Finding Nature

The pathways to nature connectedness have been applied widely to the development of activities to develop a closer relationship with nature for wellbeing. They’ve also provided a design framework for physical spaces. We’ll soon publish a paper on a pathways informed audio meditation that improves mental health. Last week saw the publication of a paper describing how the pathways to nature connectedness can be used to aid recovery from Substance Use Disorder (SUD). The work was completed by colleagues at the University of Derby and I was involved in the initial conception and made a small contribution to the paper, now published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. It’s exciting to see the power of working with nature for wellbeing, and the utility of the pathways to inform such work.

Substance use disorder (SUD) affects millions of people. Various approaches to treatment are used including medication and counselling. Twelve step programmes (TSPs) have been found to deliver outcomes for the maintenance of abstinence from alcohol and other drugs. TSPs promote ‘restructured cognitions’ to help move away from thinking that perpetuates addiction. Accepting ‘powerlessness’ at Step 1 indicates the need for a “higher power” (Steps 2–3). With the impact on others (Steps 4–9) leading to a determination to move beyond self-centredness (Step 10) and seek a deeper, more spiritual, meaning in life (Step 11). Finally, there’s a shift from a focus on self to a focus on active service and altruism (Step 12). Previous research has found that a strong sense of spirituality was linked to reduced relapse rates. This suggests the effectiveness of TSPs lies in the creation of a spiritual connection.

Spiritual health is associated with psychosocial well-being which brings meaning and purpose. Spirituality is a key component of TSPs where participants seek a ‘higher power’, or “a god of our own understanding”. So, a goal of the TSP is the formation of a spiritual connection as fundamental as the idea of God (Alcoholics Anonymous, 1976). For flexibility around the higher power, TSPs are described as spiritual rather than religious. However, terms such as “spirituality” can present significant challenges for some, and atheists and agnostics have lower levels of TSP engagement. Therefore, alternatives to traditional deities are required.

One such alternative is nature and the human-nature relationship. Connecting with non-human life offers an opportunity to form a relationship with a higher power. Nature connectedness describes an individual’s relationship with the wider natural world and is linked to spirituality and is part of a meaningful life that facilitates a spiritual connection. The five pathways to nature connectedness provide a framework for developing nature connectedness. So, in the pilot it was proposed that they’d help individuals to use nature as a source of connection – to a power greater than themselves. Thereby providing an alternative to traditional deities within a TSP.

Nature as a Higher Power

A positive relationship with nature, where nature is offered as a higher power provides an alternative focus for people engaging in a TSP. The purpose of the pilot study was to see if using a pathways informed approach and higher power of nature worked for individuals in early recovery from SUD. Twelve volunteers from an aftercare programme of an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment centre in the UK took part. Each group engaged in four weekly one-hour sessions.

The nature sessions were designed to activate the pathways to nature connectedness (senses, emotion, beauty, meaning and compassion). For example in one session, the group were invited to consider the beauty of birds: their colour, form, and flight patterns. Paintings and photographs were displayed, and bird feathers made available to touch. Birdsong was played quietly. These sensory experiences were used as catalysts for discussion about any emotions associated with birds. The group were invited to share any meaning they found in the experience. For compassion, endangered and extinct bird species were introduced.

The control group followed an open 12 Step meeting format with a reading from Narcotics Anonymous (NA) text. The readings focused on themes such as “higher power”, “spiritual connection”, and “spiritual awakening”. The group then discussed their response to the readings.

Various measures were taken before and after the programme and, although a small pilot, significant improvements in nature connectedness, well-being, quality of life, and spirituality were found in the nature group. In contrast, no significant differences were found when a traditional deity was selected as the higher power in the control group. Of note was a five-point increase in the ReQoL 10 measure, indicating a clinical level of improvement in quality of life for the nature group.

In qualitative analysis, participants referred to pathway’s elements (e.g. beauty, senses meanings) showing pathway activation during the sessions. The approach and ability to form a connection with non-human life also led to a greater sense of social connectedness. The study provided further support for the effectiveness of the pathways approach to reconnect people with nature and improve wellbeing, but more importantly showed the effectiveness of the pathways within a therapeutic setting.

The approach also seemed to help those involved find renewed meaning in life with those taking part referring to removing negative energy, finding peace and stillness which then helped them connect with the higher power of nature.

While promising, the results are from a small pilot to support proof of concept. However, the results suggest that nature, and a reconnected relationship with it through the pathways approach, can be used as an alternative to traditional deities and could well be a highly effective approach for those recovering from substance use disorder. More widely, the study provides further support for the fundamental importance of a close relationship with nature.

Rhodes, C., Lumber, R. (2021). Using the Five Pathways to Nature to Make a Spiritual Connection in Early Recovery from SUD: a Pilot Study. Int J Ment Health Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00565-4

The crises of climate warming and wildlife loss have one thing at their heart: the failing relationship between people and nature. Our pathways to nature connectedness strongly suggest that artistic engagement with nature is key to building a new relationship with nature. So, it’s exciting to report that for many months I’ve been involved with a new project to create a national arts programme that creatively encourages people to explore their relationship with nature and connect to it.

The Oak Project is a partnership between Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the University of Derby and the Bronze Oak Project Ltd, a not-for-profit that promotes nature connection through art. The Oak Project is a programme that explores our relationship with the natural world and builds connection to nature through arts, culture and creativity. We believe an arts programme can:

• Increase connection to nature across society.
• Make nature more relevant to everyday lives.
• Increase public action on the environment.

Heather and Ivan Morison, Silence – Alone in a World of Wounds, 2021. Commissioned by Yorkshire Sculpture Park on behalf of The Oak Project. Photography by Jonty Wilde.

Over the next five years, we will pioneer arts-participation to create kinship with nature and aim to inspire and motivate public action for nature and climate. It all starts on World Environment Day on Saturday 5 June 2021 when the Oak Project unveils its first artist commission, Silence – Alone in a World of Wounds, hosted at Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP), by artists Heather and Ivan Morison from Studio Morison.

Informed by research evidence from the Nature Connectedness Research Group at the University of Derby, the artists have developed a sculptural space – a ring, set within a stand of birch trees. It aims to create a place of solitary communion with the natural world, creating an area of calm contemplation. Silence – Alone in a World of Wounds will invite visitors to stop and connect, to consider and experience, and to listen to their natural surroundings. Over time, the work will become part of the landscape as the weather contributes to its decomposition, leaving only a slight indent and trace of a circle in the ground in years to come.

Heather and Ivan Morison, Silence – Alone in a World of Wounds, 2021. Commissioned by Yorkshire Sculpture Park on behalf of The Oak Project. Photography by Jonty Wilde.

Silence – Alone in a World of Wounds taps into several aspects of research into the human-nature relationship. Its circular form and sense of calm reflects the contentment and connection circle of the three circles model of emotion regulation. A model used in our research to demonstrate how nature helps manage our moods, bringing balance to the circles of drive and threat.

How nature helps balance our emotions

At times the modern world can feel like a constant pursuit of goals and avoidance of threat. We can also find ourselves at the centre of a battle for our attention. When we do pause an advert or our phone often demands attention. Silence creates a space free of those distractions. Where nature can come to the fore. Where we can retune – after all our senses evolved to make sense of the natural world. Seeing the leaves of the birch, hearing their movement in the breeze, touching the bark and tuning into nature returns us to our origins. No wonder that noticing nature is essential to forming a close relationship with nature. Noticing nature can also improve our mental wellbeing and explains the actions we take for nature.

Silence is also a place for reflection on our relationships with nature – both good and bad. Those five types of relationship that lead to a closer relationship with nature – noticing nature, its beauty, the joy and calm it brings and what it means in your life such that you’ll consider what can you do for nature.

Heather and Ivan Morison, Silence – Alone in a World of Wounds, 2021. Commissioned by Yorkshire Sculpture Park on behalf of The Oak Project. Photography by Jonty Wilde.

Perhaps people will also reflect on the wounds inflicted by our (utilitarian and dominionistic) relationships with nature that do harm. Our desire to use and control nature has left scars. Holes dug deep into the earth have fuelled the warming of the atmosphere, cloaking the natural world. Ancient woodlands are felled as new lines are drawn across the landscape. Concrete walls span our valleys, drowning lands. The land itself always managed, rarely wild. The wildlife that brings joy, beauty and meaning to our world is diminished and lost. A failing relationship with nature that saps our own wellbeing as a nation as we fall out of love with nature.

That is why Silence – Alone in a World of Wounds, and the work of the Oak Project to come, aims to build a new relationship with nature. Prompting reflection on the wounds, but a celebration of nature, because a close connection with nature is fundamental to both feeling well and a sustainable future.

