Sowing the seeds

1. Sowing the seeds Reconnecting Children with Nature

2. What I’ll 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 don’t 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. London’s 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. Play on consoles Screen-addicted children? What do you do most often in your free time? Gill (2011) Dairylea Simple Fun Report

9. Play on our bikes & scooters What would you liketo 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 children’s 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 Everyone’s always following me if I’m angry and asks me about things. I can’t say then. I feel like hitting someone. I want to be on my own until later. If I’m in the bit where the trees are, at the back and no-one comes, that’s all I want. I’ll 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. What’s happening in London? Organised activities are estimated to reach only 4% of children under 12

21. Cost & potential of interventions

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

27. Recommendations: delivery

28. Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. 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 London’s 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