Connectedness to nature

Naturupplevelse i fritidshemmet: I strävan efter samhörighet till natur och naturvetenskaplig förståelse

Projektet är ett doktorandprojekt. Har du frågor om projektet kontakta projektansvarig Thomas H Beery, thomas.beery@hkr.se.  

Goal and objectives

The world is facing overwhelming environmental challenges, not least biodiversity loss and climate change. To meet these challenges, our society will need to harness technological, infrastructural, and human behavioral change to secure a sustainable future. In addition to our environmental concerns, changes in society have contributed to a situation where children are less physically active and spend less time outdoors (see Larson et al. 2018). This reduction in outdoor and active childhood experience has created concern for child development (cognitive, affective, and physical) and a loss of opportunity to develop a relationship with the natural world. This doctoral research plan application presents the role of the public afterschool youth programming (fritidshem) as a critical link supporting connectedness to nature, natural science understanding, and responsible environmental behavior. We hypothesize that public afterschool youth programming has a role in facilitating a positive sense of belonging in the natural world while deepening children’s understanding of natural systems and processes. Further, we hypothesize that this sense of belonging and deeper natural science understanding may contribute to environmentally responsible behavior. Specifically, this project will investigate various aspects of this potential captured in the following research questions:

• RQ1: How does afterschool youth programming use outdoor sites as pedagogical settings?
• RQ2: How are afterschool youth programs using proximate nature as outdoor classrooms and play sites?
• RQ3: How can afterschool youth programming contribute to the development of childhood connectedness to nature?
• RQ4: How can afterschool youth programming support the development of outdoor ethics and responsible environmental behavior?
• RQ5: How can afterschool youth programming support children’s learning about natural systems and processes?

Current research arena

A profoundly interesting study from the Stockholm Resilience Center entitled, Fostering children’s connectedness to nature through authentic situations: The case of saving salamanders at school (Barthel et al. 2018) captures a rich mix of outdoor education methodology, natural science learning, and connectedness to nature. We present the salamander study as both inspiring and guiding in the development of this proposal. Implications from the study centered on promoting educational programs for children that aim to connect children with and learn about nature. The study emphasized the importance of authentic nature situations (real-life context and outcomes) in close proximity to schools. While Barthel et al. (2018) were looking at the context of school-day experiences, we argue that afterschool youth programming may be even better suited given a certain level of freedom from certain formalities of the school day. 

Connectedness to nature (hereafter C2N) research is richly interdisciplinary, drawing on child development, child health, educational sciences, environmental psychology, environmental education, geography, etc. This research's origins are global while also a part of Swedish research circles (for example, Barthel et al., 2018; Beery, 2013; Beery & Wolf-Watz, 2014; Guisti et al., 2018). The phrase environmental connectedness perspective refers to the broad range of related theories and associated research that describe an affective, cognitive, and physical human relationship with nature captured by numerous related terms and concepts, including but not limited to: affinity, biophilia, commitment, ecological self, human-nature connection, identity, inclusion, relatedness, and sensitivity. See Beery & Wolf-Watz (2014) for the full reference list to these concepts. Within this broad conceptual grouping, the emphasis is on the experience of and direct encounter with generalized, or non-specific, "nature" and the possible affective and cognitive relationship between the individual and nature that develops from these experiences. This emphasis on nature experience in the C2N literature is closely aligned with a wealth of research into childhood health, cognitive learning, and pro-environmental behavior. This table provides a small sample of C2N research from the Children and Nature Network Library:

Table I: Nature experience and C2N research examples from the Children and Nature Network

In addition to this foundation of C2N research, we will draw heavily on studies that have considered the overlap between C2N and natural science learning for inspiration (Beery & Jørgensen, 2018; Kossack & Bogner, 2012; Lekies & Beery 2013). The environmental connectedness perspective explores the idea that spending time in nature will help individuals learn about nature, feel connected to nature, be more inclined to care about nature, and, ultimately, protect it. This progression, however, is not quite so linear, with many other variables coming into play (Heberlein, 2012). Beery and Wolf-Watz (2014) argue for replacing the nebulous concept of nature with the potentially more specific concept of place. People experience nature and conceive of nature in places. Cresswell (2013) describes a sense of place as spaces with cultural and subjective meaning: people assign meaning to physically identifiable areas making them social, material, and personal. Given contested ideas of what nature really is, the use of place avoids the dualistic division of nature and culture and offers a relational understanding (Massey 1993, 2006). An example of place as a focus in the C2N literature can be found in Beery and Lekies (2018), exploring place meaning, collecting in nature, and C2N. Place theory/research fit well within C2N study via the Topophilia hypothesis (Sampson, 2012).

