Adding vegetation, natural elements and biodiversity in play settings can increase play value, promote children’s health, and address climate change concernsOutdoor play environments rich in natural elements generally have high play value, in that they provide opportunities for various types of unstructured play. Many such environments, however, are now at risk due to climate change. This study explored the climate change mitigation strategies used by professionals with expertise in the planning and development of play environments. This study was based on the understanding that identifying these strategies and understanding the reasoning behind them could be helpful to other professionals involved in the development of children’s outdoor play spaces in the context of climate change.
An internet search was conducted to identify potential participants for the study. Criteria for participation included having made scientific contributions to academic research in areas related to this study or having professional experiences in planning, designing, or construction of play environments for children. The internet search resulted in twenty potential participants from five different countries. Invitations were sent by email to each of these individuals. Two invitations bounced back and ten individuals did not respond. The remaining eight, after being invited by email or phone, agreed to participate. Six of the participants were from Sweden, one from France, and one from the UK. The participants’ experience working in the field ranged from 4 to 40 years, with five participants having over 10 years in the field. Individual interviews were conducted with each of the participants. Two questions were used to frame the discussion: “When planning a playground in an outdoor environment with climate change in mind, what are your strategies?” “What future scenarios for tomorrow’s playgrounds regarding function and design do you consider?”
Content analysis of the interview responses revealed four themes with several supporting categories for each theme. The first theme related to a new design paradigm for outdoor play environments. “This was articulated as a growing design and architectural direction incorporating natural elements, and a belief that nature-based solutions support play activities through high play value.” Theme 2 highlighted a need for updated regulation and security guidelines for outdoor play environments. Discussions around this theme included concerns about how accessibility guidelines “have resulted in a lack of vegetation, few trees, high use of different kinds of asphalts and an impoverished and unstimulating play environment.” Such environments do not provide rich play opportunities and fail to address concerns relating to climate change. The third theme highlighted ways in which nature-based play environments are more climate change resilient. The fourth theme focused on maintenance and construction processes. Cooperation between professions in the construction stages was identified as a key factor in the planning and development of outdoor play spaces that have high play value and are climate change resilient.
This study contributes to the literature by offering “a new design paradigm of outdoor play environments with more vegetation, natural elements and biodiversity to increase play value, children’s health, and protection against climate change effects.”
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