Urban exploration

• Urban outdoor activities can take many forms. Near cities and municipalities, there are often familiar and worthwhile natural areas, such as forests, waterways, rocks, and viewpoints.
• The excursion destination can also be a location in the city center. A lesser-known neighborhood? A walking route that is not usually used? A park area? A library a bit farther away? Somewhere you have always wanted to visit but never got around to?
• Explore the locations and choose the one that best fits the moment.
• Bring a packed lunch. Plan and prepare good excursion food for yourselves and strengthen group cohesion already at this stage.
• Pack your backpacks and enjoy!

Examples of well-tested urban excursion exercises:

• Listening: Explore the soundscape at different locations. Listen to the overall environment. Focus on sounds in the distance and sounds nearby.
• “I was here”: Since ancient times, people have wanted to leave their mark on places (toilet graffiti existed in antiquity!). Leave traces respectfully (without disturbing, drawing in inappropriate places, or damaging anything) using natural materials found on-site.
•  Meeting people: Make eye contact with passersby and smile. Then discuss as a group what thoughts the experience evoked.
• Counting exercise: How many living beings do you see on the way from point A to point B?
• Pair observation: Divide the group into pairs who walk in an agreed-upon area. One person describes everything they observe while the other listens and observes the same things. Then switch roles. Discuss how people notice and pay attention to different things.
• Touch sense training: Explore your body in relation to other materials. Sit, lie, or stand against a tree, the ground, a stone bench, or a building wall. How do different materials feel?
• Color with chalk: Add color to asphalt or other gray surfaces, e.g., by depicting
  trees, plants, or shadows.
• “Resistance”: Find and document places where natural forces “overcome” human-made objects (e.g., plants growing through pavement). Photograph the places and present them to the group.
• Symbol series: Look for letters and/or numbers in nature and photograph them in order (e.g., 1–10 or A–Z). Some symbols can be human-made, some natural, and some made with materials found in the environment. Choose a specific letter or number, or try to find them in sequence.
• Color bingo: Search together for a predetermined color. Finding colors is especially fun during the colorless and gray late autumn season! Conclude, for example, by creating a social media post as a photo collage.