During the restrictions to control the coronavirus pandemic people have visited and noticed nature more. We were curious to find out how nature benefited the nation’s mental wellbeing during the coronavirus restrictions. The new People and Nature Survey (PANS) developed by Natural England provided some useful data. Building on some of our previous research, the survey also allowed us to compare how longer-term physical and psychological relationship with nature, and shorter-term visits and noticing of nature were associated with wellbeing – and as human and nature’s wellbeing is rarely considered together, pro-nature behaviours. The research has now been published in the Journal of Public Mental Health and available to download here.

Noticing nature matters

PANS asked several thousand members of the public questions about how connected they are to nature, how often they visit natural spaces and how much they notice nature. It found that visits to nature had increased by 40%, noticing nature had increased by 74%. The survey also collected information on pro-nature conservation behaviours and several wellbeing measures: happiness, loneliness, life satisfaction and the sense that one’s life is worthwhile.

First of all, we analysed the extent to which these wellbeing variables and pro-nature conservation behaviours are predicted by people’s long-term relationship with nature: the time spent in nature over the past 12 months and nature connectedness. We found that both more time spent in nature and a greater connection to nature were positively related to several positive outcomes: life satisfaction, happiness, a worthwhile life and pro-nature conservation behaviours – with noticing nature tending to contribute a little more to the outcomes.

We then turned our attention to experiences of nature during the pandemic restrictions. Our analyses revealed that both the number of recent visits to green spaces and increases in noticing nature were associated with increases in life satisfaction, happiness and the sense of one’s life being worthwhile. The more people spent time in and noticed nature during the pandemic, the greater their wellbeing – with noticing nature tending to contribute a little more than visits. Increases in noticing nature, but not visits, were also positively associated with pro-nature conservation behaviours and greater loneliness. So noticing nature makes you lonely!? Nope, as a cross-sectional survey the direction of this relationship is unknown, rather than increased noticing of nature increasing loneliness, the findings could well reflect that as loneliness increases people turn to nature and spend more time noticing it, buffering the effect of reduced social connectedness that has been found in other research.

Finally, we examined all of these variables together so that we could better understand the relationship between wellbeing and the quality of long-term and short-term relationships with nature. Interestingly, recent nature visits didn’t account for any increase in wellbeing over and above that caused by long-term visits. However, recent increases in noticing nature were associated with a greater sense of having a worthwhile life and more pro-nature conservation behaviours.

These results highlight the importance of having a long-term relationship with nature, but also suggest that recent increases in noticing nature can bring psychological benefits regardless of one’s historical relationship with nature. This finding is supported by our previous empirical research that found prompting people to notice nature led to significant improvements in mental health.

Another finding to emphasise is the benefit to pro-nature conservation behaviours. Higher levels of pro-nature behaviours were best explained by higher levels of nature connectedness and noticing nature. This supports our previous work on the Green Care Code.

The results confirm emerging and important findings: (2020 Study & 2021 Study) that connection to and simple engagement with nature bring benefits over and above those derived from simply spending time in nature. As well as spending time in nature, we also need to tune into nature and develop greater nature connectedness if we want to maximise the benefits to our own, and nature’s wellbeing – perhaps even more so during the pandemic.

Richardson, M. & Hamlin, I. (2021) Nature Engagement for Human and Nature’s Wellbeing during the Corona Pandemic. Journal of Public Mental Health. DOI: 10.1108/JPMH-02-2021-0016

Today the Environment Secretary, George Eustice, set out plans for nature’s recovery. The full speech on amending the Environment Bill to require an additional legally binding target for species abundance is available here. The actions set out in the speech to restore nature are an important step. Getting the details right will help nature’s recovery, but can also deliver benefits for human wellbeing through creating a closer relationship with nature.

The Environment Secretary noted how the events of the last year have led people to appreciate the difference that nature makes to our lives more than ever before. There is an increased awareness of the link between our own health and that of the planet. Sadly, the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries and that is strongly related to lower levels of nature connectedness and wellbeing.

In our upcoming paper on people’s engagement with nature during the pandemic we found that the increase in noticing nature explained wellbeing to a greater extent than the increase in visits to nature. Indeed, when people are prompted to notice nature it can deliver clinically significant benefits to mental health. We also know that people have an inherent ability to spot greater biodiversity – and that brings positive emotions. Nature’s recovery will create more nature to notice. And if that nature is visible it can help build a closer relationship with nature that is good for wellbeing – and encourages pro-nature behaviours too.

