Sowing the seeds

1
Sowing the seeds

• Reconnecting Children with Nature

2
What Ill cover

• What has gone wrong why
• My approach
• Why nature matters the evidence
• Recommendations

3
Framing the project

• Focus on children under 12
• Focus on nearby nature
• Address diversity
• Make links with other policies

4
What has gone wrong and why
5
Children nature some stats

• Only 10 of children play in woodlands,
  countryside heaths (cf 40 for parents)
• 36 of children dont have a patch of nearby
  nature
• 85 of parents want their children to be able to
  play unsupervised in nature
• 81 of children would like more freedom to play
  outside
• (Natural England 2009)

6
Londons children nature
Per cent
Visits to natural places per year
200,000 children under 12 have little or no
everyday experience of nature
7
Anxious parents?
8
Screen-addicted children?
What do you do most often in your free time?

• Gill (2011) Dairylea Simple Fun Report

9
What would you like to do more often?

• Gill (2011) Dairylea Simple Fun Report

10
Wider context

• A better climate around risk
• Tipping point on nature outdoors
• Changed economic public policy climate

11
London context

• Population of children under 12 1.1 million
• Child poverty 30
• Ethnic mix of children under 16 39 BAME
• Population density 5,000/sq km
• Paris 3,650
• Berlin 3,900
• Amsterdam 3,500

12
Literature review

• Identify analyse primary empirical studies
• Systematic search
• Outcomes framework
• Independent peer review

13
Why does childrens engagement with nature matter?
The most significant experiences are repeated,
hands-on playful
14
Engagement style outcomes
15
A robust study of forest school
16
Leon, aged 9
Everyones always following me if Im angry and
asks me about things. I cant say then. I feel
like hitting someone. I want to be on my own
until later. If Im in the bit where the trees
are, at the back and no-one comes, thats all I
want. Ill talk to you after.
17
Parent of child who attended Bayonne Forest School
Matilda attended Forest School last term and
absolutely LOVED every minute of the experience.
She is not naturally very bold or fearless and
definitely someone who prefers indoor activities,
but her experience on Wimbledon Common really
helped her love of the great outdoors.
18
Julian Grenier, ex Head, Kate Greenaway Nursery
Our outdoor space had fallen into disrepair, and
was the site of a lot of challenging behaviour.
After the refurbishment it became a calming
environment. Having seen the changes, I'm now
more convinced of the romantic idea of children
having an innate affinity with nature - that it's
something they relish and enjoy.
19
Survey work

• Goal
• Thumbnail sketches
• Reach, cost, scalability
• propitiousness

20
Whats happening in London?
School ground project Forest School Staffed nature reserve Adventure Pground Natural play space City farm Cubs/ Brownies/ Woodcraft
Possible sites/ settings 1,900 1,900 40 80 80 1000s 16 1,500
Existing sites/ settings 50-100 100 - 150 40 80 25 10 20 16 Hard to estimate
Children reached 10,000 20,000 5,000 - 7,500 Hard to estimate 10,000 500 1,000 Hard to estimate Hard to estimate
Organised activities are estimated to reach only
4 of children under 12
21
Cost potential of interventions
School ground project Forest School Staffed nature reserve Adventure Pground Natural play space City Farm Cubs/ Brownies/ Woodcraft
Cost to reach 100 children for 10 yrs 20-50k start-up 5-50k running 4k start-up 1-100k running 180k running 12k running 100k 10 k running 30k running Unclear
Scope for expansion Medium High Medium Low Low Low Unclear
Scope for targeting High High Low Low High Low Medium
22
Recommendations

• Vision
• Strategy policy
• Delivery

23
Vision
All children in London have good access to sites
where they can experience nature as part of their
everyday lives, AND have engaging everyday
nature experiences in such a site, beginning in
their pre-school years.
24
Key shifts (1)

• Focus on engaging everyday nature experiences
• local
• playful/hands-on
• repeated

25
Key shifts (2)

• See the outdoor child as an indicator species

26
Recommendations strategy policy

2 Build partnerships across London
3 Embed children nature aims in policies strategies
4 Identify geographical priorities
5 Measure progress set goals to drive delivery
6 Pilot health interventions for targeted groups of children
27
Recommendations delivery

7 Promote childrens participation
8 Promote risk-benefit assessment
9 Promote hands-on, play-oriented experiences interventions
10 Promote better use of accessible green space
11 Promote forest school
12 Promote engaging everyday nature experiences in school grounds
28
Measuring progress

• Need to be user-friendly
• Look at access use

29
Recap

• Context the shrinking horizons of childhood
• Good evidence on benefits
• importance of engaging, everyday nature
  experiences
• 200,000 of Londons children have little or no
  everyday experiences of nature
• Activity is fragmented inadequate
• Sustained, coordinated action is needed
• Clear vision
• Supported by policy and practice

30

• www.rethinkingchildhood.com