Breakthrough Ideas
Category: Education & Skills
Outdoor experiences
Outdoor environmental education for all school children
Childhood experience in the outdoors has been identified as the single most important factor in developing concern for the environment. Yet young people are increasingly urbanised and may never have the opportunity to play in natural settings. They are often detached both from the natural world and their impact on it.
The recently launched 'Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto' provides the ideal opportunity for designing and mandating a series of sessions that would explicitly focus on this ‘nature deficit’. These sessions would, initially, provide opportunities for connection with the natural world, acknowledging and responding to the criticism that, while young children are often exposed to alarming environmental issues, they are rarely given the chance to develop personal connections with natural ecosystems and other living things. Later sessions would explore the interconnections between people and nature, raise awareness of the ways in which our choices impact on the natural world, and develop a creative response towards mitigating these impacts. Above all, this time outdoors would encourage celebration of the natural world and the development of a sense of wonder; critical steps in exploring and strengthening the environmental values of young people. These are the values that will underpin the behaviour and lifestyle changes necessary for sustainable futures.
Dr Kate Rawles and Dr Chris Loynes - University of Cumbria
Contact: kate@outdoorphilosophy.co.uk
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