Browsing by Author "Lumber, Ryan"

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    Beyond knowing nature: Contact, emotion, compassion, meaning, and beauty are pathways to nature connection
    (PLOS ONE, 2017-05-09) Lumber, Ryan; Richardson, Miles; Sheffield, David
    Feeling connected to nature has been shown to be beneficial to wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour. General nature contact and knowledge based activities are often used in an attempt to engage people with nature. However the specific routes to nature connectedness have not been examined systematically. Two online surveys (total n = 321) of engagement with, and value of, nature activities structured around the nine values of the Biophila Hypothesis were conducted. Contact, emotion, meaning, and compassion, with the latter mediated by engagement with natural beauty, were predictors of connection with nature, yet knowledge based activities were not. In a third study (n = 72), a walking intervention with activities operationalising the identified predictors, was found to significantly increase connection to nature when compared to walking in nature alone or walking in and engaging with the built environment. The findings indicate that contact, emotion, meaning, compassion, and beauty are pathways for improving nature connectedness. The pathways also provide alternative values and frames to the traditional knowledge and identification routes often used by organisations when engaging the public with nature.
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    Evaluating connection to nature and the relationship with conservation behaviour in children
    (Elsievier, 2018-07-24) Hughes, Joelene; Richardson, Miles; Lumber, Ryan
    ‘Connection to nature’ is a multidimensional trait thought to be important for developing positive conservation behaviours, and strengthening people’s connection to nature has become the focus for many conservation activities. A connection to nature may be developed through repeated engagement with nature, and experiences during childhood are thought to be particularly significant. However, many children today are considered to have a low connection to nature, presenting a critical challenge for the future of nature conservation. Several instruments have been developed for measuring connection to nature. These instruments are important for establishing current levels and thresholds of connection and evaluating efforts to improve connection, yet the way the instruments and the derived scores relate to the term ‘connection’ frequently used in conservation discourse has, so far, been overlooked. In this study, we interrogate Cheng et al’s (2012) Connection to Nature Index (CNI) and develop a refined “gradient of connection” based on the instrument structure, proposing boundaries of low (below 4.06), mild (between 4.06 and 4.56) and strong (over 4.56) connection that are relevant for conservation activities. Furthermore, we show how the suggested boundaries relate to self-reported conservation behaviours with a high probability of performing behaviours (> 70%) only reached at strong levels of connection. Our data show that, in agreement with current perceptions, the population of UK children surveyed have a low connection to nature and are unlikely to be performing many conservation behaviours. This demonstrates how the index can be used to measure and evaluate connection in populations in a way that will enhance future conservation efforts.
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    Factors associated with nature connectedness in school-aged children
    (Elsevier, 2022-02-02) Price, Eluned; Maguire, Sarah; Firth, Catherine; Lumber, Ryan; Richardson, Miles; Young, Richard
    Increasing people's sense of connectedness to nature has the potential to be a powerful tool in driving pro-conservation behaviours, as well as improving physical and mental health. Multi-age cross-sectional studies have shown that nature connectedness significantly dips after early childhood before recovering in adulthood. However, the precise pattern of this age-related decline is not well-described or understood. We conducted a questionnaire survey of children living on the island of Jersey, Channel Islands, using the Nature Connection Index (NCI) to identify biological, behavioural and social factors associated with nature connectedness levels. Using an information-theoretic approach, we analysed data from 17% of all Jersey's children aged between 7-18 years (N=1872) to investigate the effects of age, gender, school location and funding type. NCI levels were consistently higher in girls than in boys, and declined with age in both sexes into the early teens. Children attending schools in urban areas, particularly at primary level, had a lower mean NCI than those in rural locations. In adolescents (11-18 years), self-reported daily screen time was negatively correlated with NCI scores. Most students reported that their home was the place they preferred to relax, but the majority chose a natural environment as their favourite place. Our results confirm the marked decline in nature connectedness after early childhood but also point to interventions that may help reduce this deterioration, with associated wellbeing and behaviour change benefits.
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    HFE in Biophilic Design: Human Connections with Nature
    (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2018-04) Lumber, Ryan; Richardson, Miles; Albertsen, Jo-Anne
    Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) pays insufficient attention to nature based solutions for workplace issues, despite evidence for its effectiveness, while also being relatively inexpensive to implement. Lumber, Richardson and Albertsen discuss research evidence for the well-being, health, attention and sustainability benefits of belonging to a wider natural community through nature connection and biophilic design within work-based environments. From there, the importance of practitioner’s utilising natural elements in workplace environments is highlighted before Lumber, Richardson and Albertsen provide a critical outline for how these often-overlooked elements of human connections with nature can be incorporated into HFE for happier, healthier, more sustainable, and productive workplaces.
