International News
Research & Studies | Health
Reuters Life – January 07, 2010
“Nature Starvation” Worries British Royal Society
By Paul Casciato
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Europe's largest wildlife conservation charity, says it has uncovered a worrying trend of "nature starvation" among young Britons. The society surveyed 1,000 people, and found that only a third of those under 35 feel connected to the natural world, compared with more than half of those over 35.
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Media & Culture | Resource
Times of London – July 14, 2009
Louv Introduces British Readers to Children and Nature Movement
By Richard Louv
In a lengthy article for the Times of London, Richard Louv introduces readers of the paper, as well as those of its affiliates across the globe, to the children and nature movement and summarizes some of the recent efforts within the UK and elsewhere to raise awareness of nature-deficit disorder. These include the just-released survey of 3,000 British parents by the National Trust, last year’s Report to Natural England on Childhood and Nature, and a BBC Wildlife Magazine survey that found many children in the UK cannot identify common species like bluebells and frogs. Louv’s article coincides with the British publication of his Last Child in the Woods this month.
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Resource
Daily Telegraph – June 21, 2009
Publication of Book Raises Awareness of Nature Deficit in UK
By Julia Llewelyn Smith
The UK publication of Richard Louv’s Last Child in the Woods is helping to raise awareness of nature-deficit disorder there. Scheduled to appear on shelves July 1, the book has already prompted at least one journalist to predict that it will increase the pressure that parents feel to give their children more access to nature.
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Education
Sunday Times (London) – April 26, 2009
Outdoor Preschools Gain Notice in UK
By Lucy Denyer
The Sunday Times of London recently reported on the Farley Outdoor Learning nursery in Wiltshire, one of a handful of preschools springing up in the UK that emphasize getting children outdoors. The report describes parents who send their children to the school as part of a “global movement of people who are starting to realize that keeping children cooped up indoors all day simply isn’t healthy.”
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Access
LiveMint – December 11, 2008
A Call for More Open Spaces for Kids in India
By Himanshu Burte
In a recent article, the architect and writer Himanshu Burte laments the lack of public spaces in India where children can play. “Our cities are expanding, filling up, going higher, and digging down,” he notes. “But have we left our kids behind in the rush?”
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Media & Culture | Campaign/Initiative
Persil – July 18, 2008
Persil Promotes Free Play in UK Campaign
Persil, a well-known maker of laundry detergents in the UK, is touting the benefits of unstructured outdoor play in a new national campaign aimed at parents. The company surveyed mothers, a majority of whom agreed that society had lost sight of the importance of play in a child’s learning process. The “every child has the right” campaign includes a television commercial in which a robot becomes a boy when it ventures outdoors and a website with tips to help families make free play a priority once again.
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Health
University of Essex – February 25, 2010
New UK Report Details Ten Priorities for Action
There's growing evidence that contact with nature and the physical activity related to this contact affect not only children's well-being in the present but also their health in later life. To encourage more such contact, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Environment and Society at the University of Essex in England has released "Nature, Childhood, Health and Life Pathways," a report that describes ten priorities for policy action to improve the well-being of both children and adults. [+]
Research & Studies | Media & Culture
The Telegraph – February 20, 2010
British Study Attributes Nature Disconnect to Parents’ Fears
By Julie Henry
British researchers have found that parents tend to limit family excursions to the countryside because of their own fears. The countryside, it seems, is out of the comfort zone of many affluent, suburban parents today.
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Education | Health
BBC – May 28, 2009
BBC Reports on Drive to Boost Outdoor Learning
The BBC recently reported on a Scottish effort to increase the amount of outdoor learning that preschool children experience. The government-backed initiative includes the opening of a special training center and a push for educators to look at returning some risk and adventure to their classes.
Media & Culture
3News – April 28, 2009
New Zealand TV Reports on Nature-Deficit Disorder
By Fran Price
A recent report on New Zealand’s 3 News TV looked at nature-deficit disorder and ways parents can interest their children in the outdoors.
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Event
Children and Nature Movement Gaining Momentum Worldwide
The children and nature movement received a major global boost recently at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress in Barcelona. [+]
Event
Royal Roads University – November 23, 2008
Children and Nature Forum Coming to British Columbia
The Children & Nature Network is co-sponsoring Get Outside! It’s in Our Nature, an international conference on children, families, and nature taking place next March in British Columbia. The forum will offer an opportunity for academics, educators, researchers, and youth to learn, share, and contribute to developing a strategy and action plan for British Columbia and its people. [+] [PDF]
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As part of our ongoing efforts to build the movement, the Children & Nature Network has published two new resources for leaders, organizers, and participants at the local, national, and international levels:
