Therapeutic use of nature

Spending time in natural settings has proven to be physically and psychologically beneficial for humans, and environmental education aims to reconnect youth to nature. However, it has become a reality that children and young people spend less time outdoors, which has been dubbed, nature-deficit disorder. The London-based Green Spaces, Learning Places (GSLP) creates opportunities for children to engage with their environment through interactive learning sessions in the United Kingdom's parks, heaths, and forests.

Parks and outdoor recreation areas are valuable sites for the public to engage with nature, but depend on visitors practicing good stewardship. Due to minimal staffing, parks must rely on indirect management of visitor behavior, via messaging that influences visitors to practice pro-environmental behaviors. The most famous example of indirect management is the Leave No Trace (LNT) program, which was started in the 1960s and continues today. Historically, LNT messaging has focused on individual knowledge gain, such as informing visitors of the six LNT principles.

A main goal of environmental education is to inspire pro-environmental behaviors in students. Motivation to act is based on more factors than environmental literacy, such as emotion and empathy toward the environment. Research has proven that exposure to flora and fauna in natural settings can benefit humans and can evoke positive emotional experiences. In this chapter, the authors reviewed how emotion and empathy intersect with wildlife to help educators leverage these human elements in natural settings to encourage student action in conservation efforts.

Recreational outdoor spaces in urban and suburban communities are important for boosting residents' overall well-being and preserving natural areas in otherwise developed areas. Commonly called nature-based recreation areas, these spaces allow for recreation in a natural setting, such as running through a forest rather than on a track. Previous research suggests that nature-based recreation areas encourage physical activity and outdoor play, relieve stress, and promote community and social interaction.

Place attachment, an emotional bond that people can experience with a specific location or area, is known to increase well-being and happiness. However, less is known about the ways in which place attachment benefits overall wellness. Previous research indicates that benefits include reinforcing connections to ancestors, creating social ties and a sense of community, and encouraging goal attainment. For example, feeling attached to a place, such as a gym, may motivate a person to exercise more frequently and help him/her achieve their goal to live a healthy lifestyle.

Across the United States, pollution in waterways is a major environmental issue. Rivers and streams often become polluted from storm-water runoff in cities, where the water may pick up and carry bacteria and other harmful pollutants. A significant source of pollution is dog waste, which has caused nearly 7,000 cities to develop educational campaigns encouraging people to pick up after their pets.

Experiences in nature can influence an individual's connection to nature, and consequently desire to spend additional time outside. Research indicates that children have been partaking in outdoor activities less. This “nature-deficit disorder” means that children can be disconnected from ecological problems, and thereby be less motivated to solve such problems. One significant predictor of participating in outdoor activities is past experience in nature. In rapidly urbanizing China, students are burdened with heavy schoolwork and have limited access to nature.

Adolescents today experience increasing amounts of stress and deal with more mental health issues and higher levels of mental fatigue than previous generations. Although many practitioners and researchers believe that interacting with or being in nature has positive impacts on health and wellbeing, past research has shown this relationship to be more complex than one might imagine. Teenagers, for example, can have a multidimensional, conflicted, and, at times, negative view of the environment in comparison with that of younger children or adults.

Over time, the purpose of botanic gardens has evolved such that most botanic gardens are focused on plant conservation and the cultivation of native species. For the past several decades, botanic gardens have also served as venues for environmental education programs. It was only recently that educators recognized the potential for botanic gardens to promote social inclusion. Environmental education researchers have criticized traditional environmental education programs at botanic gardens for catering to specific audiences who tend to be older, middle to upper class, and white.

Significant research exists that has explored the connections between experiences in nature and further communication about those experiences. These communications include verbal and digital images, shared with friends, family, or future self. Findings show that exposure to nature inspires consequent communications. Much of that research also looks at how these experiences and communications affect a person's perceptions of the environment, emotions, and pro-environmental behaviors. Communication allows for development of experiences and gives the person time and space to create meaning.