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Creating nature-based play settings for children through looking, listening, learning and modifying in a Swedish landscape laboratory

Mårtensson, Fredrika ; Wiström, Björn ; Hedblom, Marcus ; Litsmark, Anna LU orcid ; Gabriel, Amanda ; Herngren, Linnea ; Ågren, Josefin and Sang, Åsa Ode (2025) In Socio-Ecological Practice Research
Abstract
Children's outdoor play and access to nature are important for their health and development of environmental agency but there is a global decline of green spaces available to them. The aim is to explore the possibilities of creating nature-based outdoor settings for play and learning which benefit children as well as the wildlife and wider ecosystems. A fieldwork on developing nature based play settings in an outdoor landscape laboratory in Sweden involved university students (3 days) and children, two groups of 3–5 years olds (8 days) and one group of 6-year-olds (4 days). Field notes from ethnographic work was at the core of the process and involved practitioners and scholars in landscape architecture, vegetation design, ecology and... (More)
Children's outdoor play and access to nature are important for their health and development of environmental agency but there is a global decline of green spaces available to them. The aim is to explore the possibilities of creating nature-based outdoor settings for play and learning which benefit children as well as the wildlife and wider ecosystems. A fieldwork on developing nature based play settings in an outdoor landscape laboratory in Sweden involved university students (3 days) and children, two groups of 3–5 years olds (8 days) and one group of 6-year-olds (4 days). Field notes from ethnographic work was at the core of the process and involved practitioners and scholars in landscape architecture, vegetation design, ecology and environmental psychology. An iterative place-based process of learning guided the process, including following phases: (1) looking and listening attentive to the physical environment and to the children´s activities in a setting (2) transdisciplinary learning based on results from the analysis of field notes and the dialogues, and, (3) modifications of settings. In two of the five settings investigated an intervention to improve the setting was set up, followed by further investigations, illustrating the iterative character of the process with elements of co-creation. The results reveal the potentials in collaborative work setting out to develop features in nature as woodland, meadow, water and paths, so that they align well with children´s needs as well as nature conservation. The material should be useful in efforts to make natural environment more accessible to children and to the conceptual development of play biotopes, useful in the design and management of sustainable living environments.

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Contribution to journal
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published
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in
Socio-Ecological Practice Research
external identifiers
  • scopus:85217249574
DOI
10.1007/s42532-024-00208-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2785a369-b547-4040-a2d3-7960df51107f
date added to LUP
2025-01-27 09:51:15
date last changed
2025-04-09 09:48:37
@article{2785a369-b547-4040-a2d3-7960df51107f,
  abstract     = {{Children's outdoor play and access to nature are important for their health and development of environmental agency but there is a global decline of green spaces available to them. The aim is to explore the possibilities of creating nature-based outdoor settings for play and learning which benefit children as well as the wildlife and wider ecosystems. A fieldwork on developing nature based play settings in an outdoor landscape laboratory in Sweden involved university students (3 days) and children, two groups of 3–5 years olds (8 days) and one group of 6-year-olds (4 days). Field notes from ethnographic work was at the core of the process and involved practitioners and scholars in landscape architecture, vegetation design, ecology and environmental psychology. An iterative place-based process of learning guided the process, including following phases: (1) looking and listening attentive to the physical environment and to the children´s activities in a setting (2) transdisciplinary learning based on results from the analysis of field notes and the dialogues, and, (3) modifications of settings. In two of the five settings investigated an intervention to improve the setting was set up, followed by further investigations, illustrating the iterative character of the process with elements of co-creation. The results reveal the potentials in collaborative work setting out to develop features in nature as woodland, meadow, water and paths, so that they align well with children´s needs as well as nature conservation. The material should be useful in efforts to make natural environment more accessible to children and to the conceptual development of play biotopes, useful in the design and management of sustainable living environments.<br/><br/>}},
  author       = {{Mårtensson, Fredrika and Wiström, Björn and Hedblom, Marcus and Litsmark, Anna and Gabriel, Amanda and Herngren, Linnea and Ågren, Josefin and Sang, Åsa Ode}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  series       = {{Socio-Ecological Practice Research}},
  title        = {{Creating nature-based play settings for children through looking, listening, learning and modifying in a Swedish landscape laboratory}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42532-024-00208-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s42532-024-00208-7}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}