Outdoor Education News

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on Wednesday temporarily waived National Park Service entrance fees to make it easier for people to get outdoors and “implement some social distancing.” The National Park Service says it’s adhering to the latest guidelines from the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vowing to keep outdoor spaces ….  Read More

In Ireland, the National Parks and Wildlife Service has raised concerns that people out walking in parks and elsewhere outdoors are failing to maintain advised social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.The parks service called on “individuals to avoid congregating closely in large groups, even in these outdoor areas,” and to maintain 6.5 feet between ….  Read More

Councilors in the Dutch city of Breda have launched a national campaign to give equal opportunities for outdoor play to children with disabilities. Breda is the latest Dutch city to raise the issue of an outdoor play provision for Dutch children. Over the next two years, the aim is to raise awareness of ‘play for ….  Read More

The 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety (Ministerial Conference) held in Stockholm, Sweden has called on countries to impose mandatory 20mph limits in urban areas to help cut deaths and injuries to pedestrians, including many children. Held in the final year of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, the conference brought government ….  Read More

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) used social media and artificial intelligence (AI) to look at the connection between nature experiences and happiness. The team analyzed over 31,500 photographs across 185 countries on social media with the help of an automated image recognition technology, finding global evidence of the biophilia ….  Read More

As the income gap becomes more pronounced in US cities, the number of school-age children is dropping as families move out to the suburbs. In 2018 about 12 percent of children aged 17 and under lived in the principal city of a metropolitan area, down from 14.6 percent in 2010. In addition, data from the ….  Read More

Outdoor or nature-based preschools have expanded dramatically in recent years, from just a handful of programs a decade ago to more than 400 across the US today. Now, as outdoor preschools look for a way to expand, the schools and their supporters are pushing states to consider licensing programs, even in places where children can encounter wild animals ….  Read More

New research from the European Centre for Environmental and Human Health at the University of Exeter shows that people who spend time in nature are more likely to engage in environmentally friendly behaviors. Using data from more than 24,000 English adults, the researchers found that exposure to nature, including strolling through a city park, makes people ….  Read More

A recent study from Canadian researchers found that adolescents consider being outdoors less important than access to screens. The study, which was published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health, also found that the addictive nature of screen time was a barrier to connecting with nature for this group.

New research led by University of Washington researchers found that experiencing wilderness is important for our physical and mental health. The study, based in Discovery Park in Seattle, reports that exposure to wilderness is especially important in urban landscapes, even compared to other types of natural areas. The research was prompted by the park’s advisory ….  Read More

According to a research team in Mexico, children who grow up feeling close to nature are happier and more likely to become eco-friendly, compared to those who suffer from nature deficit disorder. The researchers surveyed nearly 300 children to find a link between ecological and sustainable awareness and feelings of happiness. The study is the ….  Read More

The New York State Senate passed the Outdoor Rx Act which will lower barriers for veterans to access New York State’s scenic and restorative outdoor spaces. More than 800,000 veterans live in New York State, but numerous barriers often prevent them from exercising their human right to access nature.

New research from an interdisciplinary Cornell team has found that as little as 10 minutes in a natural setting can help college students feel happier and lessen the effects of both physical and mental stress. The research, published in Frontiers in Psychology, is part of a larger examination of the therapeutic benefits of nature for college ….  Read More

No single country is adequately protecting children’s health, their environment and their futures, says a major new report by over 40 child and adolescent health experts from around the world. The report references UNICEF’s work in child-friendly cities, with an emphasis on walkability, outdoor play, and green space in cities for the benefit of children.

Researchers from the University of South Australia found that nature play positively impacts the health and development of children ages two to 12. The study, published in the journal PLOS One, found that nature play improved children’s levels of physical activity, health-related fitness, motor skills, learning, and social and emotional development. It also showed that ….  Read More

The findings of a study of indigenous people in southern Chile challenge Western assumptions about the value of spending time outdoors to help children regulate their emotions. The study surveyed 271 parents and teachers in southern Chile, approximately half of which were Mapuche, an indigenous people of the region. Researchers found that the Mapuche parents believe ….  Read More

In Baltimore, local councilor Ryan Dorsey seeks to change a law that bans children from playing outdoors in the city. Dorsey aims to repeal a key element of the city code which makes it unlawful for any person to ‘play ball, fly a kite or throw a stone or other object or missile while in ….  Read More

A new study suggests that physically and psychologically reconnecting with nature can be beneficial for human health and wellbeing, while at the same time encouraging individuals to act in ways that protect the health of the planet. Conducted by researchers at the University of Plymouth, Natural England, the University of Exeter and University of Derby, ….  Read More

The Real Play Coalition, a global play rights alliance founded by National Geographic, The Lego Foundation and IKEA, says society has an obligation to reclaim play in cities because of the critical role of play in child development and learning. The coalition published this conclusion is a new report, “Reclaiming Play in Cities – The Real ….  Read More

