iceland and for our international network of educators and students. The guidebook provides us with a solid framework: guidelines, checklists, and structured approaches we can draw from when planning outdoor learning activities or supporting schools and university groups. The digital platform, once fully launched, will offer engaging ways to prepare students before field trips and extend learning beyond the landscape itself.

As an organisation grounded in place-based education and international exchange, GeoCamp Iceland sees great potential in applying what we’ve gained through AURORA. Whether it’s a group of Icelandic students exploring the Reykjanes Geopark, or a visiting university cohort engaging with Icelandic nature and sustainability themes, the tools developed in this project will help us deliver deeper, more inclusive, and more thoughtful learning experiences.

We’re grateful to our partners for their collaboration and to the young people whose perspectives helped shape the project’s direction. AURORA has shown that by combining outdoor learning with meaningful participation and digital innovation, we can create something both practical and inspiring. We look forward to sharing the results, and continuing the work in new ways.

This article is based on a presentation delivered by Arnbjörn Ólafsson, Managing Director of GeoCamp Iceland, at the Petroleum Engineering Summer School (PESS2025) in Dubrovnik, Croatia in June 2025. The session explored how Iceland’s geothermal energy system serves as a platform not only for technical excellence but also for education, community development, and international collaboration. By examining case studies from Iceland and partner countries, the lecture positioned geothermal innovation as both an energy solution and an educational opportunity.

Place-Based Learning in a Volcanic Landscape: The Role of GeoCamp Iceland

GeoCamp Iceland is an educational and research platform based on the Reykjanes Peninsula, a region shaped by active volcanoes, geothermal fields, and coastal ecosystems. Originally founded to spark student interest in Earth sciences, GeoCamp Iceland has grown into an international hub for field-based learning focused on sustainability, renewable energy, and climate education. Each year, the programme hosts students and teachers from across the world, connecting them with Iceland’s dynamic environment through immersive, hands-on experiences.

The mission of GeoCamp Iceland is to make science real, local, and transformative. Rather than confining learning to the classroom, we bring participants into lava fields, geothermal zones, and glacial landscapes, inviting them to observe, measure, question, and collaborate. Working in partnership with the Reykjanes UNESCO Global Geopark, schools, energy providers, and research institutions, we design learning experiences that merge scientific literacy with ecological awareness, and that ground global challenges, such as energy transition and climate resilience, in lived experience.

Conclusion: A Curriculum of Transition

The Icelandic experience suggests that energy transitions require more than infrastructure — they require education, cooperation, and cultural engagement. As demonstrated at PESS2025, geothermal energy in Iceland is not only a source of power but a catalyst for curriculum development, youth empowerment, and international collaboration.

What emerges is a vision of education as a driver of change — not simply delivering knowledge about sustainability, but enabling communities to live it. In this model, the energy beneath our feet becomes a shared resource for learning, innovation, and resilience. Classrooms extend into lava fields and wetlands; students become observers of glacial retreat and volcanic renewal; and teachers are equipped not only to inform, but to inspire.

Whether through regional development projects in Reykjanes or cross-border partnerships in Croatia and beyond, the emphasis remains clear: sustainability is not a subject—it is a practice. And at the heart of that practice lies a simple truth: Understanding the Earth we stand on is a prerequisite for changing the Earth we live on.

​When learning is grounded in place, powered by cooperation, and shared across generations, it becomes one of the most powerful forces for shaping a just and regenerative future.

The development project Gárur on the Reykjanes Peninsula – Using the Local Environment for Outdoor Learning has been awarded a 4.7 million ISK grant from the Icelandic Innovation Fund for Schools (Sprotasjóður). The project is led by Reykjanes UNESCO Global Geopark on behalf of a broad partnership that includes all elementary schools and school offices in the region, the Suðurnes Research Centre, and GeoCamp Iceland.

