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.” [+]

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?” [+]

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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