Thomas H. Beery

Nordic in Nature: Friluftsliv and Environmental Connectedness

This study explored the question of whether a relationship exists between the Nordic cultural idea of friluftsliv and the psychological construct of environmental connectedness (EC). This quantitative study employed a correlational design with existing data from the Swedish Outdoor Recreation in Change national survey. Results indicate that there is a significant and meaningful relationship between friluftsliv, operationally defined as nature-based outdoor recreation participation, and EC even when controlling for other predictor variables. In addition, research findings indicate that age group moderates this relationship with one group exception. It was also found that activity participation by respondents shows a correlation with both EC and age group. Implications of this study support a cultural understanding of nature-based outdoor recreation and an awareness of the important role of access to nature as an essential component of nature-based outdoor recreation. Age group differences supported a variety of implications and recommendations for future research. A consideration of how the results may have implications for environmental education and sustainability efforts were explored.

Operationalizing ecosystem-based adaptation : harnessing ecosystem services to buffer communities against climate change

Ecosystem-based approaches for climate change adaptation are promoted at international, national, and local levels by both scholars and practitioners. However, local planning practices that support these approaches are scattered, and measures are neither systematically implemented nor comprehensively reviewed. Against this background, this paper advances the operationalization of ecosystem-based adaptation by improving our knowledge of how ecosystem-based approaches can be considered in local planning (operational governance level). We review current research on ecosystem services in urban areas and examine four Swedish coastal municipalities to identify the key characteristics of both implemented and planned measures that support ecosystem-based adaptation. The results show that many of the measures that have been implemented focus on biodiversity rather than climate change adaptation, which is an important factor in only around half of all measures. Furthermore, existing measures are limited in their focus regarding the ecological structures and the ecosystem services they support, and the hazards and risk factors they address. We conclude that a more comprehensive approach to sustainable ecosystem-based adaptation planning and its systematic mainstreaming is required. Our framework for the analysis of ecosystem-based adaptation measures proved to be useful in identifying how ecosystem-related matters are addressed in current practice and strategic planning, and in providing knowledge on how ecosystem-based adaptation can further be considered in urban planning practice. Such a systematic analysis framework can reveal the ecological structures, related ecosystem services, and risk-reducing approaches that are missing and why. This informs the discussion about why specific measures are not considered and provides pathways for alternate measures/designs, related operations, and policy processes at different scales that can foster sustainable adaptation and transformation in municipal governance and planning.

Establishing reliability and construct validity for an instrument to measure environmental connectedness

The purpose of this preliminary study is to establish a reliable and valid measure of environmental connectedness (EC) to allow for further exploration of the Swedish Outdoor Recreation in Change national survey data. The Nordic concept of friluftsliv (nature-based outdoor recreation) and the environmental psychology concept of EC are explored to provide a foundation for the research. Reliability and construct validity testing on items from the Outdoor Recreation in Change survey have been tested and have demonstrated both reliability and construct validity. A reliable and construct valid measure of EC will facilitate research into the possible relationships between EC, nature-based outdoor recreation, and environmental behavior. A better understanding of these relationships may serve to further understanding of the human relationship with nature.

Children in nature : sensory engagement and the experience of biodiversity

Abstract Given concerns for a severely diminished childhood experience of nature, coupled with alarm for a rapidly diminishing global biodiversity, this article considers the potential for childhood nature experience to be an important part of biodiversity understanding. Findings from two studies are integrated and presented as windows into childhood nature experience to illuminate important aspects of sensory rich learning. In one study from Sweden, semi-structured interviews with adults were conducted and analyzed to explore an understanding of the sensory experience of childhood collecting in nature via participant memories. In the second study, direct observations of children’s play and exploration in an outdoor kindergarten in Norway were conducted and analyzed. Bringing these two studies together for shared analysis is useful for investigating biodiversity experience and understanding. Analysis supports the idea that the experience of biodiversity, actual childhood interaction with variation and diversity with living and nonliving items from nature allows children important learning opportunities, inclusive of biodiversity understanding. The results support practical implications for sensory rich environmental education and underscores the practical importance of childhood access to nature.

Environmental action and student environmental leaders: exploring the influence of environmental attitudes, locus of control, and sense of personal responsibility

The Student Climate and Conservation Congress (SC3) is a joint educational effort between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Green Schools Alliance that aims to develop the next generation of conservation leaders through fostering action competence in youth. Data from SC3 participants was used to investigate four predictors of adult environmental behavior (environmental attitudes, locus of control, sense of personal responsibility, intention) to explore their predictability of environmental action and intention toward future involvement in environmental action in student environmental leaders. Of the four variables explored, pre-program levels of environmental attitudes was a significant predictor of environmental action. Additionally, changes in levels of environmental attitudes significantly predicted environmental action, with an increase in environmental attitudes being associated with a decrease in environmental action. Pre-program levels of environmental attitudes and sense of personal responsibility, and an interaction between the two, potentially were predictors of intention toward future involvement in environmental action. Changes in pre- and post-program levels of environmental attitudes, locus of control, and sense of personal responsibility did not significantly predict intention toward future involvement in environmental action, nor did environmental action. Implications for programming and research, in light of the study’s limitations, are discussed.

