Getting to know nature: evaluating the effects of the Get to Know Program on children’s connectedness with nature

Bruni, Coral M.; Winter, Patricia L.; Schultz, P. Wesley; Omoto, Allen M.; Tabanico, Jennifer J.

doi:10.1080/13504622.2015.1074659

Cited by 80 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The ages of participants in the studies ranged from 6 years of age (Bruni et al, 2017) to 19 (Sellmann and Bogner, 2013). All of the studies included pre-and post-intervention measurements, while five also included a control group.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kossack and Bogner (2012) report a negative effect of high information content, while Collado et al (2013) suggest that enjoyment and play may have a positive effect on nature connection in children. Bruni et al (2017) found that only the activity in which children engaged artistically with the natural world, such as narrative writing, art work, and photography, created a positive shift in nature connection. Immersive experiences and free outdoor play were seen as a positive feature by Mullenbach et al (2018) as well as Schneider and Schaal (2017).…”

Section: Length Type Of Intervention and Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Increasing Nature Connection in Children: A Mini Review of Interventions

Barrable

Booth

2020

Front. Psychol.

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Half of the world's population live in the urban environment. Lifestyle changes in the 20th century have led to spending more time indoors and less in nature. Due to safety concerns, longer hours in formal education, as well as lack of suitable outdoor environments, children in particular have been found to spend very little time outdoors. We have an opportunity, both timely and unique to have our children (re)connect with nature. Nature connection is a subjective state and trait that encompasses affective, cognitive, and experiential aspects in addition to being positively associated with wellbeing, and strong predictor of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. This minireview brings together recent studies that report on interventions to increase nature connection in children. Fourteen studies were identified through electronic searches of Web of Science, Scopus, PsychInfo, ERIC, and Google Scholar. The review aims to offer an overview of the interventions identified, provide a snapshot of the current state of the literature, briefly present themes and trends in the studies identified in relation to nature connection in young people, and propose potential guidelines for future work.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Length Type Of Intervention and Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing Nature Connection in Children: A Mini Review of Interventions

Barrable

Booth

2020

Front. Psychol.

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“…While the investigation of the natural world does not explicitly advocate mastery over nature, the lack of evidence of sustained increases in connection with nature through environmental education programmes suggests activities purely focussing on knowledge and identification may not be pathways to nature connectedness. This was recently supported in a study where creative arts based activities, rather than educational nature trails, were associated with increases in implicit nature connectedness [52]. It should be noted that recent research claiming that species knowledge is important in connecting people to nature, did not use a validated measure of connection with nature [53].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Beyond knowing nature: Contact, emotion, compassion, meaning, and beauty are pathways to nature connection

2017

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Feeling connected to nature has been shown to be beneficial to wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour. General nature contact and knowledge based activities are often used in an attempt to engage people with nature. However the specific routes to nature connectedness have not been examined systematically. Two online surveys (total n = 321) of engagement with, and value of, nature activities structured around the nine values of the Biophila Hypothesis were conducted. Contact, emotion, meaning, and compassion, with the latter mediated by engagement with natural beauty, were predictors of connection with nature, yet knowledge based activities were not. In a third study (n = 72), a walking intervention with activities operationalising the identified predictors, was found to significantly increase connection to nature when compared to walking in nature alone or walking in and engaging with the built environment. The findings indicate that contact, emotion, meaning, compassion, and beauty are pathways for improving nature connectedness. The pathways also provide alternative values and frames to the traditional knowledge and identification routes often used by organisations when engaging the public with nature.

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“…Authors like Zylstra et al (2014) state that this disconnection from nature is mainly a consciousness problem, one that is fundamental among and for the convergent socio-ecological crises. This is of main importance for researchers and professionals concerned with environmental changes and degradation, since they see the solution to that problem as a way to develop environmental care and concern (Bruni et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Connectedness to Nature: Its Impact on Sustainable Behaviors and Happiness in Children

et al. 2020

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Given the environmental problems humanity is currently facing, and considering that the future of the planet lies in the hands of children and their actions, research on the determinants of sustainable behaviors in children has become more relevant; nonetheless, studies on this topic focusing on children are scarce. Previous research on adults suggests, in an isolated manner, the relationship between connectedness to nature, the development of behaviors in favor of the environment, and positive results derived from them, such as happiness and well-being. In the present research, connectedness to nature was considered as a determinant of sustainable behaviors, and happiness was considered as a positive consequence of the latter. This research aimed to demonstrate the relationship between these variables in children. Two hundred and ninety-six children with an average age of 10.42 years old participated in the study, in which they responded to a research instrument that measured connectedness to nature, sustainable behaviors (pro-ecological behavior, frugality, altruism, and equity), and happiness. To analyze the relationships between these variables, a model of structural equations was specified and tested. The results revealed a significant relationship between connectedness to nature and sustainable behaviors, which, in turn, impact happiness. This suggests that children who perceive themselves as more connected to nature tend to perform more sustainable behaviors; also, the more proecological, frugal, altruistic, and equitable the children are, the greater their perceived happiness will be. The implications for studying and promoting sustainable behaviors are discussed within the framework of positive psychology.

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Getting to know nature: evaluating the effects of the Get to Know Program on children’s connectedness with nature

Cited by 80 publications

References 39 publications

Increasing Nature Connection in Children: A Mini Review of Interventions

Increasing Nature Connection in Children: A Mini Review of Interventions

Beyond knowing nature: Contact, emotion, compassion, meaning, and beauty are pathways to nature connection

Connectedness to Nature: Its Impact on Sustainable Behaviors and Happiness in Children

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