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Strategic Research Network for People and Nature. Round Up of Recent Research, Policy and Practice - June 2019

Purpose: round up of recent and relevant evidence and reports, policy agenda developments, large scale delivery sector initiatives, resources and news items from the UK and abroad. This supports the Strategic Research Network for People and Nature to develop better coherence and collaboration in research and to improve links between research, policy and practice in these areas.

Key audience: Strategic Research Network members and increasingly colleagues across policy and delivery sectors too.

Collated and issued by the partnership of Natural England, The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom and Historic England on behalf of and for the Strategic Research Network.

Please continue to send items for the round up to martin.gilchrist@naturalengland.org.uk.
Please also contact Martin if you would like more information on the Strategic Research Network or would like advice from them.

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Strategic Research Network for People and Nature evidence round up  - June 2019
Welcome to the latest round up of information for June. Contributions featuring members of the SRN and direct recipients of this round up are highlighted in green below.

We are conscious that this is a long document as we have attempted to capture a wide range of information that may be of interest. We always welcome feedback on whether this is useful as a way of sharing information or whether it duplicates something that already exists? Any suggestions for improvements are welcome. 

If you have your own work or know of other papers that would be of interest please do send it to Martin Gilchrist, at any time for inclusion in the next round up. Thank you, as always, to those of you who have sent in contributions this month.

Many thanks
Martin Gilchrist, Sarah Preston and Anne Hunt   


This round up has the following sections

RESEARCH AND REPORTS
Featured research - Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing

RESOURCES
Featured resource - Social Prescribing – clinical update from the British Medical Journal

CALLS AND DATES
Featured call - University of Exeter have new fully-funded PhD studentship on Blue Prescriptions

NEWS
Featured news - Disadvantaged pupils living in coastal areas achieve around three grades lower at GCSE than those living in non-coastal areas – Schoolsweek article
 

RESEARCH AND REPORTS

Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing
Mathew White et al – Scientific Reports
This study examined associations between recreational nature contact in the last seven days and self-reported health and well-being. Analyses controlled for residential greenspace and other neighbourhood and individual factors. Compared to no nature contact last week, the likelihood of reporting good health or high well-being became significantly greater with contact over 120 minutes. The pattern was consistent across key groups including older adults and those with long-term health issues. It did not matter how 120 mins of contact a week was achieved (e.g. one long vs. several shorter visits/ week).
 
An Affective Measure of Nature Connectedness for Children and Adults: Validation, Performance and Insights.
Richardson, Hunt, Hinds, Bragg, Fido, Petronzi, Barbett, Clitherow, and White. - Journal of Nature Conservation.
To establish the reliability of the new Nature Connection Index (NCI) three factor analyses were conducted. One was based on a large Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE) dataset for adults with a replication from data sets collected online, and a third used MENE data from children. To validate the NCI as a measure for nature connectedness an online comparison study included the NCI alongside other established measures. The results showed that the NCI was a reliable and valid scale that offers a short, simple alternative to other measures of nature connectedness.
 
In Pursuit of Urban Sustainability: Predicting Public Perceptions of Park Biodiversity Using Simple Assessment Tools
MF Schebella, D Weber, L Schultz, P Weinstein - International Journal of Environmental Research
To provide insight into the visual cues that influence laypeople’s perceptions of biodiversity, four novel non-expert-dependent assessment tools—along with estimates of vegetation cover and bird species richness—were used to examine the attributes of 134 Australian urban parks. Changes in structural variation were too subtle to significantly influence perceptions. Vegetation cover, habitat diversity, and a proposed Urban Park Naturalness Index (UPNI) were the strongest predictors of perceived biodiversity. Bird species richness significantly influenced perceptions of naturalness but not biodiversity.
 
