Risk Management for Outdoor Programs
Online Training Course for Outdoor Professionals
September 6 – October 4, 2023

Dates
September 6 – October 4, 2023

The course is a combination of five real-time video-conference sessions, spaced one week apart, and independent work periods between live sessions.

Five live online sessions:

Wednesday, Sep 6, 11:00 a.m. UTC-4
Wednesday, Sep 13, 11:00 a.m. UTC-4
Wednesday, Sep 20, 11:00 a.m. UTC-4
Wednesday, Sep 27, 11:00 a.m. UTC-4
Wednesday, Oct 4, 11:00 a.m. UTC-4

Note that live sessions will always be at 11:00 am Singapore time. You may need to adjust due to daylight savings, depending on your region.

Independent individual and group work occurs between live sessions.

Outcomes

Gain critical knowledge of best practices in outdoor program risk management
Learn procedures, systems, and plans essential to meeting key outdoor safety standards
Understand how to apply successful risk management strategies to adventure programs, experiential education, wilderness expeditions, and outdoor trips

Valuable for
Program Coordinators/Managers, Risk Management officers, Risk Management/Safety Committee members, members of Boards of Directors, executive leadership.

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Course Format
The course is composed of five live video-conference sessions and three independent work periods:

1. Live sessions. Five live, video-conference sessions, occurring the same day and time each week, for five consecutive weeks.  These include structured real-time small-group and large-group discussions and participant project presentations.
2. Independent work. Between live video-conferences, there are four-week-long independent work periods for individual and remote small-group activity. This work includes:

• ​Review of pre-recorded slide presentations with presenter video
• Completion of readings
• Participation in online discussion forums
• Participation in interactive video-based decision-making activities
• Completion of writing assignments (including writing risk management plan outline and strategic improvement plan content)
• Peer review of select classmate writing content
• Completion of organizational self-assessment of risk management
• Completion of online worksheets
• Participation in online risk decision-making role-playing scenario
• Structured analysis of case-study examples
• Completion of quizzes and final exam

Independent work is anticipated to take a minimum of 10-12 hours per week.

Trainer/Facilitator
Jeff Baierlein, Director, Viristar; past Executive Director at Outward Bound USA

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Language
English

Course fee includes five live sessions, materials for independent work sessions, lifetime access to an electronic, online-based copy of the course textbook Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure, and certification.

Textbook
The course textbook is Risk Management for Outdoor Programs: A Guide to Safety in Outdoor Education, Recreation and Adventure (https://courses.viristar.com/book/). This 218-page text is provided to each student in electronic online-based format.

​Certification
Participants take four short quizzes throughout the course and a final written exam. Individuals who fully participate in learning activities and successfully complete the final exam receive a certificate from Viristar valid for three years.

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Previous Participants Say:

• “Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor Programs course is intensive, thought-provoking, and designed to make one critically think about the adequacy of the existing risk management…useful for both novices as well as seasoned practitioners.” Syed Ismail, Assistant Director (Training) & Master Instructor, Outward Bound Singapore
• “This was a really beneficial course…it’s given me the language I needed to deepen my understanding of risk management.” Kate Johnston, Outdoor Education Specialist, United World Colleges, Southeast Asia
• “Viristar’s Risk Management for Outdoor programs course is the most comprehensive risk management course I have completed…Highly recommended.” Phil Austen-Smith, Expedition & remote programs facilitator/trainer, Oman