Significance and scientific innovation

Given the wealth of research linking nature experience and C2N (for example, Table 1), an effort has been made to refine the actual measurement of C2N, using a variety of psychometric scales and interview processes. A two-day 2018 North American Association for Environmental Education workshop to guide the development of a practitioner guide to assessing connection to nature was attended by T.B. This effort resulted in numerous publications to support C2N measurement with youth audiences. (Beery, et al. 2020; Salazar et al. 2020; Salazar et al. 2021). Using these newly refined tools in the context of public afterschool youth programming in Sweden will be novel. Very little research has been conducted considering the role of public afterschool youth programming and C2N outcomes and C2N in conjunction with natural science learning.

Preliminary and earlier results

The project builds on a decade of studies of C2N and science education in childhood settings. Thomas Beeryhas an extensive background in the study of C2N, with 19 peer-reviewed scientific articles published in this field of study. Relatedly, T.B. is currently writing a theoretical review of C2N for the Danish practitioner journal Dansk Friluftsliv.  In conjunction with his work in Danmark, T.B. will serve as the keynote speaker for the Vores Natur Kalder, conference om børn og unge, natur og friluftsliv i en bæredygtig verden in Copenhagen, November 2021 (the keynote address is: Being and Becoming in Nature: The Importance of Connection to Nature in Young Children). Beyond this specific focus on C2N in research and instruction, T.B. has broad and extensive experience in environmental education and outdoor education research and instruction.

Marie Fridberg’s research interest and expertise are in the field of science education in preschool. Her research projects and publications have focused on different aspects of teachers’ and children’s communication during science activities with and without digital tools (Fridberg et al. 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021). M.F. is currently involved in a Nordplus project with research partners in the five Nordic countries to investigate student preschool teachers’ ideas about sustainability. In addition, the project is working to formulate a standard Nordic view on education for sustainability for the preschool teacher training programs.

T.B. and M.F. have a C2N collaboration underway, specifically investigating C2N in Swedish preschool settings, where data collection is complete and analysis underway on the first study. The second study is pending lifting of  COVID-19 restrictions in Skåne preschools for data collection. 

Theory and Method

We propose a number of different theories and methods for considering the various research questions presented in this proposal. Table II provides our preliminary plan.

Table II: Theory and Methods

Time plan

Table III provides a preliminary plan for a four-year degree progression. What cannot be seen in the schedule is our view of the doctoral student as a part of a collaborative team. As supervisors, we will create opportunities for scholarly growth with a gradual progression in autonomy. We will work with the doctoral student to ensure adequate opportunities for research management and leadership.  

Table III: Preliminary PhD Timeline

International and national collaboration

The research groups and individuals noted in Table IV represents potential collaborative partners

based upon on-going work and established professional relationships with T.B. and M.F.  

Table IV: Potential partners

Publication and research communication

The following avenues will be used for communicating the results of this project; other opportunities will be added, but this list provides specific initial outreach plans:

• HKR Fritidshem Inspirationsdagar presentations
• Biosfärkonferens—Kristianstad Vattenrike Biosfärområde Research (yearly conference)
• Tankesmedjan för Friluftsliv—Naturvårdsverket, Sverige (yearly conference)
• Presentation at the Center for Children and Nature at Copenhagen University
• International conferences, g. European Institute for Outdoor Adventure Education and Experiential Learning, European Science Education Research Association, etc.
• Practitioner publication for the North American Association for Environmental Education
• Practitioner publication for Dansk Friluftsliv

Relevance for Högskolan Kristianstad                  

This project has direct relevance for HKRs Strategi 2021-2025. Strategi #3 highlights how new ideas will characterize HKR. The idea in this proposal, a direct attempt to consider the role of public afterschool youth programming in the environmental challenges of our time, is innovative. We need to start seeing youth as stakeholders in their future and make sure that we are designing science-based learning experiences that will provide them with the skills and resilience to thrive. One way that this may be facilitated is an emphasis on the relationship young people have with nature—and how that relationship may guide innovation forward. This proposal also has a clear and direct connection to HKR’s Strategi och Plan för Hållbarhets-och Miljöarbete 2021-2024. ”Högskolans utbildningar ska ge studenterna förutsättningar för att utveckla kunskaper om hållbar utveckling…” A key objective with this proposed project is to be able to use the research to support the Grundlärarutbildning med inriktning mot arbete i fritidshem program with specific course content and methodology (lectures, workshops, and other course content); we also envision related small projects that may be able to serve as degree projects for undergraduate students.