Openness Is Related to Proenvironmental Behavior Both Within and Across Families
C Puech, J Dougal, C Deery, C Waddell, R Mõttus - Environment and Behavior
Environment-friendly behaviors may be desirable in helping to solve worldwide ecological issues. This has sparked interest in the associations of such behaviors with established psychological constructs such as the Five-Factor Model personality traits. Of these, Openness has been most consistently linked with proenvironmental behavior; yet, the extent of causality in this association is unclear. Using a sample of 168 individuals, including 84 sibling pairs, the present study replicated the association while controlling for factors in which families. Proenvironmental behavior was correlated with Openness and the association could be observed both between and within families, with adjustments for various demographic variables.
 
The effects of meteorological conditions and daylight on nature-based recreational physical activity in England
Elliot, White et al – Urban Forestry and Urban Greening
  • Meteorological conditions and daylight hours affect recreational physical activity.
  • Research has not explored how these affect physical activity in different environments.
  • Park-based physical activity associated with temperature, wind speed, and daylight.
  • Unique associations for physical activity at woodlands, inland waters, and coasts.
  • Implications for ‘green prescriptions’ and future climate change are discussed.
 
Human Habitat Selection: Using Tools from Wildlife Ecology to Predict Recreation in Natural Landscapes
BP Pauli et al - Natural Areas Journal
This paper presents a case study of the adoption of wildlife habitat selection methods to human land use. We use the locations of recreational shooters in Idaho and environmental features along with a species distribution model to identify features associated with shooting locations. Additionally, we derive maps of the predicted suitability of locations for recreational shooting. These results illustrate the way habitat selection methods from wildlife ecology can be translated to research on human space use and highlight the potential for adoption of such methods.
 
Biosphere reserve for all: Potentials for involving underrepresented age groups in the development of a biosphere reserve through intergenerational practice
Mitrofanenko et al – Landscape Research
This case study frames a discussion about motivations for and barriers to the participation of youth and elderly women in a sustainable development project in Austria. Results suggest that intergenerational practices could play a role in overcoming the obstacles often encountered in efforts to engage underrepresented groups in sustainability projects. 
 
Reviewing how intergenerational learning can help conservation biology face its greatest challenge
MN Peterson, KT Stevenson, DF Lawson - Biological Conservation
Environmental problems can be resolved when the public is no longer willing to accept their risks and demands change. Notable examples include responses to the ozone hole and acid rain, but in an emerging post-truth world, politicization of conservation can result in adults ignoring risks and accepting the status quo. This problem is particularly acute for conservation biology challenges linked to climate change. We argue that child to parent intergenerational learning is an understudied but promising pathway to incite biodiversity conservation actions among children and adults. We review key practices of intergenerational learning and outline how its best practices may be integrated in conservation biology programming and research.
 
Critical upscaling. How citizens' initiatives can contribute to a transition in governance and quality of urban greenspace
Aalbers & Sehested – Urban Forestry and Urban Greening
Two mothers, who were sisters and had grown up interacting with nature, worked with other community members (including children) in developing a natural playspace on land owned by the city. Related research focused on how the municipality changed and a new way of developing urban greenspace emerged as a result of this citizen-led initiative. 
 
Indicators of Ecological Behaviour Change
M Choubak, R Pereira, A Sawatzky – University of Guelph Report
This literature review is being conducted for the Old-Growth Forest Project at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre to develop a deeper understanding of how ecological restoration and conservation programming can lead to changes in individual’s attitudes, feelings, knowledge and behavior.
 
Grassroots to Global: Broader Impacts of Civic Ecology
Krasny (Ed.) - Book
Civic ecology practices are small-scale innovations that initially emerge outside of government bureaucracies and build on current traditions, such as, community gardening, litter cleanups, and tree planting. These practices use civic engagement as a strategic action to integrate science, policy and decision making in urban environmental stewardship. Citizen participation holds promise for changing social norms and building a culture of caring for public and degraded spaces. Civic ecology enhances an individual’s connection to the rest of nature. The book provides a wide range of practices spanning different locations.
 