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    The importance of Forest School and the Pathways to nature connection
    (Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 2021-02-18) Cudworth, Dave; Lumber, Ryan
    Over the past 25 years Forest School in the UK has been growing in popularity as part of a wider resurgence of interest in outdoor learning. A key driver behind this recurrence of interest has been a growing concern over the lack of child exposure to outdoor experiences and with the natural world and their ensuing nature-deficit disorder. This article considers Forest School as linked with the concept of nature connection that is the sensation of belonging to a wider natural community. This sense of belonging developed by being in nature can also be a key factor in promoting attachment and sense of place which in turn is associated with the promotion of health, wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviours. As such the origins towards achieving nature connection are a formal part of the Forest School Association’s (FSA 2016) Forest School principals, with growing research linking Forest School and nature connection as concomitant. Recent work has suggested that contact, emotion, meaning, compassion, and beauty are key pathways for the formation of nature connection and there is a strong need to better understand children’s nature connection in this context. Further, from the premise that what goes on in spaces and places is fundamentally linked to both social and spatial processes, this article also attempts to understand the spatialities of Forest School in order to frame the development of nature connection within a socio-spatial analytic.
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    Nature Connections 2016 conference report: Implications for research and practice
    (University of Derby, 2017-03) Lumber, Ryan; Hunt, Anne; Richardson, Miles; Harvey, Caroline
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    Nature: A new paradigm for well-being and ergonomics
    (Taylor and Francis, 2016-02-15) Richardson, Miles; Maspero, Marta; Golightly, David; Sheffield, David; Staples, Vicky; Lumber, Ryan
    Nature is presented as a new paradigm for ergonomics. As a discipline concerned with well-being, the importance of natural environments for wellness should be part of ergonomics knowledge and practice. This position is supported by providing a concise summary of the evidence of the value of the natural environment to well-being. Further, an emerging body of research has found relationships between well-being and a connection to nature, a concept that reveals the integrative character of human experience which can inform wider practice and epistemology in ergonomics. Practitioners are encouraged to bring nature into the workplace, so that ergonomics keeps pace with the move to nature-based solutions, but also as a necessity in the current ecological and social context.
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    The Seven Pathways to Nature Connectedness: A Focus Group Exploration
    (European Journal of Ecopsychology, 2018-11) Lumber, Ryan; Richardson, Miles; Sheffield, David
    The Biophilia hypothesis has been a catalyst for research on the human-nature relationship, with connection to nature an important area. However, the mechanisms involved in achieving this connection have not been explored in a systematic way. Three focus groups were conducted using the Biophilia hypothesis as a framework to explore how connectedness to nature can be achieved from the perspective of individuals who engage with nature through the Biophilic values. Seven themes emerged from the thematic analysis: investigating nature through scientific enquiry, engaging the senses, creating idyllic nature, noting nature through artistry, nature conservation, growing food and engaging with wild nature. Nature connectedness may result from specific interactions with nature with the seven pathways having implications for both the formation and maintenance of nature connectedness. The factors identified should inform interventions to increase the nature connectedness of individuals with a low connection but further empirical study is required.
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    Three Good Things in Nature: A Nature-Based Positive Psychological Intervention to Improve Mood and Well-Being for Depression and Anxiety
    (Emerald Publishing, 2021-10-08) Keenan, Rosaline; Lumber, Ryan; Richardson, Miles; Sheffield, David
    Purpose: Visiting and connecting with nature through psychological interventions improves well-being within the general population. However, few such interventions have been conducted in clinically relevant populations. Design: An experimental design utilising a noticing Three Good Things in Nature (TGTiN) task during a nature based or urban (control) walk was conducted with nature connectedness, well-being, positive and negative affect measured at baseline, post and six-week follow-up. Individuals living with depression and/or anxiety (n = 50; 39 having a diagnosis) were randomly allocated to 30 minutes walking in nature or urban environments for five consecutive days. Findings: An ANCOVA, with age as co-variate, showed a significant effect of time by condition on all variables: nature connectedness ηp2= .34; positive affect ηp2= .42; negative affect ηp2= .66; well-being ηp2= .29. Post-hoc tests indicated a significant increase in nature connectedness and positive affect in the nature versus an urban walk at post and follow-up. Negative affect decreased in the nature walk at post intervention while well-being was significantly greater in the nature walk at follow-up. Originality: The TGTiN intervention effectively improves positive affect, and well-being in clinically relevant populations, although replication with a larger sample is warranted.