CEFEO INTERNATIONAL

IDENTITY AND MISSION

CEFEO (Research Center on Outdoor and Experiential Education and Training) is an interdisciplinary research center interested in the study, evaluation and experimentation of issues related to nature-based activities in the educational, training and therapeutic areas, which take place in the following fields:

• educational and social work (not in schools, but in extracurricular programs) in particular starting from preadolescence: prevention in vulnerable conditions or marginality; promotion of psychosocial wellbeing, empowerment and development of life skills; harm-reduction for individuals in vulnerable conditions; educational programs for people with disabilities; street education;
• adult education: professional and/or company training; University training; educational proposals in the social private sector, in associations and in voluntary organizations aiming at the development of soft skills;
• training programs for groups in the professional, educational and social contexts aimed at team building, leadership, conflict management, communication and relational skills;
• therapeutic work: rehabilitation projects for individuals and/or groups with specific psychopathologies, using experiential and outdoor methodologies.

The main characteristics of the Center are its interdisciplinarity and its strong involvement of non-University professionals. CEFEO works with academic staff and non-academic experts on issues of nature-based education and training. The aim of this collaboration is to integrate knowledge and skills deriving from different disciplines, such as Pedagogy (General, Social and Special Pedagogy) and Psychology (Social, Developmental, General and Clinical/Dynamic Psychology), with the experiences carried out in the field by practitioners and their organizations (public or private ones).

CEFEO collaborates with the Research Center on Outdoor Education of the Department of Sciences for Quality of Life (QUVI) of the University of Bologna, and with other national and international partners.

PURPOSES OF THE CENTER

• To promote and organize scientific research, experimentation, dissemination and documentation in the field of nature-based education and training;

• To promote and organize the collaboration between researchers and practitioners, in order to develop methods and tools for research and evaluation of educational, training and therapeutic interventions that use nature-based methodologies;

• To promote the internationalization of the Center, connecting it with other Universities, associations, national and international agencies of the field;

• To experiment and promote vocational training courses in the area of nature-based education and training;

• To contribute to the dissemination of experiences, experiments and interventions carried out by CEFEO, especially to:

       -practitioners in the educational, training and therapeutic areas with the aim to promote the culture and the habit of using the natural environment and the experiential approach as an educational medium;

       -students attending degree courses in the fields of Education and Psychology;

       -students and teachers of other school grades (in particular secondary schools).

RESEARCH

CEFEO’s main research objectives are:

       1) Mapping and monitoring Italian nature-based experiential and outdoor projects in the following areas:

• educational programs addressed to individuals and communities aiming at: preventing psychosocial risk, promoting psychosocial well-being and empowerment; promoting health education; promoting the respect of the natural environment; supporting the socialization process and the development of autonomy in people with disabilities or social disadvantages;
• training of young people and adults for the acquisition of technical and relational skills useful for work;
• therapeutic projects aimed at the rehabilitative treatment of psychopathologies involving individuals and communities (e.g. drug addiction, food issues, mental disorders in general).

       2) Designing and implementing research activities with the purpose of assessing the quality and effectiveness of the educational, training and therapeutic interventions listed above. Therefore, the development and implementation of research tools (observation grids, questionnaires, interviews, etc.) will be essential. 

       3) Experimenting and evaluating innovative nature-based experiential education programs. 

       4) Organizing seminars, conferences and public events; scientific publications; realizing media productions (films, shorts films, etc.).

       5) Strengthening and expanding national and international partnerships with other academic and/or non-academic entities interested in nature-based education and training.

RECENT AND CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

Ongoing: "InnovEd-SOLAR-Youth: The Evaluation of Innovative Educational Solutions for At-Risk Youth in France, Germany, Italy, and Lithuania" (Erasmus+ Project pending approval)

Ongoing: "Effects of Nature-Based Experiences on Gut Microbiota and Psychophysical Well-Being" in collaboration with the Microbiome Science and Biotechnology Unit Research Center

Ongoing: "Longitudinal Study on the Sailing Therapy Project of the Centofiori Cooperative, Rimini" (see publication below).

