Ten Principles
These are the principles that Àban is built on.
Strong Relationships Matter. A few close friendships are worth more than a hundred online followers. Real adventures create lifelong bonds.
We Value the Person Inside, Not How You Look. Image, fashion and appearance are irrelevant when you’re outdoors.
Mastery. Carefully crafted challenges build on, and extend, your existing skills and knowledge.
Uncertainty. Outcomes need to be dependent on your decisions and actions. We give you time to accept responsibility and make choices.
Too Much Risk Inhibits Learning. We give you the chance to experience real autonomy. Risk & challenge progresses in line with your individual skills and experience.
Place-Based Learning. The Highlands are not just an arena for our outdoor adventures. We learn about the local environment and care about our local communities. We go to more distant and remote venues only when you are ready.
Real Adventures Don’t Cost the Earth. We use good quality second hand clothing & equipment, and we teach you how to maintain and repair it. This breaks the cycle of non-stop consumer culture.
We Lend a Hand. Having time and ability to go on adventures is a privilege. We have a responsibility to help our community in any way we can.
We Leave no Trace. We will leave our natural environment in a better state than we found it.
Thrills are Short Term. One-off outdoor adrenaline experiences may be fun but don’t lead to the same deep learning as authentic adventure.
Want to find out more? Our approach to the outdoors is inspired by the excellent work of Simon Beames & Mike Brown at www.adventurouslearning.org. We are also indebted to Simon Love (former Head of Outdoor Learning at Erskine Stewart's Melville Schools) for his excellent interpreting Adventurous Learning & showing the rest of us how to put it into action.
We are working with Jerome Mayaud to help us better understand and develop our social impact. Jerome has over a decade of experience in measuring and reporting on impact across business, academia and government. He currently leads the Data Science team at a sustainable mobility technology startup.