Friluftsliv--A Scandinavian Philosophy of Outdoor Life
by Christian Peters, German Sport University Cologne, October 12, 2007
American naturalist and environmentalist John Muir saw in nature "a mystical ability to inspire and refresh." "Climb the mountains and get their good tidings," he advised once. "Nature’s peace will flow into you as the sunshine into the trees. The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."
People in Europe’s beautiful north have not only a rational understanding of what Muir expressed, but live holistically with nature in their everyday routine. Some say in addition to, others say only because of their unique landscape, Scandinavians have a very special human-nature relationship.
And really, whenever you visit Scandinavian countries, you will soon realize that a high percentage of people move around in free nature. During winter time, parents--even with their only two-year-old children-- go skiing in a fantastic winter wonderland. Cross-country skiing is highly popular as an outdoor recreation activity. In the summer, nearly everybody in Norway, Sweden, and Finland hikes out to spend some time in the mountains where shelters wait for the tired and often nerve-shaken mountaineers.
In contrast to Americans and Germans, Scandinavians even have a word for their tradition of living with nature and in the outdoors. They call it "Friluftsliv." Coined by Henrik Ibsen, famous Norwegian writer, dramatist, and poet, the term "Friluftsliv" can not easily be translated into foreign languages. Translations like "Life beneath the stars," "Open Air life," "Life in (and with) nature," only approximate the holistic content of the term.
As a philosophy, "Friluftsliv" is deeply felt in Norway and Sweden, but has lately obtained a more superficial meaning as the commercialisation of outdoor activities has arisen in the last years. The philosophy and pedagogy of "Friluftsliv" functions in Scandinavia as well as in Germany at the German Sport University, (Cologne,) as an important philosophical instrument in the field of outdoor education. But Friluftsliv is different in many aspects, because it is mainly focused on the physical activity in nature and not on the pedagogical and educational implication created by an outdoor experience.
"Friluftsliv" is the lived experience in the outdoors, being out in free nature all day and night long. It concerns an aspiration towards a genuine meeting face-to-face: nature in its primacy, as it genuinely is! This quality of experience is unfettered by an aggressive human agenda of conquest or study of nature as "other", or nature as a cultural construction. "Friluftsliv" is a quality of practical knowledge through which guides and students come to understand and experience a particular spirit of connectedness.
While there is a big difference between the week-long "apprenticeship" of the canoe or snowshoe trip (whether in the Alps, the Adirondacks or the Norwegian "Fjell") and full-time habitation, "Friluftsliv" as a principal tradition for outdoor education seeks this seeping of nature into one's bones and thus remains an apprenticeship for how to do well in nature. Home with nature is home with a quietly celebrated, respected presence, not an awe-struck spirit of worshipped otherness. The tonic of "Friluftsliv" is for a nature that gets under one's skin, solidifying in our being.
Another important factor deeply anchored in the cultural roots of the Scandinavian society should definitely not be forgotten when talking about Friluftsliv: the exclusiv tradition of "Allmannsrtt." "Allemansrtt" in Scandinavia means everyone's right to move freely in nature, pick mushrooms, flowers and berries, within certain restrictions. It is an important basic element in the "Friluftsliv" tradition and is not a law but could be seen as the "free space" between various restrictions.
For example, it is allowed to camp for not more than 24 hours, to bathe, to traverse any area, lake or river, to light a fire, etc. if none of the restrictions mentioned above is endangered.
A close linkage between outdoor life and philosophical and political perspectives has always been existent troughout history. Maybe these thoughts and ideas can function as important catalysts to chance society’s mind about conservation. The Norwegian "ecosophers/ecophilosophers" Naess, Kvalmy, and Faarlund have been heavily involved in environmental actions and environmental ethics (like Aldo Leopold in North America), and have also pointed to "Friluftsliv" as inspiration.
With regard to "Friluftsliv," the German teachers Lagerström and Buschmann outline five principles for a responsible outdoor life from an ethical and ecological perspective:
1. respect for all life;
2. "identification" with life and landscape;
3. minimization of the stress upon the cycle of nature;
4. natural lifestyle (using local and natural resources for equipment);
5. including enough time for adaptation.
Conservationist Sigurd Olson, reflecting on the north woods, sought the lived experience of "Friluftsliv" in nature as a listening to the wisdom of the stillness, touching the external rhythms of the water and land, discovering the harmony of the natural order. Developing through this lived experience, he sought a personal philosophy, what can be called an ecosophy with which he developed a personal rhythm, stillness, and touch for life with nature. The lived experience of "Friluftsliv" is a living "with" one's place, rather than an agenda of "against," "over," or "through" as one's dominant expression of relationship. It is a particular kind of meeting.
Even today, Friluftsliv in Scandinavia still plays an outstanding role in society. As an everyday routine it helps people to keep their life balanced, to replenish and to relax. "Life in the Outdoors" is the antipode to their often stressful and hard work and makes life more enjoyable. It seems that people in Norway, Swede, and Finland intuitively knew and made part of their culture what John Muir meant when he said: "Wildness is a necessity. Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home…"
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