2020-2023: "Monitoring of Evaluation Practices in Nature-Based Educational, Therapeutic, and Training Projects" (see publications below).

2020: "Effects of the Pandemic on Nature-Based Educational, Therapeutic, Training, and Recreational Projects" (see publication below).

2018-2020: "Green Empowerment: Garden Therapy with Neurorehabilitation Patients" (see publication below).

2018-2019: "The State of the Art of Nature-Based Projects in the Educational, Training, Therapeutic, and Recreational Fields in Italy: A Mapping Study" (see publications below).

PUBLICATIONS

2025

Borelli, C. (2025). The future is ecotransfeminist, posthuman and decolonial (or it’s not). Women & Education, 3(5), 90-95. https://doi.org/10.7346/-we-III-05-25_17

2024

Gigli, A., & Borelli, C. (2024). Naturalmente connessi: prospettive di educazione esperienziale e nature-based. Edizioni Junior. https://cris.unibo.it/handle/11585/982375

Borelli, C. (2024). In cammino con adolescenti "difficili": trekking e avventura come dispositivi educativi nella marginalità sociale. FrancoAngeli. https://series.francoangeli.it/index.php/oa/catalog/book/1227 

Gigli, A., Melotti, G., Borelli, C., Galiazzo, M., Segato, N., & Finocchiaro, G. (2024). Adolescents on the move: the application of an integrated model for documentation and evaluation of “Back Into The Wild” adventure education project aimed at promoting psychophysical and relational well-being. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2024.2366918

Borelli, C. (2024). Spunti per un’educazione "ecologica", tra dilatazione del campo d’esperienza e frammenti di quotidianità. In: M. Cagol, A. Ferrante (a cura di), Muoversi tra le cose: pedagogia ecologica e relazionalità (pp. 57-64). Zeroseiup. https://cris.unibo.it/handle/11585/995113?mode=simple

Borelli, C. (2024). Sulla necessità di lenti intersezionali nell'ambito dell'educazione nature-based. In: B. Gross, S. Nanni (a cura di), Dall'io al noi. I contributi della Pedagogia per futuri (post)umani (pp. 171 - 178), Zeroseiup. https://cris.unibo.it/handle/11585/967974?mode=simple 

2023

Melotti, G, Borelli, C., Gigli, A., Boffa, E., Ambrosani, A., & D'Alessio M. (2023). Sailing Away the Pain: Evaluating an Adventure Sailing Therapy Program for Adults Living in a Drug Rehabilitation Center. International Journal of Adventure Therapy, 1. https://journal-adventure-therapy.com/product/sailing-away-the-pain-evaluating-an-adventure-sailing-therapy-program-for-adults-living-in-a-drug-rehabilitation-center/

Borelli, C. (2023). Educare alle Life Skills attraverso pratiche di Adventure Education: un’opportunità per i NEET e i/le giovani in situazione di marginalità o a rischio di ritiro sociale. In: M. Fabbri, P. Malavasi, A. Rosa, I. Vannini (a cura di), Sistemi Educativi, Orientamento, Lavoro (atti di convegno) (pp. 29-31). Pensa Multimedia. https://cris.unibo.it/retrieve/9abfd8ed-8f37-4604-b408-83a26b73f11e/Borelli%20Atti%20Siped%202023.pdf

2022

Borelli C., Gigli A., & Melotti G. (2022). Il rapporto tra esseri umani e natura ai tempi del Covid-19: orizzonti di possibilità e nuove problematicità nell’ambito dell’educazione esperienziale nature-based. In: L. Dozza, & C. Cardinaletti (a cura di), Questa è l'outdoor education: un laboratorio di Pedagogia itinerante (pp. 89-97). Zeroseiup. https://cris.unibo.it/handle/11585/828105

