One of the most prominent goals of the IOF is to enhance the development and dissemination of educational material in the multiple areas of our sport. This includes material from the basics to advanced topics such as guidelines for a world championship or tips on coaching for the elite.
The Recreational Orienteering Working Group within the Global Development Commission has initiated a project to identify and share successful recreational orienteering concepts, something which has become even more relevant throughout the past two years, since many federations experienced a growth in participation in low threshold recreational activities, when physical activity outdoors was possible.
Many concepts enhancing recreational orienteering which have been encountered worldwide are now accessible via Recreational Orienteering – A collection of concepts for inspiration. Recreational orienteering is defined in the following way by the IOF: Orienteering activities focused on participation rather than competition. Such activities focus on fitness, enjoyment, fun and social involvement. Examples of such activities are local Orienteering trainings, permanent courses, school orienteering events, World Orienteering Day activities and other events which require Orienteering skills.
The Global Development Commission are aiming for this collection of recreational concepts to keep growing, and invite all federations, clubs and individuals to contribute by sending an email with information and photos, diagrams or any visual material to gdcgroup (at) orienteering.sport
As another important activity, the Education Working Group within the Global Development Commission has started to collect links to the abundant educational material already developed within the IOF, by Member Federations or any member of the o-community, and to generate a searchable Educational Portal where it will be possible to search material according to language, discipline, topic or level.
The Global Development Commission encourage all Federations, athletes, coaches and all who share the love of orienteering to take part in building this database by filling in the form Education Portal.