Finding Nature

Our latest research paper has just been published in Urban Ecosystems, this blog provides excerpts and a brief summary of the full paper which is available open access. The research was part of the Improving Wellbeing through Urban Nature project which was all about the relationships between urban green space and residents health and well-being. I’ve already written about one key outcome of the project, our smartphone app that led to clinically significant improvements in mental health through noticing the good things in nature. Another part of the app was for users to rate both biodiversity and the positive emotions of the green spaces they visited.

In a world that is rapidly urbanising access to nature and green spaces can be restricted owing to urban sprawl or provision of green space not being prioritised. Urbanisation is also associated with habitat loss and reduction in biodiversity. Yet urban green space is good for wellbeing – however will any type of green space do? Is green space with greater biodiversity better for wellbeing? Is it simply about access to nature or engagement?

The human need for nature is now seen in some models of health, for example the ‘one health’ perspective. Nature is a positive force for wellbeing and is central to positive emotional states helping manage our emotions. The beneficial effects of nature on wellbeing are driven by increases in positive affect. Positive emotions broaden thoughts and actions and help build resilience, leading to sustained well-being benefits. There is also a relationship between positive affect and immune function through up-regulation of immune components. In the published research we use ‘in the moment’ emotional responses to nature in urban environments as a measure of positive emotion.

Higher levels of biodiversity have been linked to more positive psychological responses. Also, perceived floral richness has been linked to higher levels of nature connectedness which itself is associated with higher levels of wellbeing. However, care is required when defining urban biodiversity. Although urbanisation is linked with losses to native biodiversity, actual overall biodiversity can rise in parks due to the wide use of non-native and cultivated plants. In this study we restricted ourselves to birds and defined habitat types to avoid such complications.

Despite recent research on the value of green space for human well-being, it is not clear which types of urban green space should be promoted. Similarly, it is still not evident, to what extent such green spaces need to be biologically-rich to elicit positive emotions. Therefore our research set out to determine how typology of urban green space affected human emotion (how happy people felt) and whether more positive emotion was associated with higher biodiversity (as determined by bird species richness and habitat number) and participants’ perceptions of biodiversity or bird abundance.

The detailed method and results can be found in the full paper, but in brief results showed a strong relationship between levels of bird biodiversity within a green space and emotional response to that space. People reported being:

• Happier in sites with greater variety of birds.
• Happier in sites with a greater variety of habitats

Further, these relationships were strengthened when people thought the site was wildlife rich, even if it was not. The results strengthen the argument that nature enhances wellbeing through positive affect, and that increased engagement with nature may help support human wellbeing within urban environments. The results also have strong implications for city planning with respect to the design, management and use of city green spaces.

The positive results were found even when the green spaces may not necessarily be regarded as ‘top quality’ in terms of infrastructure, management and wildlife habitat. For example, a park with the highest bird biodiversity and habitat number and therefore promoting positive emotions, did not warrant a ‘Green Flag’ award; a standard based on public accessibility, environmental standards, maintenance levels and facilities available. Perhaps there’s a need for a ‘Green Heart’ award for those places that best enhance wellbeing and facilitate nature connectedness through facilitating the pathways to nature connectedness.

The results are also encouraging as the general publics’ perceived biodiversity related strongly with actual bird biodiversity. This provides further evidence of people having an innate, but latent, connection to the rest of the natural world – or the secret network of nature. Also, there was some evidence that engagement with nature increased with use of the smartphone app, perceptions of biodiversity and emotional levels increased, suggesting that noticing the good things in nature (which increased nature connectedness) stimulated people to become more aware of nature.

Our previous work shows that engagement with nature’s beauty mediates the relationship between nature connectedness and happiness. Another interesting aspect of the results was that people with a high level of engagement with natural beauty responded less positively when they perceived low biodiversity than those with less engagement. Also, those more engaged with nature’s beauty responded more positively when they thought the green space was biologically rich. This suggests that for people who have a strong appreciation of nature’s beauty viewing biodiversity is important for positive emotions. However, they may also have the most to lose emotionally if green spaces become less diverse. The conundrum here is that we need people to have a stronger connection with the rest of nature to bring about pro-nature behaviours, yet in doing so we could expose more people to lower positive emotions and eco-anxiety if closer relationships with nature aren’t matched with the restoration of nature.