Reconciliation, Welcoming of the Wild, and the Desire to Turn Back Time
E von Essen PhD - The Journal of Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies
The theme of this special issue is People-Nature Reconciliation. Reconciliation has been defined in different ways across disciplinary contexts. In this particular context we understand reconciliation as, first, the desire to restore that which has been lost – a quality, a relationship, or a state of being. Secondly, reconciliation involves bringing back together entities that have been estranged (from its Latin roots).
 
Messaging matters: A systematic review of the conservation messaging literature
LR Kidd et al - Biological Conservation
Changing human behavior and attitudes are key to conserving global biodiversity. Despite evidence from other disciplines that strategic messaging can influence behavior and attitudes, it remains unclear how to best design messages to benefit biodiversity. We conducted a systematic literature review to investigate the status of conservation messaging research, and to evaluate whether studies address essential elements of message design and theory from other disciplines. Results suggest that conservation scientists are not effectively drawing from the long-standing expertise of disciplines with well-established messaging techniques. Many studies do not draw on established behavior change theories or audience segmentation techniques.
 
The Case for Nature Connectedness as a Distinct Goal of Early Childhood Education
A Barrable - International Journal of Early Childhood
The distinct construct of nature connectedness has not been examined in detail in relation to early childhood education. This article aims to bring together environmental psychology literature and early years’ policy in an attempt to make the case for nature connectedness becoming a distinct goal in early childhood curricular frameworks.
 
Connecting children to nature through residential outdoor environmental education
Mullenbach et al – Environmental Education Research
This study examined whether a residential outdoor environmental education program contributed to the development of children’s connection to nature and their attitudes and involvement in spending time outdoors. Results indicated moderate success in the program’s effort to increase participants’ nature connection, but yielded mixed results on outcomes related to time spent outdoors.
 
Loving Amazonian nature? Extending the study of psychological nature connection to rural areas in the Global South.
K Mikołajczak et al - PsyArXiv
There is growing recognition that environmental management decisions taken by key conservation stakeholders such as farmers are underpinned by both economic and psycho-social factors. However, conservation psychology is still in infancy and there are few validated tools suitable for measuring psycho-social constructs in the Global South. Subjective connection with nature (CWN) is considered to be the basis for pro-conservation attitudes and behaviours but has so far received only scant attention from research into farmers’ decision-making. Here, we introduce a new scale of affective CWN tailored for use in rural areas of the Global South and provide the first field assessment of cognitive and affective CWN in the rural tropics.
 
A Framework for the Development of Schoolyard Pedagogy
K Feille - Research in Science Education
There is little research investigating the pedagogical development of teachers who use the schoolyard to teach. Understanding the framework of development of schoolyard pedagogy can help pre- and in-service teacher educators prepare effective elementary science teachers to take advantage of the teaching opportunities in the schoolyard. This manuscript constructs a framework of development of schoolyard pedagogy as described in the themes of experience across the professional life histories of elementary teachers who frequently use the schoolyard to teach.
 
Childhoodnature–An Assemblage Adventure
A Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, K Malone, EB Hacking – book
What follows in this International handbook are nine distinct sections, together with a companion authored by children and young people. It is the first handbook on childhoodnature research, theory, and practice – a new field of research and inquiry. In the handbook introduction, we initially invite readers to join us for a grandtour of the handbook and companion, followed by a rich discussion on the new concept “childhoodnature” co-created by the handbook editors.
 
The Dirt of Development: Nature's Role in Social-Emotional Development and Parent-Child Connectedness
HJ Lindsey – Masters Thesis
The purpose of this study was to examine associations between nature connectedness, parentchild connectedness, and the development of prosocial behavior. Gaps in the literature were addressed by analyzing the role that parent nature connectedness has in predicting child nature connectedness. The findings of this study also suggest parent and child nature connectedness as being supportive of the parent-child relationship.
 