Nature’s recovery: More nature to notice

The speech stated the need to work on habitats in both protected sites and the wider countryside. Clearly, that scale is essential to deliver nature’s recovery. However, there was little on the places where people live, urban areas and schools for example. Corridors to bring nature from the wider countryside to people could do great things for wellbeing.

The renewed emphasis on nature’s recovery and call for creative public policy thinking does allow opportunities to maximise the benefits. It would be great to see:

1 – Everyday biodiversity to unite human and nature’s wellbeing – bringing visible wildlife to the places people live to foster pro-nature behaviour, nature connectedness and wellbeing.

2 – The design of urban spaces to foster meaningful engagement with the abundance of nature on everyone’s doorstep. Design to prompt people to notice, engage and care for nature.

3 – New woodlands as new spaces for meaningful engagement and delivery of nature based social prescriptions.

4 – Creation of a life-long relationship with nature – bringing nature’s recovery into secondary schools to address the ‘teenage dip’ and support adolescent wellbeing.

Building back greener can help create a new human-nature relationship through delivering nature everywhere for everyone.

The theme of Mental Health Awareness Week this year is Nature. I’ve been working with the Mental Health Foundation on the associated research report, some activities for the week and events that take place during the week. There are a number of resources to get involved and the full research report we worked on is available here.

The first half of this blog includes ways people can take part in the week. The second half outlines recommendations from the Mental Health and Nature Policy Briefing on what needs to happen more widely – available here.

What you can do…

During Mental Health Awareness Week we’re asking everyone to #ConnectWithNature to support their mental health – bringing nature into your daily life can really make a difference. We know that:

• Being around nature is good for our mental health
• Connecting with nature can help prevent mental health problems
• Everyone should have access to nature to achieve good mental health for all

During the week we’d like people to recognise and grow their connection with nature. Whether you’re out for a walk, on your way to work, or spending the day indoors, take a moment to notice and celebrate nature in your daily life. To help there are some ‘top tips’ and a nature journal to download.

You might also find some inspiration in the resources we put together to support mental wellbeing during the coronavirus restrictions, here you’ll find:

• Noticing the ‘Good Things in Nature’
• How to Explore your relationship with nature
• An audio nature meditation
• Immersive Virtual Nature

What more needs to happen…

The Mental Health and Nature Policy Briefing from the Mental Health Foundation gives an overview of key issues and sets out detailed policy recommendations. In their associated survey they found a clear public appetite for change. Three quarters (75%) of people think the Government should be aiming to encourage people to do more to connect with nature. The briefing notes that when measured together, a meaningful connection with nature is often more important than visits to, and time spent in nature. Therefore, the report makes the case for “prioritising connection with nature as the main goal for our nature and mental health policies”. The recommendations for the ways that Government policy can facilitate greater nature connection fall into five areas.

1 – Facilitating connection with nature

Recent evidence into the contribution of nature visits and nature connection shows that it is connection that best explains key mental wellbeing outcomes. There is a need to move beyond access to nature to engaging with the natural world. Therefore, the briefing recommends that nature connection is the core principle that drives all policies relating to nature and mental health.

2 – Protecting the natural environment and restoring biodiversity

As my blog on recent research showed, the UK is not a nation of nature lovers and that’s strongly associated with low levels of biodiversity. The Mental Health and Nature Policy Briefing recommends the UK governments set ambitious interim and outcome targets to halt the decline of species and habitats in the UK by 2030. Then the delivery of biodiversity gain should prioritise deprived areas to bring the wellbeing benefits of nature to the communities that need it most.

3 – Improving access to nature

Clearly, access to nature is necessary to build a deeper connection, the report recommends access to nature should be guaranteed for the widest range of people. This includes improving safety and the quality of green spaces and parks.

4 – Using urban design to improve the visibility and availability of nature

Beyond formal green spaces and parks there is a need to facilitate building an every day connection with nature. These recommendations note how urban nature matters. It is recommended that the National Planning Policy Framework in England is updated to go beyond “conserving and enhancing” the existing natural environment to creating new, visible nature for the purpose of supporting people’s mental health and wellbeing.

5 – Building a life-long relationship with nature

Our research that shows a pronounced dip in young people’s connection with nature is noted and policies that build a long-term connection with nature for children are recommended. This includes outdoor activities at school, with nature being a part of the learning process. School grounds should provide access to nature and the Government should review and improve natural spaces of secondary schools.

The Mental Health and Nature Policy Briefing is excellent and builds on our previous guidance. I recommend reading the report in full, remembering to take a break and notice nature while you do.