Further the results suggest that not any type of wildlife will do. Our relationships between positive emotions and bird biodiversity were stronger than those with bird species abundance, though the relationships with abundance improved when the more common species like pigeons and ducks were removed from the analysis. It is important that policy makers and conservation bodies maximise the opportunities to enhance biodiversity within urban areas – it is encounters with a variety of wildlife that appears important to many city residents.

A variety of birds is best for wellbeing

In sum, the results show some of the strongest correlations between urban biodiversity and positive emotions published to date. Policy makers need to consider more carefully the value that wildlife has for urban residents – our analysis of the good things in nature showed urban wildlife was important. The research strengthens the arguments that positive emotions can be strongly influenced by a connection to nature and the opportunity to engage with nature and appreciate its beauty. The results suggest that the type of green space matters and planners need to give space for quite extensive, diverse, green landscapes within urban areas. Finally, the results also suggest there is a need to move beyond access to connection and engagement – creating green spaces that prompt and give the opportunity to engage with a range of wildlife and the good things in nature.

Cameron, R.W.F., Brindley, P., Mears, M. et al. Where the wild things are! Do urban green spaces with greater avian biodiversity promote more positive emotions in humans?. Urban Ecosyst (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-020-00929-z

For a couple of days last week I took part in an outdoor experiences workshop with the National Trust in the Heddon Valley in Devon. Eighteen or so people took part, all successful and creative in their own areas. It was an immersive time, both perspectives and rain! Ideas flowed and this blog emerged as I worked through them on my return.

I live far from the coast, so I purposefully arrived to catch the last of the light for a walk to the coast. After several months inland and four hours in the confines of a car the hit of arriving on the pebble beach was emotional and inspiring – energetic yet calming.

Arrival – becoming part of the whole

After a day exploring the valley, we were invited to share provocations, mine included:

• We are not a nation of nature lovers.
• Our relationship with (the rest of) nature has failed.

But there is hope for a new relationship and a good, worthwhile life:

• We have a deep latent connection with (the rest of) nature.
• Simple activities in nature can help reconnect.

Simple things matter

For me, within the many ideas and perspectives, simplicity was a theme over the two days. The dramatic landscape of Heddon is built from many simple things. The need to prompt and pause, to look and listen, was mentioned often. Whether it’s urban nature or a more natural valley we need reminders to pause on our journeys. Our successful interventions to notice the good things are based on prompts and I’ve written about affordances and designing human-nature interactions before. There are many creative ways to create prompts, pauses and new relationships – from technology and art works to simple looking and listening tools. We need more.

Simplicity: Listening to a Robin Sing

The latest research is starting to show how important the simple things in nature are for building nature connectedness, wellbeing and pro-nature behaviours. I pointed out that the origins of the National Trust align with the very latest research, through the writing of Octavia Hill for example. The power of this to me is that 125 years ago and more there was an awareness of the importance of the simple things in nature for wellbeing. The Victorian naturalist and writer Richard Jefferies saw our connection with nature and the impact on mental wellbeing:

“We are of the great community of living beings, indissolubly connected with them from the lowest to the highest by a thousand ties” & “The mind joys in the knowledge that it too is a part of this wonder—akin to the ten thousand thousand creatures, akin to the very earth itself.”

The good things in nature are constant. Humans are fundamentally unchanged. It is our culture and technology that have changed and reinforced our disconnection from the rest of nature.

Listening to an excellent guide

One simple event on the first day was a trip to the cliff top for an unexpected cup of tea made from water boiled in a Kelly Kettle. I don’t think I was alone in finding this simple experience enjoyable and memorable. Once again simplicity matters.

The two days also made me reflect on how simple things can build to become an experience and the magic of the mundane versus curated events that can use the landscape to powerful effect – making meaning.

Making Meaning

The second day had a focus on creating great outdoor experiences and was, on reflection, a deep dive into creating meaning – one of the pathways to nature connectedness. We’ve put some work into understanding this pathway and improving our guidance on this pathway as initially it felt a little elusive despite it being central to human experience of nature. Our revised guidance refers to celebrating the mystery, signs and cycles of nature. To creating stories and folktales – letting nature be your story. I’ve also realised that knowledge about nature should be used as a tool to unlock meaning – and the other pathways.