To what extent can the experience of outdoor learning contexts prevent permanent school exclusion for older learners? A visual analysis
HL Knowler, I Lazar, D Cortese, JS Dillon – Conference Paper from Edulearn 18
This paper reports on a one-year project that focused on outdoor learning experiences for learners 12 - 14 years of age in a woodland environment in the UK. We wanted to investigate the ways in which experience in the outdoor environment could potentially mitigate school factors such as practitioner values and attitudes, learner motivation and engagement that contribute to the processes of permanent school exclusion and therefore examine the claim that outdoor learning could provide an ‘alternative’ to using exclusion as a disciplinary sanction .
 
Participation in local food projects is associated with better psychological well-being: Evidence from the East of England
Z Bharucha Pervez, N Weinstein, D Watson, SG Boehm – Journal of Public Health
Participants scored higher than non-participants on life satisfaction and the WEMWBS scale, but differences in psychological distress were insignificant. More actively engaged participants scored higher on positive well-being and longer duration participation was associated with higher life satisfaction and less psychological distress. Finally, we found that participation contributes to psychological need satisfaction, better diet and connection to nature, three known drivers of well-being. Well-being may be a co-benefit of local food initiatives beyond the physical and psychological benefits of growing food
 
Nature as a New Paradigm for Ergonomics & Well-being
M Richardson, D Golightly - Contemporary Ergonomics and Human Factors
Fundamentally, ergonomics is concerned with well-being. The second of the two objects of the royal charter of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors refers to the use of ergonomics knowledge for the promotion of well-being. This paper argues that nature provides a new paradigm for well-being. Therefore ergonomics knowledge should include both the benefits nature can bring to the workplace, and the means to enable those benefits.
 
The Conceptualization of the Natural Environment in Healthcare Facilities: A Scoping Review
P Chi, J Gutberg, W Berta - HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal
This review includes 137 peer-reviewed articles and research-based books from 27 countries. A conceptual framework was developed to identify five themes that conceptualize the NE in healthcare: (1) definitions of the NE in healthcare, (2) processes of the NE in healthcare, (3) usages of the NE in healthcare, (4) opinions about the NE in healthcare, and (5) NE’s impacts on health and work outcomes in healthcare. Outcomes are related to physical health, mental health and well-being and work
 
A scoping study on the link between exposure to or interaction with the natural environment and mental health outcomes
A Harshfield et al – RAND Europe report
This report presents the results of a rapid scoping review that has been conducted on the following research question: ‘Is there scientific evidence of an association between exposure to, or interaction with, the natural environment and mental health outcomes?’ While the study has been carried out in a systematic and transparent way, it should be stressed that it cannot be described as a systematic literature review, which would provide a much more in-depth view of the body of literature.
 
Higher levels of greenness and biodiversity associate with greater subjective wellbeing in adults living in Melbourne, Australia
S Mavoa, M Davern, M Breed, A Hahs - Health & Place
  • Mean overall greenness associated with subjective wellbeing at multiple scales.
  • Private greenness was a more important predictor than public greenness.
  • Biodiversity was associated with subjective wellbeing in separate models.
  • Blue space was not associated with subjective wellbeing.
 
Residential exposure to green space and early childhood neurodevelopment
Jiaqiang Liao et al - Environment International
  • Limited studies examined the association of exposure to green space with neurodevelopment during early childhood.
  • We examined to examine the association of residential surrounding greenness with early childhood neurodevelopment basing on a prospective birth cohort.
  • Exposure to higher levels of residential surrounding greenness was associated with better development of early childhood mental development and psychomotor development.
  • Traffic-related air pollution mediated the association between residential surrounding greenness and early childhood psychomotor development.

