Learning opportunities
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Learning Opportunity
September 21, 2026
October 2, 2026
Romania
18-30
ASAP
The exchange combines activities at the Outward Bound Romania Youth Centre with an approximately 50 km hiking journey along the Via Transilvanica, known as “the road that unites”. Through hiking, camping, team challenges, and time spent in nature, participants will have the opportunity to step outside their comfort zones and explore personal resilience, emotional awareness, cooperation, and authentic connection.
The programme includes team-building activities, a ropes course, individual challenges, contact improvisation, embodiment practices, mindfulness and reflection sessions, solo time, silent walking, and nature-based practices and rituals. Intercultural evenings during the expedition will create additional opportunities for participants to share their cultures, stories, and experiences while building connections with young people from across Europe.
Participants will be accommodated at the Outward Bound International Youth Centre in Sovata in shared 3–5 bed rooms with common bathrooms. The centre is located in a mountain valley surrounded by nature and includes facilities for camping, group meetings, training, and team-building activities.
The Thread That Connects aims to strengthen young people's self-awareness, emotional clarity, and personal resilience through meaningful outdoor and experiential learning experiences. The project encourages participants to explore their own strengths while developing practical abilities to navigate challenges, uncertainty, and new situations.
A key objective is to foster meaningful relationships based on trust, empathy, authentic communication, cooperation, and a sense of belonging. Through shared living, intercultural activities, and collective challenges, participants will have the opportunity to reduce stereotypes, exchange perspectives, and strengthen their sense of European identity.
The project also aims to reconnect young people with nature and promote outdoor experiences as a source of wellbeing, reflection, and learning. The five-day expedition on the Via Transilvanica will provide a practical setting for developing teamwork, responsibility, adaptability, and outdoor skills while encouraging participants to disconnect from digital distractions and become more present.
Ultimately, the project seeks to create lasting connections by bringing together personal stories, shared challenges, intercultural experiences, and collective memories into a meaningful journey of connection with oneself, with others, and with nature.
The project is aimed at young people aged 18–24 who are citizens or official residents of Greece, Lithuania, Czech Republic, or Romania. Participants should have good communication skills in English, be motivated to develop their personal abilities, and be open to outdoor challenges including hiking, sleeping outdoors, and climbing.
Participants should be ready to be fully present throughout the programme, both physically and mentally, and to spend time without digital technology. They should also be open to meeting, cooperating, and sharing their knowledge and experiences with young people from different European countries. The project expects approximately 4–5 young participants and one group leader from each partner organisation.
The project follows a sobriety policy, meaning that alcohol and drugs are not permitted during the exchange. This is intended to support a safe environment based on authentic expression, presence, and meaningful connections.