So the perspectives of others more used to creating meaning were of great interest. Encouragingly, there was talk of creating tradition, ritual and personal stories – ‘Where you go changes who you become’. More can be done on how the pathways and elements of a story can interact – helping people step towards our pathways strapline – ‘Let nature be your story’. Later on day two when talking about woodland, I shared how some traditional folktales teach the danger of the woods, and suggested the need for new folktales about the danger of a warming climate and loss of wildlife.

Also encouraging was regular talk of relationships with nature – and play, another topic I’ve been keen to pursue, but these things need an injection of creativity and expertise. Bringing together the various perspectives and experience over two days is a great way to develop new ways to help create a new relationship with nature.

Micro-Activities & Actions

Building on simple things there was talk of small actions taken by many – the valley gets a lot of visitors. We’ve introduced nature as providing the ‘micro-foundations of well-being’ in papers written last year and our extended frameworks for nature engagement have recently been published.  I like the idea of micro-actions as well as prompts to pause and sense nature. Micro-actions to connect to nature and micro-actions to act for nature. Micro-volunteering perhaps where thousands of visitors do one simple thing. Micro acts for meaning where visitors share their experience to create a compelling vision for a new relationship with nature.

I expect many of us want to take away the feeling of a special time spent in nature. When returning from my initial walk to the sea I wanted to take that feeling away, there was a personal story to share, to be collected. There are many such stories to gather at the moment people are in a ‘changed state’ from their visit – their experience. This is also a form of listening, another key message from the two days. To listen to visitors. To listen to those that stay away. Set a direction for a new relationship with nature and listen to how to get there.

Guest blog by Rachel Howfield Massey

As an arts and wellbeing practitioner specialising in the benefits of nature connection I work creatively with people in nature supporting them to gain a sense of connection with themselves and their surroundings. It was a great pleasure recently to talk to Miles about the creative and playful approaches I am developing in my work with museums, galleries and heritage sector. We talked about the resources I’ve designed, including my origami ‘Nature Explore’ game, which has a series of open-ended questions to take the user on a journey of any distance and make nature connection discoveries along the way.

Resources – Other Ways to Walk origami ‘nature explore’ game

I was particularly interested in Miles’s matrix of ‘micro-activities’, as a foundation for developing prompts for nature connectedness focussed activities. I have developed a wide range of different resources, looking tools, invitations and activities to support nature connectedness, and it is interesting to think about them in relation to this matrix and the Five Pathways. I enjoy striking a balance between very practical activities, ‘look at a tree for a long time’ and more philosophical or poetic ideas ‘walk in a way that connects you with time and space’ – and sometimes the downright silly ‘follow a map of a different place’. I know from experience how these different approaches offer different ‘ways in’ for participants, but it’s great to map them against Miles’s matrix – and people always love to hear about how their nature connected experience is supported by measurable scientific evidence of the benefits to wellbeing.

My sessions and resources are necessarily open ended, designed to be used by people of all ages and abilities. They don’t follow prescribed routes or fixed activities and can be used in a tiny garden or on a full day hike, so the walker can create their own adventure of discovery. For example, my Other Ways to Walk cards include 15 individual cards with invitations to connect with nature and hand drawn images – use one card as a theme for a whole walk, or take turns to draw cards and follow the invitations.

Resources – Other Ways to Walk in Formal Parks cards

It’s impossible (and also undesirable) to plan a detailed session as the character of a particular stretch of path can change so dramatically from one hour to the next and real nature connection can only happen with what is actually there! A breeze might be rippling a field one moment and total stillness the next – a sudden blackbird alarm call can make you jump changing the mood entirely – bright sun gives way to cloud and thoughts close in.  There is no logical step-by-step process to nature connection, it’s an individual process and can happen in subtle or more powerful ways – but always based on meaningful engagement with nature.

For some, this might include invitations to slow down and linger using guided meditation, sensory activities, poetry and metaphor supported by reflective facilitated conversations. For others, it might involve games to randomise the route, or using chance to determine what activities we will do, drawing, poetry and various props to help people notice things that may have gone unnoticed. I’ve trained as a forest guide and mindfulness instructor, and also done a bit of animal tracking and forest immersion – magpie-like I take the bits that are relevant into my practice and synthesise them into whatever resource or activity is most appropriate for the circumstance.

