Our society is changing rapidly, and this calls for new approaches to learning, working and living together. The importance of assisting young people to prepare effectively and successfully for their adult lives is obvious; the cost of failure in this task will be borne in the future both by the individuals themselves and by society. The challenge for all concerned with young people is to empower them to cope effectively with the choices, problems and opportunities which face them, and at the same time to help them develop a real sense of community and citizenship.

The Foundation for Outdoor Adventure identifies five areas of development for young people. In each of these, individual learning and development needs can be addressed through the empowering experience of outdoor adventure.

"There is an essential need for adventure in the education of young people. The human need for excitement and challenge can, if unfulfilled, express itself in anti-social behaviour. Outdoor and adventurous activities have the potential to satisfy the need for excitement and challenge in a positive way."
Curriculum proposals, Secretary of State for Education and Science 1991.

"We are convinced of the value of adventurous outdoor activities for children and young people."
House of Commons Education Committee 1995.

" The world of the 21st Century will be unlike any we have known. If we are serious in our intentions to prepare young people to move confidently in this world, we have to look at it face on. The best we can do is to develop the capacities of young people as fully as possible, so they will be equipped for whatever futures they do meet."
‘All our Futures’; Report of National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education 1999.