Nature–Based Interventions for Improving Health and Wellbeing: The Purpose, the People and the Outcomes
Shanahan, Astell–Burt, Barber, Brymer, Cox , Dean , Depledge, Fuller , Hartig, Irvine, Jones , Kikillus, Lovell, Mitchell, Niemelä, Nieuwenhuijsen, Pretty, Townsend, Heezik, Warber and Gaston - Sports
We conducted a Delphi expert elicitation process with 19 experts from seven countries (all named authors on this paper) to identify the different forms that such interventions take, the potential health outcomes and the target beneficiaries. In total, 27 NBIs were identified, aiming to prevent illness, promote wellbeing and treat specific physical, mental or social health and wellbeing conditions. These interventions were broadly categorized into those that change the environment in which people live, work, learn, recreate or heal (for example, the provision of gardens in hospitals or parks in cities) and those that change behaviour (for example, engaging people through organized programmes or other activities). We also noted the range of factors (such as socioeconomic variation) that will inevitably influence the extent to which these interventions succeed. We conclude with a call for research to identify the drivers influencing the effectiveness of NBIs in enhancing health and wellbeing.
 
Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change
Editors - Melissa R. Marselle, Jutta Stadler, Horst Korn, Katherine N. Irvine, Aletta Bonn. Book
This open access book identifies and discusses biodiversity’s contribution to physical, mental and spiritual health and wellbeing. Furthermore, the book identifies the implications of this relationship for nature conservation, public health, landscape architecture and urban planning – and considers the opportunities of nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation.
 
 
Association between urban green space and the risk of cardiovascular disease: A longitudinal study in seven Korean metropolitan areas
Sumin Seo et al - Environment International
  • Those living in areas with greater amounts of green space found to have lower risk of CVD.
  • The association was preserved regardless of income and sex groups of participants.
  • Residing in urban regions with greater green space coverage may lead to reduced risk of CVD.
 
Integrating outdoor learning into the curriculum: an exploration in four nations
Passy et al - Curriculum Perspectives
This paper explores an increasing awareness among policy-makers that learning outside can provide beneficial experiences for pupils in compulsory education. It has arisen from the work undertaken during a three-year UK Economic and Social Research Council International Networking and Partnership Award (ES/J019445/1), in which colleagues from Australia, Denmark, England and Singapore met regularly to discuss learning outside, to theorise activity and to disseminate research undertaken in each nation.
 
The meaning of participation in school ground greening: A study from project to everyday setting. 
Jansson, Martensson & Gunnarsson – Landscape Research
Children’s responses to a participatory school ground greening project indicated that green design in itself is not enough to promote participatory learning activities in primary school children. The role of adults and children’s relations to the adults are crucial for obtaining desired outcomes.


School gardening as a means to influence pupils' nutritional attitudes and behavior: A study at general and vocational high schools in Vienna.
T Rademacher, F Leisch, V Fiala, B Freyer - Journal of Sustainability Education
The impact of school gardening on nutritional attitudes and behavior regarding purchase and consumption of food is explored with pupils who participated in school gardens. The pupils who participated in school gardening are significantly better informed about sustainability than the pupils who did not. There is a significant difference between pupils who took part in school gardening and those who did not, regarding their self-assessment towards their connection to nature and sustainability. The total consumption of vegetables has increased within the families of participating pupils by 17%. School gardening seems to promote pupils' reflection on their own diet as well as foster a favorable attitude towards a healthy and sustainable diet.
 
Purposeful Outdoor Learning Empowers Children to Deal with School Transitions
V Slee, JF Allan - Sports
A mixed methods study evaluated the efficacy of a bespoke OA programme for developing school children’s psychological well-being and self-determination during their transition into secondary school. Participants were representantives of ethnic minorities and lower SES groups. A bespoke OA residential programme achieved the strongest scale of change in children’s psychological well-being and self-determination compared to a generic OA residential and a non-OA school-based induction programme. Qualitative testimonies illuminated personal experiences and processes underpinning the perceived changes in the self-determination domains of Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness.
 
Outcomes from a One-Week Adapted Sport and Adapted Adventure Recovery Programme for Military Personnel
SM Peacock, J McKenna, D Carless, C Cooke - Sports
All measures of positive mental health and psychological need satisfaction showed statistically significant increases, with a large effect size, from baseline to course completion. While the average magnitude of the intervention effect for positive mental health is comparable or greater than other reported interventions, changes were achieved in a shorter time. Findings highlight the positive short-term effect adapted sport and adventurous activities have for Wounded in Service personnel.
 