GeoCamp Iceland is proud to be among the applicants for this project, which builds directly on earlier initiatives mapping outdoor education opportunities across the peninsula—an effort highlighted in our recent article, The Ripples Are Growing link.

The goal of the project is to strengthen creative outdoor teaching and help students build a deeper connection to their environment and community. Throughout the project, key learning sites near local schools will be identified and documented for their educational value in natural sciences, history, and culture. These will form the foundation of a digital database that includes GPS locations, site descriptions, lesson plans, and teaching resources—freely accessible to students, teachers, and the public.

GeoCamp Iceland’s own Brynja Stefánsdóttir, science educator at Stapaskóli and project manager with GeoCamp, will play a central role in developing the educational materials. She will ensure the content aligns with Iceland’s national curriculum and supports the integration of sustainability, science literacy, and outdoor learning at multiple school levels.

The project is an important milestone in transforming Reykjanes UNESCO Global Geopark into a living classroom. It represents a meaningful bridge between science, education, and community, while providing schools with the tools and training needed to bring learning outside the classroom—into lava fields, coastal paths, and cultural landscapes.

The grant was formally awarded at a ceremony at the Ministry of Education and Children on 11 June, with Minister Guðmundur Ingi Kristinsson and Bragi Þór Svavarsson, Chair of the Fund’s Board, presenting the award. Accepting the grant on behalf of the Geopark were Þuríður H. Aradóttir Braun and Brynja Stefánsdóttir.

Þróunarverkefnið „Gárur á Reykjanesinu – Nærumhverfi til útikennslu“ hefur hlotið 4,7 milljóna króna styrk úr Sprotasjóði. Reykjanes jarðvangur leiðir verkefnið fyrir hönd samstarfshóps sem samanstendur af öllum grunnskólum og skólaskrifstofum sveitarfélaga á Reykjanesi, ásamt Þekkingarsetri Suðurnesja og GeoCamp Iceland.

Markmið verkefnisins er að efla skapandi útikennslu og styrkja tengsl nemenda við náttúru og samfélag. Kortlagðir verða fjölbreyttir staðir í nágrenni grunnskóla sem nýtast til kennslu í náttúruvísindum, sögu og menningu. Útkoman verður stafrænn gagnabanki með GPS-hnitum, lýsingum, verkefnum og kennsluleiðbeiningum sem nýtast nemendum, kennurum og almenningi til útikennslu og fræðslu innan jarðvangsins.

Verkefnið er mikilvægur liður í að þróa Reykjanes jarðvang sem lifandi lærdómsumhverfi, en jarðvangurinn mun leiða kortlagningu staða til vettvangsnáms, veita fræðilega ráðgjöf og tryggja aðgengi að afurðum verkefnisins fyrir skóla og gesti á svæðinu. Með þessu er byggð brú milli jarðminja, fræðslu og samfélagsþátttöku.

Guðmundur Ingi Kristinsson, mennta- og barnamálaráðherra og Bragi Þór Svavarsson, formaður stjórnar sjóðsins, afhentu styrkina við hátíðlega athöfn í mennta- og barnamálaráðuneytinu 11. júní síðastliðinn. Við styrknum tóku Þuríður H. Aradóttir Braun og Brynja Stefánsdóttir, kennari í Stapaskóla, við styrknum fyrir hönd jarðvangsins, en Brynja mun leiða þróun kennsluefnis í verkefninu og tryggja tengingu við aðalnámskrá og hæfniviðmið grunnskóla.  

Nánari upplýsingar um úthlutunina má nálgast á vef ráðuneytisins.

Across the Reykjanes Peninsula, a new initiative is taking shape—one that brings together educators, scientists, municipalities and students to explore the full potential of the landscapes that surround their schools. Under the name Gárur (Icelandic for “ripples”), a series of interconnected projects is now actively supporting the development of outdoor education through local mapping, curriculum development, and cross-border collaboration.