Gigli, A., Borelli, C., & Scarpini, M. (2022). Esperienze nature-based, pedagogia del corpo e pratiche filosofiche: aspetti teorici e metodologici per gli interventi educativi in situazioni di emergenza. In: G. Annacontini, A. Vaccarelli, E. Zizioli (a cura di), Sesto Atto. Prospettive per una Pedagogia dell’Emergenza (pp. 190-200). Progedit. https://cris.unibo.it/handle/11585/911948?mode=simple 

2021 

Borelli, C. (2021). Anticorpi pedagogici 2. Il corpo e la natura al centro della scena educativa. In: A. Gigli (a cura di). Oltre l'emergenza. Sguardi pedagogici su infanzia, famiglie, servizi educativi e scolastici nel Covid-19 (pp. 212-219). Edizioni Junior-Bambini. https://cris.unibo.it/handle/11585/811412

Borelli, C. (2021). La nostra relazione con la natura: dalle cause dell’attuale pandemia agli orizzonti di possibilità quanto mai inattuali dell’educazione esperienziale nature based. In: A. Gigli (a cura di). Oltre l'emergenza. Sguardi pedagogici su infanzia, famiglie, servizi educativi e scolastici nel Covid-19 (pp. 118-129). Edizioni Junior-Bambini. https://cris.unibo.it/handle/11585/811395 

2020

Gigli, A. (2020). Il contributo della pedagogia nei progetti «Green empowerment» in contesti ospedalieri: riflessioni per un’ottica interdisciplinare nelle pratiche nature-based. Journal of Health Care Education in Practice, 2, 13-25. https://dx.doi.org/10.14658/pupj-jhcep-2020-2-2

Borelli C., Gigli A., & Melotti G. (2020). The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Italian Nature-Based Programs in the Educational, Therapeutic, Training and Leisure Areas. Education Sciences, 10, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10120394

Melotti G., Gigli A., & Borelli C. (2020). Lo stato dell’arte dei progetti nature-based in ambito educativo, formativo, terapeutico e ricreativo in Italia: i dati di una ricerca di mappatura, Formazione & Insegnamento, 18(2), 210-226. https://doi.org/10.7346/-fei-XVIII-02-20_18

Gigli A., Melotti G., & Borelli C. (2020). Lo stato dell’arte dei progetti nature-based in ambito educativo, formativo, terapeutico e ricreativo in Italia: quadro concettuale e una possibile categorizzazione dei settori/contesti. Formazione & Insegnamento, 18(1), 77-91. https://doi.org/10.7346/-fei-XVIII-01-20_08 

2019

Gigli, A. (2019). L’adventure education nel lavoro socio-educativo: riflessioni pedagogiche ed esperienze. In: Farné R., Bortolotti A., Terrusi M. (a cura di), Outdoor Education: prospettive teoriche e buone pratiche (pp. 119-138), Carocci. https://cris.unibo.it/handle/11585/656083?mode=simple

Melotti, G., Cani, D. (2019). L'educatore prende il largo: la barca a vela come laboratorio di formazione. In Farné R., Bortolotti A., Terrusi M. (a cura di), Outdoor education: prospettive teoriche e buone pratiche (pp. 241-264), Carocci. https://cris.unibo.it/handle/11585/669829

Monti, F., Farné, R., Crudeli, F., Agostini, F., Minelli, M., & Ceciliani, A. (2019). The role of Outdoor Education in child development in Italian nursery schools. Early Child Development and Care, 189 (6), 867-882. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2017.1345896

2018

Gigli, A. (2018). Educare “fuori”: strategie integrate di lavoro di strada, sviluppo di comunità e adventure education. In L. Dozza, & L. Cerrocchi (a cura di), Contesti educativi per il sociale (pp. 309-317). Franco Angeli. https://cris.unibo.it/handle/11585/656079

Agostini, F., Minelli, M., & Mandolesi, R. (2018). Outdoor Education in Italian kindergartens: How teachers perceive child developmental trajectories. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1911. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01911 

CONTACTS

edu.cefeo@unibo.it