Residential greenness and mortality in oldest-old women and men in China: a longitudinal cohort study
John S Ji et al – The Lancet Planetary Health
This paper assessed exposure to greenness through satellite-derived Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values. Individuals in the highest quartile of contemporaneous NDVI values had 27% lower mortality than those in the lowest quartile for the 250 m radius, and 30% lower mortality for the 1250 m radius. The research suggests that proximity to more green space is associated with increased longevity.
 

RESOURCES
Social Prescribing – clinical update
British Medical Journal
  • Emerging evidence suggests that social prescribing can improve people’s health and wellbeing and reduce workload for healthcare professionals and demand for secondary care services
  • In England social prescribing is part of the NHS Long Term Plan. Primary Care Networks will be funded to employ a social prescriber from 2019
  • Social prescribing is targeted at a range of patients, including those who are socially isolated and those with long term physical and/or mental health conditions
  • Social prescribers have a variety of names that include link worker, community connector, community navigator, and health trainer. The role varies from simple signposting to activities to more intensive and sometimes longer term individual support
  • Further research is needed to identify who is most likely to benefit from social prescribing and what type of intervention is most cost effective
 
Perspectives on Partnership Tool
Created by the NCCPE in consultation with the SUPI projects (including researchers, teachers, students, and university staff) this resource is a planning and talking tool to help develop effective partnerships. Presented as a set of cards, you can download and print the Perspectives on Partnership (PoP) Tool yourself.
 
Supporting People with Mental Health Difficulties – How Urban Nature can help
Supporting Young People’s Mental Health – How Urban Nature can help
Practice guides as part of the Improving Wellbeing through Urban Nature Project at Sheffield University
 
EEF guidance report, 'Improving Behaviour in Schools'
Six recommendations to support better-informed decision making by senior leaders and teachers, all based on the best available evidence.

Investing in quality. The contribution of large charities to shaping future health and care
The National Garden Scheme, together with the King’s Fund, have drafted a report on the contribution of large charities to shaping future health and care
 

CALLS & DATES
The MARCH Network has launched a consultation process to identify what the most pressing research questions are relating to social, cultural and community engagement and mental health. The main aim of the process is to produce a research agenda that will be used as a guide for distributing £280,000 of MARCH Network funds across 2019-2021. Participation involves just 3 short anonymous questions that can be completed online here. The consultation be open until 30th June.
 
The Department for Education has announced a new panel to explore best ways for young people to build character and resilience. The panel wants your views and examples of good provision and practice used by schools, colleges and other education settings. The deadline for responses is 5 July.
 
NERC invites applications from across the NERC science remit, and from business and policy, to join its key scientific committee, which will bring broad strategic perspective and expertise to support the development and delivery of UKRI-NERC strategic priorities, investments and policies. The Science Committee is the key source of advice to the Executive and Council on science-related issues.NERC is looking to appoint a Chair and five members: four members with business, policy or non-governmental organisation experience and one member with research experience.
 
The National Trust are looking for volunteers for their Natural Environment Advisory Group whose expertise and interest covers one or more of the following: Ecology, Ecological Data, Coastal Ecology and People & Nature.
 
University of Exeter have new fully-funded PhD studentship on Blue Prescriptions in partnership with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust to commence in October 2019.
The deadline for applications - 12th of July.
 
What Works Centre for Wellbeing evidence call: How can spaces and places enhance wellbeing or reduce loneliness?
Deadline for submissions: Friday 5 July
We are looking for grey literature – reports and other unpublished resources – that look at how space or place can enhance wellbeing or alleviate loneliness in over-16 year olds taking part in sports, physical activities or performing arts.
 

NEWS
Disadvantaged pupils living in coastal areas achieve around three grades lower at GCSE than those living in non-coastal areas, according to new @educationgovuk statistics – Schoolsweek article
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