In November 2022, two articles were published by the Guardian describing practices in some programs that are part of the “Troubled Teen Industry” in the United States. ATIC has drafted an open letter response to these articles with the hopes of distinguishing the differences between the programs and practices described in the articles and ethical International Adventure Therapy practices both in the USA and across the globe. You can access a copy of the letter here. 

Please direct any questions to

Adventure Therapy International Committee (ATIC) invites written proposals from interested parties wishing to host the Tenth International Adventure Therapy Conference (10IATC) in 2024

Proposals shall be received by ATIC by 1 Feb 2021 (see contact details below). The successful host will be decided in ATIC meeting on 24th Feb 2021 and will be expected to present plans for 10IATC during the ATIC pre-conference gathering on Sunday 19^th June 2022 in Kristiansand, Norway, and at the 9IATC itself.

Please use the following format for your proposal. Proposals are to be 3-4 pages in length (approx. 2000 words) and include the following information:

1. Information about the host committee
   1. List applicant’s credentials and history in event planning or plans to use event services.
   2. List key host committee members names and affiliations.
2. Resources of host group
   1. List sponsoring organization(s) and brief history, as well as allied/supporting organizations.
   2. Identify national AT networks or organizations
   3. List financial resources secured and proposed
3. The proposed location
   1. Identify specific town and region
   2. Describe benefits of, and access details for this location
   3. Identify any social-cultural-political-health risks associated with this location
4. The proposed venue
   1. Identify specific venue and its capacity
   2. Describe rationale for venue
5. Community resources to support the conference
   1. Describe community amenities relevant to hosting
   2. Describe potential for community engagement (e.g., local AT programs)
6. Consideration of carbon footprint
   1. Describe efforts to reduce waste and minimize environmental impacts
7. Possible theme(s) for the conference
   1. Describe how these theme(s) address current AT needs, issues and/or future direction
   2. Describe how these theme(s) will be enhanced by the host location, venue, and/or resources.
8. Outline processes for “Call for papers and workshops”, IAT promotion and marketing plan
9. Proposed budget
   1. Outline of projected number of delegates, expected and forecast income and expenditure
   2. Estimate of delegate registration cost(s)
10. Name and contact details of convener(s), including telephone number, postal- and email address.

Please send your proposal as an attachment in both Microsoft Word and PDF format                             to the Adventure Therapy International Committee – Email:  

With the 9^th International Adventure Therapy Conference/3^rd Gathering of Adventure Therapy in Europe(9IATC/3GATE) less than a year away, we would now love to start receiving your abstracts for conference presentations and workshops. Due to the uncertainties regarding C-19, we will include the option of digital presentations. The conference will take place on Monday 20^th to Saturday 25^th of June 2022. We plan to start in the coastal town of Kristiansand and then midway through the conference move camps to the mountain village of Hovden, both locations within the Agder region of Southern Norway. There will be separate gatherings for the Adventure Therapy International Committee (ATIC) and Adventure Therapy Europe (ATE) the day before and the day after the conference. For more information visit: https://9iatc.internationaladventuretherapy.org/

Presentations and workshops
To ensure high quality presentations, all presenters are required to submit an abstract. We have four different formats to choose between, including the alternative of a digital presentation. These are:

• Head (25 min research presentation. Indoors/digital)
• Heart (40 min presentation/workshop on a topic that is practice-based and conceptual. Indoors/outdoors/digital)
• Hand (90 min workshop, experiential only or combining theory and practice. Outdoors/digital)
• Poster presentation (Original work that has not been presented previously)

Please complete the form on the conference page https://9iatc.internationaladventuretherapy.org/calls/ by Nov 15^th 2021 to submit your abstract. Presenters need to submit a 250 word abstract for review by a committee of international reviewers. Presenters will be notified of the acceptance (or otherwise) of their submission by Dec 15^th 2021.

Please note that while there is no limit on the number of abstracts you can submit, the Conference Program Committee will, where possible, limit the number of presentations by lead presenter to one. Acceptance or otherwise is at the discretion of the Conference Program Committee whose decision is final. The full set of abstracts will be made available to delegates in the conference program upon arrival. Presenters or accepted abstracts are required to register and pay to attend the Conference as a delegate for at least the day they are presenting. Acceptance of abstracts does not imply any payment or financial support from the Conference Committee.

Conference proceedings
In the event that there will be proceedings in book form, let us know whether you are interested in submitting a book chapter based on your conference presentation, by Nov 15^th 2021. Tentative deadline for submitting book chapter is Oct 31^th 2022.

Contact persons for presentations, workshops and proceedings:

Carina Ribe Fernee
Sørlandet Hospital

Sveinung Berntsen Stølevik
University of Agder

POSTPONING 9IATC

At the 8^th International Adventure Therapy Conference (8IATC) in Sydney, Australia, 2018, it was announced that the 9^th International Adventure Therapy Conference (9IATC) would be hosted by Norway in 2021. Soon after it was decided that the 3^rd Gathering for Adventure Therapy Europe (3GATE) would be co-hosted with 9IATC, thus becoming two conferences in one.

Over the last few months the Adventure Therapy International Committee (ATIC) and the ATIC co-chair team have been in close dialogue with the Norwegian Local Organizing Committee (LOC) regarding the ongoing pandemic and its influence on the planning and hosting of the conference.     For a while, the combination of a physical and a digital conference was considered. However, with the prospects for traveling and gathering of people not appearing likely over the year to come, the following decision was put forth by ATIC co-chairs and supported by committee members at the ATIC meeting on Zoom, Sept 3^rd 2020:

The 9^th International Adventure Therapy Conference (9IATC) is postponed until 2022. 

