Greenery in the university environment: Students’ preferences and perceived restoration likelihood

Abstract

A large body of evidence shows that interaction with greenery can be beneficial for human stress reduction, emotional states, and improved cognitive function. It can, therefore, be expected that university students might benefit from greenery in the university environment. Before investing in real-life interventions in a university environment, it is necessary to first explore students’ perceptions of greenery in the university environment. This study examined (1) preference for university indoor and outdoor spaces with and without greenery (2) perceived restoration likelihood of university outdoor spaces with and without greenery and (3) if preference and perceived restoration likelihood ratings were modified by demographic characteristics or connectedness to nature in Dutch university students (N = 722). Digital photographic stimuli represented four university spaces (lecture hall, classroom, study area, university outdoor space). For each of the three indoor spaces there were four or five stimuli conditions: (1) the standard design (2) the standard design with a colorful poster (3) the standard design with a nature poster (4) the standard design with a green wall (5) the standard design with a green wall plus interior plants. The university outdoor space included: (1) the standard design (2) the standard design with seating (3) the standard design with colorful artifacts (4) the standard design with green elements (5) the standard design with extensive greenery. Multi-level analyses showed that students gave higher preference ratings to the indoor spaces with a nature poster, a green wall, or a green wall plus interior plants than to the standard designs and the designs with the colorful posters. Students also rated preference and perceived restoration likelihood of the outdoor spaces that included greenery higher than those without. Preference and perceived restoration likelihood were not modified by demographic characteristics, but students with strong connectedness to nature rated preference and perceived restoration likelihood overall higher than students with weak connectedness to nature. The findings suggest that students would appreciate the integration of greenery in the university environment.

The Naturalness of the Vistula Riverbank’s Landscape: Warsaw Inhabitants’ Perceptions

“…Positive affective responses can have physical effects, as they stimulate physical activity [50], and effects on psychological functioning that are related to relaxation and blocking negative thoughts and moods. These affective responses can induce changes in physical and psychological states in stressed individuals, and keep emotional resources in an optimal state in non-stressed people [51,52].…”

Implementation of an Interactive Environment With Multilevel Wireless Links for Distributed Botanical Garden in University Campus

“…Greenery has been even identified for stress reduction and emotional state balance in students [20]. In this context, the use of WSNs can provide more information about the state the green zones of the campus, not only for monitoring, but also for on-campus botanic tours in a more amenable fashion [21]. Considering the characteristics of a university campus in terms of size and the existence of multiple distributed sites/buildings, long range, low power platforms such as LoRaWAN enable telemetry, tele-control and interactive communication systems.…”

Green creative environments: Contribution to sustainable urban and regional development

“…The impact of the natural environment on creative and knowledge-intensive processes has been analysed by various disciplines such as psychology, interior design, education and health studies, landscape architecture, etc. A large body of evidence shows that interaction with greenery can be beneficial for reducing stress and improving emotional states and cognitive function (Van Den Bogerd et al 2018). The environment, including green areas discussed here, influences creativity, because a connection to nature enhances creative performance (van Rompay and Tineke 2016) and is associated with innovative and holistic cognitive styles (Leong, Fischer and McClure 2014).…”