Through a gradual process of carefully observing and listening to people in nature I am able to encourage them to follow their own fascination and curiosity, noticing what they are drawn to. This naturally leads to a sort of dance between the different themes identified in Miles’s matrix – an invitation to lie under a tree and notice movements in the branches can appear very passive, yet in reality the participant is moving between a great many experiences…

feeling the damp, cold earth under their body, smelling the earthy leaf litter, noticing sunlit spider threads, recalling childhood rolling down hills, appreciating details in the shape of branches,  feeling resonance or dissonance with the pace of movement in the branches, sensing changes in their thinking and emotions, wondering why they argued with their loved ones again that morning, hearing a dog in the distance, sounds bringing them back to the present and noticing that their attention had wandered from the tree, hearing birds, squirrels, the creak of the boughs, finding meaning in the way a robin flicks it’s tail, wondering how long they’ve got to lie here, feeling safe and protected by the tree, noticing a sense of opening and compassion…

The flow of thought and feeling interact with the sensory prompts from nature. People can simultaneously be admiring beauty, feeling compassion, connecting with feelings and tuning into their senses then without noticing this dissolves into thinking, planning, remembering, disconnecting from this experience of lying under a tree. The value is in noticing when they come back, training their senses to notice how it feels. As a guide I see it as my role to set the conditions and hold the space for this to happen, then to drop in facts or information to encourage or support one of the five pathways or link to another. For example, people sometimes need their words repeating back to them ‘so lying under the tree helped you feel safe – do you think the tree felt safe too? What could you do to help the trees stay safe?’ (linking to ‘emotions’ and ‘compassion’ in the matrix.)

Workshop Participant.  Photo Credit: Paul Floyd Blake

The real challenge for me is to facilitate learning from these experiences – to encourage reflexive behaviours and an understanding of how people can take this into their lives – so much of it happens inside someone’s mind, it can be hard to tell what’s happening.  Occasionally, someone joyously declares their life has been transformed and I go home with an extra glow – a recent participant said the experience was ‘like a kind of magic fairy dust. You’ve opened me up. I can see beauty in the world that wasn’t there before.’ These words have helped me too – to notice and welcome that feeling of joy when I notice some beautiful detail in nature.

Rachel Howfield Massey is arts and wellbeing practitioner and founder of Other Ways to Walk. She develops bespoke resources and offers training and consultancy.

For more information:

www.otherwaystowalk.co.uk

info@otherwaystowalk.co.uk

Facebook: @OtherWaysToWalk

Twitter: @rachelhowfield

A theme of my research into improving our relationship with nature for both human and nature’s wellbeing has been that the simple things in nature matter. Our first intervention was simply noticing the ‘good things in nature’. Jotting down the good things in nature each day for a week led to sustained increases in nature connectedness – which helps us feel good and function well – and also increases pro-nature behaviours.

More recently we developed a smartphone app to prompt people to notice the good things in urban nature. People wrote about breeze in the trees, beauty of flowers, active wildlife, changing seasons, birds singing.  Doing so for a week led to a sustained improvement in nature connectedness and clinically significant improvements in mental health. It’s clear – simple moments matter. There is magic in the power of everyday nature because we evolved to make sense of nature.

Sadly, people tend not to notice nature. There are many demands for our attention and nature features less and less in our lives. Indeed, the climate and wildlife emergencies show that our relationship with nature is broken. Fixing that relationship requires transformational change throughout society. However, part of that change is more people being more aware of the benefits of a close relationship with nature. Reminding people to pause and notice the good things in nature.

We need a Green Care Code. A code where we care for nature and we care for ourselves. A future with more wildlife and more enjoyment of it.  For those old enough, the green care code, makes on think of the green cross code road safety campaign, which raises a wider point, where are the Public information films for the climate emergency? Where are the information campaigns for the biodiversity crisis?  Over the decades there have been public information films for crossing the road, road safety more generally, danger of farms and railways, swimming and ponds. There have also been extensive government health campaigns on smoking, drinking and eating. As there’s no well-being without nature’s well-being, new campaigns are needed as part of the transformational change required for a sustainable future. Currently, nature is overlooked too often. For example – as I’ve posted before – there’s no reference to the benefits of nature in the 5 Ways to Wellbeing. This matters because we need to emphasise the essential role of nature in our lives wherever we can.