A framework to assess where and how children connect to nature

The design of the green infrastructure in urban areas largely ignores how peoples relation to nature, or human-nature connection (HNC), can be nurtured. One practical reason for this is the lack of a framework to guide the assessment of where people, and more importantly children, experience significant nature situations and establish nature routines. This paper develops such a framework. We employed a mixed-method approach to understand what qualities of nature situations connect children to nature (RQ1), what constitutes childrens HNC (RQ2), and how significant nature situations and childrens HNC relate to each other over time (RQ3). We first interviewed professionals in the field of connecting children to nature (N = 26), performed inductive thematic analysis of these interviews, and then further examined the inductive findings by surveying specialists (N = 275). We identified 16 qualities of significant nature situations (e.g., “awe,” “engagement of senses,” “involvement of mentors”) and 10 abilities that constitute childrens HNC (e.g., “feeling comfortable in natural spaces,” “feeling attached to natural spaces,” “taking care of nature”). We elaborated three principles to answer our research questions: (1) significant nature situations are various and with differing consequences for childrens HNC; (2) childrens HNC is a complex embodied ability; (3) childrens HNC progresses over time through diverse nature routines. Together, these findings form the Assessment framework for Childrens Human Nature Situations (ACHUNAS). ACHUNAS is a comprehensive framework that outlines what to quantify or qualify when assessing “child-nature connecting” environments. It guides the assessment of where and how children connect to nature, stimulating both the design of nature-connecting human habitats as well as pedagogical approaches to HNC.

Fostering incidental experiences of nature through green infrastructure planning

Abstract Concern for a diminished human experience of nature and subsequent decreased human well-being is addressed via a consideration of green infrastructure’s potential to facilitate unplanned or incidental nature experience. Incidental nature experience is conceptualized and illustrated in order to consider this seldom addressed aspect of human interaction with nature in green infrastructure planning. Special attention has been paid to the ability of incidental nature experience to redirect attention from a primary activity toward an unplanned focus (in this case, nature phenomena). The value of such experience for human well-being is considered. The role of green infrastructure to provide the opportunity for incidental nature experience may serve as a nudge or guide toward meaningful interaction. These ideas are explored using examples of green infrastructure design in two Nordic municipalities: Kristianstad, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark. The outcome of the case study analysis coupled with the review of literature is a set of sample recommendations for how green infrastructure can be designed to support a range of incidental nature experiences with the potential to support human well-being.

On the road to ‘research municipalities’: analysing transdisciplinarity in municipal ecosystem services and adaptation planning

Transdisciplinary research and collaboration is widely acknowledged as a critical success factor for solution-oriented approaches that can tackle complex sustainability challenges, such as biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate-related hazards. In this context, city governments’ engagement in transdisciplinarity is generally seen as a key condition for societal transformation towards sustainability. However, empirical evidence is rare. This paper presents a self-assessment of a joint research project on ecosystem services and climate adaptation planning (ECOSIMP) undertaken by four universities and seven Swedish municipalities. We apply a set of design principles and guiding questions for transdisciplinary sustainability projects and, on this basis, identify key aspects for supporting university–municipality collaboration. We show that: (1) selecting the number and type of project stakeholders requires more explicit consideration of the purpose of societal actors’ participation; (2) concrete, interim benefits for participating practitioners and organisations need to be continuously discussed; (3) promoting the ‘inter’, i.e., interdisciplinary and inter-city learning, can support transdisciplinarity and, ultimately, urban sustainability and long-term change. In this context, we found that design principles for transdisciplinarity have the potential to (4) mitigate project shortcomings, even when transdisciplinarity is not an explicit aim, and (5) address differences and allow new voices to be heard. We propose additional guiding questions to address shortcomings and inspire reflexivity in transdisciplinary projects.

Childhood collecting in nature: quality experience in important places*

ABSTRACT A need for a more specific understanding of childhood geographies has motivated an investigation of one activity, childhood collecting in nature. This study examined collecting behavior, places of collecting, and the relationship of these places to environmental connectedness in adulthood. Topophilia is presented as a guide to help consider why children collect in nature and to expand upon a limited understanding of collecting behavior. These ideas are explored with a mixed-method design strategy involving surveys and semi-structured interviews with a sample of Swedish university students. Results show collecting in nature to be a widespread, meaningful, and memorable experience in the formative years of participants. Results also demonstrate potential support for topophilia as a way to understand the childhood collecting nature phenomenon. Implications include recognition of the importance of family to support children’s engagement in the natural world and proximate access to nature as a critical aspect of childhood experience.

Ecotourism as a learning tool for sustainable development. The case of Monviso Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, Italy

ABSTRACT The dichotomy of conservation vs. sustainable development has generated numerous debates since the introduction of the latter in the late 1980s. In the recent past, many initiatives to address the issue gained ground worldwide, such as ecotourism, a form of tourism that takes place in natural areas, sustains local communities, and involves a learning experience. Even though it might look like the perfect tool to strengthen the link between conservation and sustainable development, ecotourism faces many challenges. Through a case study of Monviso Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, this research aims at understanding local stakeholders’ perspectives on the matter. A series of interviews were conducted to explore the possibility for ecotourism to act as a learning tool. Results show that ecotourism had some positive effects, such as the creation of a network for collaboration between various stakeholders. However, negative perceptions still play an inhibiting role. It is discussed that this might be a consequence of one main factor: a lack of proper environmental education. Adjustments in the language and methods used in the educational system and a change of course at higher governmental levels might support ecotourism as a learning tool and a catalyst for sustainable development.