We will keep the triennial rotation, which means that the 10IATC will be hosted in 2025.

The present Adventure Therapy International Committee (ATIC) will be extended to a four-year period to cover this gap. In order to use the time period in-between conferences more efficiently, ATIC will divide into four working groups to fulfill ATIC’s mission:

“To promote and support collaboration, practice, research and development within the field of adventure therapy worldwide”

Adventure Therapy Europe will gather shortly to make their independent decision whether the 3GATE will also be postponed together with 9IATC or hosted separately.

More detailed information regarding the postponement of 9IATC and tentative dates for 2022 will be distributed from LOC via a newsletter and  the conference website:

If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to contact ATIC co-chair:

With the anticipation to meet as a community in Norway in 2022!

Amy Horn · Virginie Gargano · Carina Ribe Fernee · Stephan Natynczuk (ATIC co-chairs)

Adventure Therapy International Committee (ATIC) invites written proposals from interested parties wishing to host the Tenth International Adventure Therapy Conference (10IATC) in 2024

Proposals shall be received by ATIC by 1 Dec 2020 (see contact details below). The successful host will be decided in ATIC meeting on 4 Feb 2021 and will be expected to present plans for 10IATC during the ATIC pre-conference gathering on Sunday 20^th June 2021 in Kristiansand, Norway, and at the 9IATC itself.

Please use the following format for your proposal. Proposals are to be 3-4 pages in length (approx. 2000 words) and include the following information:

1. Information about the host committee
   1. List applicant’s credentials and history in event planning or plans to use event services.
   2. List key host committee members names and affiliations.
2. Resources of host group
   1. List sponsoring organization(s) and brief history, as well as allied/supporting organizations.
   2. Identify national AT networks or organizations
   3. List financial resources secured and proposed
3. The proposed location
   1. Identify specific town and region
   2. Describe benefits of, and access details for this location
   3. Identify any social-cultural-political-health risks associated with this location
4. The proposed venue
   1. Identify specific venue and its capacity
   2. Describe rationale for venue
5. Community resources to support the conference
   1. Describe community amenities relevant to hosting
   2. Describe potential for community engagement (e.g., local AT programs)
6. Consideration of carbon footprint
   1. Describe efforts to reduce waste and minimize environmental impacts
7. Possible theme(s) for the conference
   1. Describe how these theme(s) address current AT needs, issues and/or future direction
   2. Describe how these theme(s) will be enhanced by the host location, venue, and/or resources.
8. Outline processes for “Call for papers and workshops”, IAT promotion and marketing plan
9. Proposed budget
   1. Outline of projected number of delegates, expected and forecast income and expenditure
   2. Estimate of delegate registration cost(s)
10. Name and contact details of convener(s), including telephone number, postal- and email address.

Please send your proposal as an attachment in both Microsoft Word and PDF format                             to the Adventure Therapy International Committee – Email:  

With the 9^th International Adventure Therapy Conference/3^rd Gathering of Adventure Therapy in Europe(9IATC/3GATE) less than a year away, we would now love to start receiving your abstracts for conference presentations and workshops. Due to the uncertainties regarding C-19, we will include the option of digital presentations. The conference will take place on Monday 21^st to Friday 25^th of June 2021 on Odderøya island in the coastal town of Kristiansand in the Agder region of Southern Norway. There will be separate gatherings for the Adventure Therapy International Committee (ATIC) and Adventure Therapy Europe (ATE) the day before and the day after the conference. For more information and submission form visit: https://9iatc.internationaladventuretherapy.org/calls/

The International Committee have met and discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the 9th International Conference.  After discussing this with the country reps and the Local Organising Committee it has been decided that the conference will continue in Norway in June 2021.  We recognize that less people may be able to attend and every effort will be made to put content online so it as accessible as possible to people around the world.

https://9iatc.internationaladventuretherapy.org/

The attached flyer describes a one day conference in Italy on March 16th to develop understanding of working in the outdoors with young offenders and ‘NEETS’. (Let us know what NEETS are!)

There is no charge for the event. Here’s the Flyer

Here’s the next great event….

23rd to 25th June, 2017 in Dobogoko, about one hour from Budapest.

The past two annual Ösvény conferences have been a great success. The conferences are held in a comfortable hotel in the forest-clad mountains near Budapest and have a varied and very high quality program. The conferences are very affordable and have a friendly inclusive atmosphere.

The goal of the conference

Is to introduce – with the contribution of international and Hungarian lecturers and professionals – the approach, the methodology and the applications of experiential learning to the Hungarian professional audience, to decision makers and to the interested public.

The target group of the conference

Everybody who would like to get to know the theory and practice of experiential learning, or feels drawn to its values and would like to incorporate them into his or her practice with individuals or groups. The conference is mainly aimed at the following professional groups:Teachers, organizational development consultants, trainers, coaches, outdoor trainers, psychologists, therapists, social workers, high-rope course instructors, camp leaders, and other helping professionals.

For full details see http://tapasztalati-tanulas-konferencia.hu

Registrations are now open for the 2017 Australian Association for Bush Adventure Therapy (AABAT) National Forum. Come to the lush, green, picturesque Mount Macedon region of Victoria for a weekend of Bush Adventure Therapy education, workshops, and networking.

AABAT forums are inclusive, collaborative and experiential. They are designed for individuals both looking to explore this field of work, and for those who have many years of experience. So what are you waiting for? Get involved, share your stories, relax and immerse yourself!

Visit www.aabat.org.au for more details.
Questions? Send them to .