Executive Education for Camp and School Leadership

Camp Education Leadership Institute — Inaugural Cohort

Shanghai, China • Spring 2027

For senior leaders shaping the future of camp education.

Camp Education International (CEI) is developing the inaugural Camp Education Leadership Institute — Shanghai, a four-day residential executive education experience for accomplished camp directors, owners, executives, and youth-development leaders.

A small international cohort from China, across Asia, and around the world will come together for intensive learning, practical application, peer exchange, and experiential education.

Participants who successfully complete the Institute will earn the:

Executive Certificate in Camp Education Leadership

For this inaugural Shanghai Institute, the credential will be issued by Camp Education International (CEI), in partnership with Oriental Land as a host organization. Shanghai is intended to be the first location in a broader CEI model for bringing senior leaders together around the world to advance the practice and leadership of Camp Education.

Why CEI?

Camp Education International exists to help the world better understand, design, and strengthen the education that happens through camp.

Camp practitioners have spent generations helping young people develop confidence, independence, belonging, resilience, leadership, practical skills, and the ability to live and work with others.

CEI builds upon that accumulated knowledge by providing the field with shared language, practical frameworks, professional learning, and an international community through which the work can continue to grow.

Participants in the Institute will learn through CEI-developed curriculum and frameworks, work directly with CEI faculty, and join a growing international network of leaders advancing Camp Education.

What Is Camp Education?

Camp Education is a developmental framework that uses experience, community, challenge, and reflection to help individuals become capable, connected, resilient, and thriving.

CEI's work builds upon generations of camp practice while providing leaders with practical frameworks for understanding, designing, and strengthening the developmental experiences already happening within their programs.

The Institute will connect this emerging framework with the accumulated knowledge and experience of leaders from different countries, cultures, and camp traditions.

Who Is the Institute For?

The Camp Education Leadership Institute is designed for experienced professionals with significant leadership responsibility.

Ideal participants may include:

Camp owners and executive leaders
Camp directors
Senior camp administrators
Outdoor and experiential education leaders
Youth-development executives
Leaders of organizations operating camp-based programs
Senior professionals interested in the educational potential of camp

The inaugural cohort is expected to include approximately 40–50 participants.

Particular emphasis will be placed on creating a strong international cohort from China and the broader Asia-Pacific region, while welcoming qualified leaders from around the world.

Why Does This Matter?

Families, schools, communities, and partners increasingly want to understand not simply what young people do, but what they learn and how they develop through those experiences.

The Institute will help leaders strengthen the educational intentionality of their programs and communicate that value more clearly.

Participants will explore how Camp Education can help their organizations:

Better define and communicate educational outcomes
Differentiate their programs through a stronger educational value proposition
Strengthen staff training around youth development and learning
Demonstrate the developmental value of camp to families, schools, partners, and other stakeholders
Build greater professional credibility around the educational role of camp

What We'll Explore

The Institute will combine executive learning, practical application, international exchange, and experiential education.

Topics are expected to include:

Camp as an educational environment
The emerging field of Camp Education
Designing developmental experiences intentionally
Leadership and organizational culture
Belonging, contribution, challenge, and agency
Training staff as educators
Connecting activities to developmental outcomes
Measuring and communicating the educational value of camp
Strengthening the value proposition of camp for families, schools, and communities
The future of Camp Education globally

The final curriculum will be developed and delivered by Camp Education International.

The Executive Certificate

Participants who successfully complete the Institute's educational and participation requirements will earn the:

Executive Certificate in Camp Education Leadership

The certificate is intended to recognize advanced professional learning in the principles, practice, and leadership of Camp Education.

Final certificate structure and institutional arrangements are currently being developed.

Why Shanghai?

The inaugural Institute is being designed as an international meeting place for leaders who believe camp has an important role to play in education and human development.

Shanghai provides an extraordinary setting for that conversation.

China has developed camp, outdoor education, youth-development, and experiential-learning programs at remarkable scale. At the same time, camp leaders throughout Asia and around the world bring different histories, traditions, approaches, and expertise.

The goal is not for any single country to define the future of Camp Education.

It is to bring experienced leaders together across cultures to learn from one another and help build and promote the best possible systems of Camp Education.

CEI also hopes the inaugural Institute will help position Shanghai and Oriental Land as an important meeting place for the continued international development of the field.

The Experience

The proposed Institute will be a 4-day / 3-night residential experience.

Participants can expect:

Intensive learning with CEI faculty
Small-group executive discussions
Practical Camp Education applications
International peer exchange
Experiential learning
Opportunities to learn from the Shanghai and Chinese camp context
Lodging and meals at the host site
Completion of the Executive Certificate in Camp Education Leadership

The residential format is intentional.

The Institute itself will model one of Camp Education's central ideas: meaningful learning happens not only in formal sessions, but through shared experiences, relationships, conversation, challenge, and community.

Preliminary Program Details

Program: Camp Education Leadership Institute — Shanghai

Timing: 2027 — final dates are currently being determined based on participant and partner feedback sometime between January and April

Length: 4 days / 3 nights

Location: Shanghai, China

Primary Convener & Curriculum: Camp Education International

Proposed Host Partner: Oriental Land

Credential: Executive Certificate in Camp Education Leadership

Expected Cohort: Approximately 40–50 senior professionals

Estimated Program Fee: Approximately RMB 10,000 (US$1,500)

The estimated program fee is expected to include:

Full Institute participation
Educational program and materials
Executive Certificate
Lodging for three nights
Meals during the Institute
On-site experiences and activities

International and domestic transportation to and from Shanghai would not be included.

Final dates, pricing, partners, and registration details are still being established.

Help Us Shape the Inaugural Institute

Before finalizing the Spring 2027 Institute, CEI is conducting a brief international market study with experienced camp and youth-development leaders.

We would value your perspective.

Your responses will help us determine:

Overall interest in the Institute
Viability of the proposed program fee
Preferred Spring 2027 timing
Geographic interest and potential international participation
The size and composition of the inaugural cohort

This survey is for market research only.

Completing it does not constitute registration, a reservation, or a financial commitment.

Founding Cohort Priority

CEI is inviting a limited group of camp and education leaders to help evaluate and shape the inaugural Institute.

Professionals who complete this initial market research survey in full by October 2, 2026 will qualify for Founding Cohort Priority if the Shanghai Institute moves forward.

Founding Cohort Priority will include:

10% off the final published registration fee
Advance notification before general registration opens
Priority access to the inaugural cohort if space becomes limited

Please evaluate the proposed Institute and price based on the estimated standard fee of RMB 10,000 (approximately US$1,500) before any Founding Cohort discount.

No registration, deposit, or commitment is required at this stage.