Erä- ja luonto-oppaan ammattitutkinto, International Wilderness Guide program

The wilderness guide will plan and carry out safely different kinds of outdoor tours in all the seasons of the year. He will take notions of the sustainability of nature, and the physical abilities of his customers, as well as their social and cultural background. He will give a talk to his customers on the nature of his province, its people, livelihoods, and history.

The aim of the program is to train the students to take the Nature and Wilderness Guide's Professional Examination and to create an international co-operation network as early as possible during their studies. This will help the students to create their own businesses after they achieve their Diploma. In addition, the development of language skills in English is an essential aim of their studies. The work language on the program is English.

Content of the program
The essential topics of the program are, among other things, wilderness skills, nature and tourism, entrepreneurship and marketing skills, customer service and knowledge of human nature, knowledge of culture and a specialization topic. For more detailed information see Program handbook.

Become a canoeing star
The program includes a canoeing period of two weeks. Students can pass the canoe handling skills tests - 2 or 3 stars - of the British Canoe Union (BCU). The tests can be performed both in canoes and kayaks. The best part of this period is still to come: everybody does the safety test of BCU, which is very highly ranked by paddlers worldwide.

Real expeditions - real survival
During their studies the students of the International Wilderness Guide course will have to plan and implement nature and wilderness expeditions. The backbone of our journeys is a solid safety plan. The standard of these expeditions will rise towards to the end of the course, and in the end they should get through of the given tasks independently, without the help from supervisors. Different survival methods and skills are thus thoroughly practiced.

The course will give a unique possibility to visit remote wilderness areas in Finland and Russia. Good example is the Paanajärvi National Park in Karelia, Russia. This vast and mostly untouched wilderness is a perfect place for challenging expeditions.

IWG expeditions

• in the autumn, two weeks’ hiking trip to Russia
• in February, a snowmobile assisted ski trip for two weeks´in Lapland
• in April "The Bear ski". It´s a solo cross-country skiing trek for nine days in the forests of Lapland
• in May, a canoe trip on river Jongunjoki and Ruunaa rapids in Eastern Finland
• in June, one week trip to the Archipelago of Baltic Sea to explore plant and bird life

For expeditions, the students will be split balanced into groups or teams for planning and execution. Collaborative teamwork is the process by which any individual student's weaknesses will be strengthened. And, of course, individual strengths continue to grow at the same time.
IWG is widely known on Finnish labour market. Our former students are working as guides in sledge dog-, snowmobile- and farm tourism business. And of course many of them are working as all-round Wilderness Guides in Finland, Russia - well, the truth is that except for Antarctica there are IWG-members working in each continent.

Home pages of our former students:

http://www.timcopejourneys.com/
http://www.balticpiketours.org/
http://www.bearhillhusky.com/
http://www.fascination-lappland.com/

Costs
Course fee is 300 euros, professional examination fee is 58 euros. Accommodation in the College's dormitory cost 95 euros/month, deposit of the dormitory key 50 euros.

Applying
Next available course starts 12th of August 2013. Application time ends 9th of May 2013.

Applying for the course
Fill in and send your application form.

Selection of the students
16 students will be admitted. The final selection is made after an interview.

Further information
Mr Timo Järvenpää, Tel. +358 40 539 4750, first name.surname@tampere.fi.

Location
Tampere College campus in Kuru, Ylöjärvi: Metsätie 1, FIN-34300 Kuru.