Our latest article in Landscape and Urban Planning provides a thematic analysis of the good things in urban nature. The results are pioneering in that they begin to define the components of urban green space that have most value and meaning for urban citizens. I then combined the themes with the pathways to nature connectedness to produce a matrix of ‘micro-activities’. This provides a framework to inform many nature engagement activities, from social media content to urban planning – more on that later.

The research was part of the £1.3 million Natural Environment Research Council funded project IWUN: Improving Wellbeing through Urban Nature. The Nature Connectedness Research Group at the University of Derby led the work package that developed the smartphone intervention that prompted users to notice the good things in urban nature each day for 7 days. We found that increasing connection to urban nature can bring clinically significant improvements in quality of life for those with living with a mental health difficulty – and bring significant benefits to all adults.

This research moves beyond our previous work by identifying common themes in the good things in nature that led to clinically significant improvements in wellbeing in an urban environment. Qualitative analysis of participants’ observations about the good things in urban green spaces revealed a number of themes.

The good things in urban nature

The dominant theme which emerged was participants’ wonder at encountering animals in day-to-day urban settings. Within this theme of appreciating urban nature, a large number of observations in the study related to the enjoyment of hearing bird song.

The second largest theme was that of expressing gratitude for street trees. The third most represented theme was the awe participants expressed at dramatic skies and views from high up looking down over the city. Minor themes included: green planting amongst built space; noticing flowering plants; mentions of water; natures beauty; feelings of awe and calm; . Of the main themes, it is interesting that biotic themes (e.g. Wonder at encountering animals; Gratitude for trees) had greater representation than abiotic themes (e.g. awe at dramatic skies and views). This may be indicative of our ‘biophilia’.

The good things in nature data and themes generated provide an insight to what people appreciate in urban nature. Therefore, when setting out to engage people with nature it is sensible to highlight them. Further, the pathways to nature connectedness provide a theoretical background and framework of the types of activity in nature required to improve nature connectedness. The themes and the pathways can be combined as each pathway activity can be developed around a theme of the good things in nature. Such matrix of themed activities can inform specific efforts to connect people to urban nature.

Indicative matrix of micro-activities from combining the good things in nature themes and pathways to nature connectedness to provide the micro-foundations for nature connectedness and inform activity programming, nature engagement media content, intervention and urban design. From https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.103687

The matrix of 40 activities are indicative suggestions generated from combining the data themes and pathways. They aren’t intended to be exhaustive and provide example prompts for a wide range of nature connectedness focussed activities. Content for the matrix can be adapted or revised from differing perspectives such as mental health or urban planning through consulting experts and practitioners in those domains.

Given the basis in the pathways to nature connectedness and the good things in urban nature, the approach can be used for a variety of purposes around engaging adults with urban nature. For example, they can inform activity programming (especially when combined with a range of arts from photography to creative writing), social-media content for nature engagement and the design of green spaces.  As an example, an activity could be focussed on water, with elements that draw out the deeper relationships of the compassion and meaning pathways not seen when simply noticing the good things. The meaning theme provides a prompt for deeper reflection on why the good things in urban nature are inherently good, using metaphors to communicate these ideas. Therefore the water-meaning intersection provides a prompt for those involved in cultural programming in urban areas with access to water. Or, from the perspective of the urban planner or designer the water-meaning intersection provides a prompt to allow space for cultural programming close to water or specific infrastructure (e.g. social spaces, art installations, boardwalks) designed to to afford the activities and encourage deeper relationships between people and nature.

The results are pioneering in that they begin to define the components of urban green space that have most value and meaning for urban citizens; values and meanings that may strongly underpin an individual’s mental health given the results from associated research. Through combining the themes with the pathways to nature connectedness, the paper provides matrix of activities to prompt activity programming, nature engagement media content, interventions and urban design. Given the benefits to wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour, it is important to align the aspects of urban nature that people enjoy with activity programming, intervention design, policy makers’ and town planners’ views of how best to design and develop cities.

This blog is based on excerpts from a post-print of the published article available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.103687