Walking in Nature — Fostering a Regenerative Culture with Children
Beyond sustainability
I have had a close connection to nature since I was very young; my family and I would go for long walks in the incredible mountains that surround my native city of Monterrey. As I grew up, I continued to enjoy adventures in the great outdoors, such as mountain biking and camping under the stars in the Mexican desert, pristine night skies above us with intensely bright shining stars. Magical times.
The destruction of parts of those beautiful mountains that kept creeping further, as more building sites were erected, more houses, more buildings, more cement, more, more, more… that destruction was something I could never normalise… but neither did I try and stop it.
Now, as I start my part-time Masters studies in Sustainability, I begin a journey to document a personal sustainability challenge, some change that I will incorporate into my life. And I would like to share my journey, and perhaps get your thoughts on how I can expand it, scale it, improve it by commenting below.
However, I need to confess that I am uncomfortable with the term “Sustainability” in the context of the current state of the planet… as if what we have been doing is going well and all we need to do is to “sustain” it, just carry on as is, not do any additional damage, and things will be fine. We know this is far from the truth, as more than 11,000 scientists around the world have declared a climate emergency, warning of “untold suffering” if we don’t take urgent action. We need to be much more ambitious in the actions we take to actually regenerate the damage humanity has caused on the planet since the dawn of agriculture.
The term “regenerative” is becoming more widespread, but what is it? According to Giles Hutchins and Laura Storm (2019) “the word ‘regenerative’ means creating the conditions conducive for life to continuously renew itself, to transcend into new forms, and to flourish amid ever-changing life-conditions.”
To me, it speaks of healing, thriving complex life systems, restoring the balance for harmony and for future generations.
Here is a chart that illustrates from degenerative to regenerative systems:
Connecting with nature
In the first part of the 20th century, more than half of people in the UK were in direct contact with nature- while now, only 10% of children have access to play in nature, and 40% never play outdoors at all. As Dr David Suzuki, an expert environmentalist, explains: “We can’t blame children for occupying themselves with Facebook rather than playing in the mud. Our society doesn’t put a priority on connecting with nature. In fact, too often we tell them it’s dirty and dangerous”
This lack of exposure to nature has a direct impact in the attitudes to the environment in later life. Multiple studies show that adults who never experienced green spaces as children tend to regard nature as irrelevant, or even hostile, whilst those who have had experience of nature, particularly between the ages of 6–11 tend to think of nature as magical. As adults, they will be more indignant about the lack of nature protection of habitat destruction. It’s clear to see that if we don’t facilitate children to experience green spaces, we are also depriving the environment of its champions and guardians for the future.
There is so much evidence that we need nature as well as it needs us. Some examples are:
· strong evidence of positive benefits for the self-worth and confidence of primary schoolchildren after taking part in activities in wild places.
· Improve capacity to concentrate or pay attention.
· Increased greenness has reduced Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms.
· Reduce stress and anxiety and self-regulation when social pressures become too much.
The Wildlife Trust said an hour a day outdoors for all British children aged four to 11 would help re-establish the connection between young people and nature in the UK. Therefore, I believe that if we facilitate for as many children as we can to develop a connection with the wonders of green spaces, we will have a better chance for regenerative systems to thrive.
Herein lies my sustainability challenge: to organise “Walk In Nature” activities for children to connect with wild spaces.
I will develop a programme which I have called “Walk In Nature” — but you are welcome to provide suggestions for a more attractive name, please! “Walk In Nature” groups are for children 4–11, accompanied by parents/carers, and the plan is to work in partnership with local organisations and schools. I am familiar with how educational establishment work, and I have discussed this with 3 organisations and so far, they have been interested… so the next step is to find a date! The activities will consist of:
1. Setting the scene, staring with a short nature-related story book.
2. Go for a walk (around 1 hour) which involves a nature treasure hunt with around 4 stations, each of the stations to foster learning, interacting with and observing features of what’s around them.
3. Go back to the starting point and discuss what they found.
4. An artistic activity / singing / collage / decorate a pot.
5. Plant a seed to take home (in their decorated pot).
My first session has been agreed, it will be with a local Arts charity, and we will work together to coordinate the various elements to ensure we have a successful first “Walk In Nature” session! I will report on how it went and my learnings for future sessions. If you have suggestions on any of the elements of the “Walk In Nature” activity, be it to rename the activity, or perhaps recommend a book to read as a group (needs to be short, max 10 min approx), treasure hunt activities or songs to sing, please do leave your ideas in the comment section! I look forward to hearing your thoughts… and I will report after our first session.
