A new out-of-office experience

That was the call from dr. Koen Arts to his FNP colleagues, five of whom responded on a wintry morning on 8 November. At 9 am, with a temperature of 6°C, the group of six moved out of their offices in Gaia and walked five minutes to the venue.

The ‘classroom’ has no internet, electricity, toilets, heating, desks or desk chairs. The participants had their fully-charged laptops, note books and hard copy texts.

On site, they made a small campfire with some firewood in a fire pan. While four of them stayed close by, two shunned even this little bit of comfort and ventured further off.

“It took me some time to settle in and go past the initial excitement of working outside,” says Lorenz Schimetka, a PhD candidate. “But after a while, I felt that the setup certainly had benefits for my creativity and productivity.”

At 10:30 am, they took a break and had hot tea and snacks, after which they began their second stint of working, even though it got cold again after the firewood burned out somewhat. At noon, the group headed back to their offices.

“I found the experience rewarding,” says Ravi van de Port, a junior lecturer and PhD candidate who co-organised the event with Koen. “You push at the limits of your comfort zone, and it’s good to challenge yourself sometimes. It makes you appreciate the modern comforts of central heating and an adjustable desk chair when you return to the office very much!”

“As FNP’ers, we shine in writing about humans and nature,” says Koen. “What happens if we start writing as humans in nature; will we shine even more?”

Baiah binte Mat Yacoob says that this experience was ‘excellent for stimulating her brain’. She managed to understand a text which had confused her before. She also had the chance to get feedback from her peers. “I've worked in office buildings surrounded by huge trees or in forested areas dominated by the Dryobalanops aromatica. While working there, I was able to produce various publications. I believe a view of green areas and natural surroundings helps me be more productive.”

Ravi: “I have written in nature before, and the kind of focus you are able to achieve without the distractions of your phone, wifi, sounds of people and traffic, etc. is incredible!”

While the others took with them camping chairs and blankets to sit on, and had put on layers of clothes, socks, gloves and head wear, Baiah – coming from hot and humid tropical Malaysia two months ago – was not well prepared for the cold of working outdoors at this time of year. Besides warm clothes, she did not take with her anything else. Neither did she have gloves. “In the last 30 minutes of the activity, I started to feel stress because it was getting colder; I made the mistake of putting out the campfire too early, my hands were freezing, and I needed a toilet badly! Despite these, I enjoyed the experience very much!”

Baiah often participated in outdoor activities in Malaysia, such as picnicking by waterfalls and rivers, camping overnight in the forest, or conducting activities in nature while moving about, but it was the first time she did stationary work in this ‘out-of-office in-to-nature’ environment, which she plans to continue doing in future when she returns to her country.

Lorenz has done writing in nature before this event but: “It was too cold to write effectively, so I decided to read mostly.”

Ravi: “After sitting for a while, I did start to feel cold and stiff, and would encourage some movement breaks throughout the morning next time. We made a fire and sat next to it, which gave the experience a lovely community feeling.”

Rianne Kat, another junior lecturer and PhD candidate, decided to tackle her emails and sent them via a hotspot on her phone. Rianne laughed it off when asked if that was considered ‘cheating’. She also brought articles to read and wrote notes on a note pad. She had with her a sleeping bag and a thick reindeer skin from Koen to keep warm. “I looked forward to spending a day in a very different way,” she says. “I do go to write on the banks of the River Rhine in summer, and to other favourite spots as well, but never in the winter, so when the announcement came up, I said: Great!”

Except when it rains – unless there is a shelter overhead – everyone interviewed would do this again.

Baiah: “I will definitely participate again, but I will be better prepared!”

The outdoor classroom is located beside Droevendaal. A date has already been scheduled for a second out-of-office in-to-nature meeting: Tuesday 10 December. If you want to join this, contact Koen.