New Charity Initiative Aims to Get More Young People into Nature
Adventurer Sören Kjellkvist launches a charity initiative called Äventyrliga dagen (Adventure Day) to help young people discover nature and its health benefits.
Adventurer Sören Kjellkvist is now launching a charity initiative called Äventyrliga dagen (Adventure Day). The purpose of the initiative, done together with Friluftsfrämjandet (the Swedish Outdoor Association) and Bergans of Norway, is to get more young people to discover nature and its health-promoting effects.
The idea behind Äventyrliga dagen is to take young people who have or have had a tough and challenging everyday life out into nature on an adventure lasting a full 24 hours. The initiative targets young people ages 15-25 with some form of life challenge who need inspiration, motivation, or a breathing space from their situation.
– I want to create a lasting memory and give these young people insight into the freedom and happiness that outdoor life offers. I want to show that nature is there for everyone. That we can experience, travel, enjoy, and move freely thanks to the rights and responsibilities of the Right of Public Access. Nature has a healing and life-affirming influence that everyone should get to experience, says Sören Kjellkvist.
Sören Kjellkvist will organize Äventyrliga dagar around Sweden. Participants are selected through application or nomination. To continue practicing outdoor life after participating in the adventure, each participant receives their own exclusive outdoor starter kit, which they learn to use and master during Äventyrliga dagen. The idea is that the initiative can also serve as a gateway to outdoor life, not just for participants but also for other groups in society. In parallel, Friluftsfrämjandet will also launch an initiative together with their TVM Adventure Groups to reach even more people.
Sören Kjellkvist is the adventurer who in 2013 paddled around the entire Norwegian coast without brought food or money. The intent was to highlight that the same adventure is no longer feasible in the Baltic Sea, as the fish there contains far too high levels of environmental toxins. The following year, he rowed from Stockholm to Russia to bring attention to the question of gender equality.