From Local Mapping to Regional Impact

The central aim of Gárur is simple but powerful: to understand what outdoor education looks like in each school’s local context, and to create practical tools that make it easier for teachers to use the outdoors in their daily teaching. By documenting accessible sites and co-developing lesson ideas with teachers, the project is building a shared foundation for place-based education rooted in the unique environment of Suðurnes.

With funding from four different sources, The Icelandic innovation fund for schools (Sprotasjóður), Nordplus Junior, the Curriculum Development Fund (Þróunarsjóður námsgagna), and the Suðurnes Development Fund, the Gárur initiative is working with all primary schools on the Reykjanes Peninsula to identify and map opportunities for field-based learning in their immediate surroundings. This region-wide approach is helping schools transform nearby beaches, lava fields, wetlands and urban spaces into natural extensions of the classroom.

The Future of Outdoor Learning

At its heart, Gárur is a project about making the most of what’s already around us: the nature at the edge of the playground, the trails behind the school, the coastline down the road. It is about giving educators the tools and confidence to use these spaces as part of everyday teaching—and giving students the chance to learn through curiosity, movement, and meaningful contact with their environment.

By focusing on local resources, community collaboration, and real-world science, Gárur is helping create a sustainable model for outdoor education that can serve as inspiration across Iceland and beyond.

What begins as a ripple may well become a wave.

Rannsóknarmiðstöð Íslands (Rannís) hefur úthlutað styrkjum úr Þróunarsjóði námsgagna fyrir árið 2025. Meðal verkefna sem hlutu styrk er nýtt þróunarverkefni á vegum GeoCamp Iceland, þar sem Brynja Stefánsdóttir, kennari við Stapaskóla og verkefnastjóri hjá GeoCamp Iceland, leiðir þróun námsefnis fyrir útikennslu í náttúruvísindum. Verkefnið ber heitið Gárur – Þróun útikennslu og námsgagna í nærumhverfi skóla.

Markmið verkefnisins er að þróa hagnýtt námsefni sem styður við kennslu í náttúruvísindum, samfélagsgreinum og STEAM greinum í grunnskólum. Sérstök áhersla verður lögð á útikennslu, vettvangsnám og rannsóknir í nærumhverfi skóla á Reykjanesinu, þar sem nemendur koma meðal annars að gagnasöfnun, mælingum og skapandi lausnum í náttúrunni. Verkefnið byggir á UNESCO samstarfi grunnskóla á Reykjanesi og er unnið í nánu sambandi við Reykjanes jarðvang, þar sem nú þegar er unnið er að kortlagningu svæða á Reykjanesinu sem henta til útikennslu og vettvangsferða.

Með verkefninu er stigið mikilvægt skref til að efla útikennslu og vettvangsnám í grunnskólum á Reykjanesinu, ásamt því að þróa nýjar leiðir til að kenna krefjandi viðfangsefni í nærumhverfi skóla.

​Nánari upplýsingar um úthlutun Rannís má finna hér.

GeoCamp Iceland has received a grant from the Educational Materials Developement Fund​ (Þróunarsjóður námsgagna) for the project Gárur – Outdoor Learning and Educational Materials in the Local Environment. The project is led by Brynja Stefánsdóttir, teacher at Stapaskóli Primary School and project manager at GeoCamp Iceland.

The aim is to create teaching materials for outdoor and field-based learning in science, geography and STEAM subjects for Icelandic schools. The materials will support teachers in integrating nature-based research, data collection and sustainability topics directly into the students’ local environment. The project builds on the ongoing collaboration with the UNESCO Associated Schools on the Reykjanes Peninsula.

The role of the Foundation is to promote the innovation, development, preparation and publication of educational materials for pre-, primary and secondary schools with the aim of ensuring the availability and diversity of materials according to the needs of students and schools. The grant will primarily support the development and piloting of the materials in cooperation with local teachers and schools, with GeoCamp Iceland leading the overall project coordination.