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Risk Management for Outdoor & Experiential Education: 
A School-Wide Approach

An NWAIS workshop series of four 90-minute workshops and asynchronous resources to explore how school leaders and board members can utilize practical lessons to build a culture of safety and manage risk in outdoor and experiential programs.

Monday, January 11, 2027  (9:00AM-10:30AM PT / 10:00AM-11:30AM MT )

Monday, January 25, 2027 (9:00AM-10:30AM PT /  10:00AM-11:30AM MT)

Monday, February 8, 2027 (9:00AM-10:30AM PT /  10:00AM-11:30AM MT)

Audience

This interactive workshop series is designed for Heads of School, Trustees, Risk Managers, Business Managers, and Outdoor and Experiential Program Directors and Leads. The sessions will be especially valuable for teams attending together who want shared language and a coordinated plan.

Course Description

When a school has a shared vision and clear lines of communication, risks can be identified and managed more effectively. Risk Management consultants from Experiential Consulting, LLC are offering a four-part series for NWAIS schools, building on concepts from their new book, Safety Science for Outdoor & Experiential Education. Used as an outline for the course, Safety Science, distills a century of safety management research into a coherent approach full of practical lessons learned for school leaders and board members.

Although Safety Science is focused on safety management for experiential education, one of the its central themes is building organizational culture and systems based on a school-wide approach. Safety emerges from teamwork, structures and relationships that enhance capacity and continuously improve.

Note: Each session builds on the last, so attending the full series will give you the most powerful results.

Key Outcomes

By the end of the series, participants will learn to:

• Foster a shared vision for the role of risk in your programs
• Create consistency around metrics that matter
• Build trust and teamwork around learning from incidents and near-misses
  

Program Format & Description

The course will have both synchronous and asynchronous components, including access to a rich array of virtual resources and four live workshop sessions. Program components include: 

Safety Science Resources

Participants will receive relevant chapters from their new book (included within our online learning platform) along with a workbook for them to apply the key concepts to their own school.

Online Learning Activities

Participants will have access to our online learning platform which includes podcasts, videos, quizzes and online activities to crystallize and deepen their learning about the concepts in the book.

Four 90-Minute Workshop Sessions

Participants will gather together for four sessions to apply the concepts from the book and online activities to their own workplace, and collaboratively learn alongside the Experiential Consulting facilitators.

Session 1: Monday, January 11, 2027

Foundations: Lessons Learned From the Past Century of Safety Management

Session 2: Monday, January 25, 2027 

A New View: A Positive, Capacity-based Approach to Safety Management

Session 3: Monday, February 1,  2027 

Culture: What Do We Mean By “Safety Culture” And How Do We Measure It?

Session 4: Monday, February 8,  2027 

Applications: Participants Reflect On And Share on Lessons Learned From The Class and Next Steps For Their Own Institutions

About Our Facilitators: Steve Smith, and Gates Richards, Experiential Consulting, LLC

Steve Smith (Founder, Experiential Consulting LLC) has worked in outdoor education programs for over 30 years and founded Experiential Consulting in 2008. Since then he has worked with NWAIS schools, among others, as a risk management consultant. 

His career has included leadership roles with organizations including Outward Bound and The Student Conservation Association. Steve served as the Chair of the Wilderness Risk Management Conference (WRMC) for three years (2014 - 2016). He has served on various organizations' accreditation review and risk management programs, including the Gap Year Association and The Association for Experiential Education.

He has a master's degree in teaching English, along with years of university-level teaching experience, and earned a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification from the Society for Human Resources Management, all of which help him view outdoor education through a variety of educational and administrative lenses.  

Smith is the primary author and editor of Beneficial Risks and Safety Science for Outdoor & Experiential Education as well as the host of an outdoor risk management podcast. He lives in Langley, Washington and loves exploring the Pacific Northwest and beyond.   

Gates Richards (Operations Director and Associate Consultant, Experiential Consulting, LLC) has been involved in outdoor education and EMS since the early 90's. Over the years he's worked outdoor programming throughout the Rockies, Pacific Northwest and Alaska as a field instructor and supervisor for several outdoor programs.  He's worked urban EMS in DC, WA, CO and WY.  Gates is also an active member of the Fremont County Search and Rescue team in Lander, WY. 

Gates began teaching for NOLS Wilderness Medicine in 1998 and has been awarded the Wilderness Medical Society's Warren Bowman award for contributions to wilderness medicine by a non-physician as well as the National Collegiate EMS Foundation's Distinguished Service Award. He is the former NOLS Wilderness Medicine Associate Director. 

Gates has a passion for understanding how people make decisions, and how to improve that process. Gates, his wife and their children live in Lander, WY where they can be found running, hiking, skiing and fishing. But not at the same time.

Registration 

Registration is NOW OPEN

Pricing

* Links to recordings will remain active for one month following each session.

Cancellation

Substitutions may be made any time prior to the workshop. Written cancellations received before the start of the course are eligible for a refund after a $50 cancellation fee.