The city of Boston will invest $28 million in improving the 500-acre urban park, Franklin Park, and is looking for city residents for guidance on aspects such as inclusivity and access. The park is the city’s largest outdoor space and is located in a racially diverse area of the city. The planning process for the ….  Read More

A new report from the City Parks Alliance showcases seven US cities that are leading the way in using their budgets to fund parks more equitably. As residents with lower incomes are less likely to find green space nearby in their neighborhoods in several major U.S. metro areas, the report gives recommendations for using parks funding allocations ….  Read More

The city of Atlanta has taken a step closer to its commitment to providing all residents with green and equitable space with the recent acquisition of nearly 13 acres of green space intended to become a new park. Officials say it’s one of the largest acquisitions of green space ever in Southwest Atlanta. While Atlanta ….  Read More

The Association of Play Industries (API) has launched a new initiative aimed at getting children outdoors, using playgrounds over the winter. With the vast majority of families living in urban areas, community playgrounds are often their only chance to get children playing outdoors, however, the winter months present even more challenges. The new initiative builds ….  Read More

People in the US are spending less time outdoors, according to a new 2019 Outdoor Foundation study, with children participating in 15 percent fewer outdoor activities in 2018 than they did six years before. The study found that nearly half of the U.S. population does not participate in any outdoor recreation, with only 17.9 percent heading ….  Read More

Two million trees may be planted in UK cities and towns under a new development and planning framework that calls for a ‘fast track for beauty.’ An independent commission set up to advise the UK government on how to promote and increase the use of high-quality design for new homes and neighborhoods made the recommendation ….  Read More

A research team recently looked at the needs of apartment-dwelling families in Australia, finding that such families have an even greater need for local nature due to limited and confining space within apartment complexes. The researchers point out that, as the number of families living in apartments continues to increase, apartment housing is not meeting ….  Read More

A new draft report from the Oregon Governor’s Task Force on the Outdoors recommends efforts to reach out to minority groups about outdoor recreation and make state parks more accessible to people with disabilities. To encourage more diversity, the report proposes minority communities should have a hand in land management planning as well as hiring ….  Read More

Over the last five years, Utah’s Outdoor Recreation Grant program has invested approximately $10 million into 155 projects across the state, dedicating even more resources toward the program. Created to help communities around the state fund outdoor recreation infrastructure to help drive tourism, the program has funded the construction of new hiking and mountain biking ….  Read More

A massive decline in mainly urban playgrounds across the UK has urged the the Association of Play Industries (API) to warn the country’s political leaders that they must take measures to reverse with the ‘inactivity crisis’ among children. API representatives say the massive decline in public playgrounds is a public health issue and that, unless ….  Read More

More than 160,000 people could die over the next decade from strokes and heart attacks caused by air pollution warns the British Heart Foundation (BHF). While there are an estimated 11,000 deaths per year at the moment, BHF cautions that this number will rise as the population continues to age and wants the UK to ….  Read More

A study published in the journal Climate examines the link between historical housing policies to exposure to current deadly heatwaves. The study finds that deadly urban heatwaves disproportionately affect underserved neighborhoods because of the legacy of racist housing policies that have denied African Americans homeownership and basic public services. Each year, more than 600 Americans die ….  Read More

A new report on the impact of road traffic accidents involving children reports that such accidents are a grave public health issue facing developing countries. The report from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) highlights the impact that traffic incidents with victims aged 0 to 17 have on a country’s economy and ….  Read More

For its first round of No Child Left Inside grants, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources received an overwhelming response to its call for grant proposals. Program administrators received 200 applications in just six minutes from schools, nonprofits and community organizations. The majority of projects were focused on trying to conduct classes outside, at their school. ….  Read More

As the number of people with myopia, or short-sightedness, has increased dramatically in recent years in various regions of the world, the risk of blindness with worsening severity of myopia has made the condition a major public health concern. While many studies have looked at possible risk factors, only a few factors have come out consistently around the ….  Read More

In a study published in the Journal of Urban Landscape and Planning, Australian researchers found that having a playground nearby can add value to property. The presence of a playground added about 4.6 percent to the average property price. Researchers used ten years of property price history in a specific region of Australia to try to ….  Read More

Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland found that children living in metropolitan areas have weaker motor skills compared with children living in the countryside. Study results also showed that children from the countryside spent more time outdoors, while children from the metropolitan area most frequently engaged in organized sports.

An international health research centre which looked at city children’s habits found that watching television is the lifestyle habit ‘most strongly associated’ with obesity in children. Researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) studied 1,480 children, looking at five lifestyle habits: physical activity, sleep time, television time, plant-based food consumption and ultra-processed food ….  Read More

The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and the national nonprofit KidsGardening opened its Gro More Good Grassroots Grants, an annual grant program designed to get more kids outside through the development of youth-based garden and greenspace programs. The Gro More Good Grassroots Grants will support all types of community-driven garden and greenspace projects that directly engage youth. Grant funding will ….  Read More

A study examining the relationship between exposure to a household pet cat or dog during the first 12 years of life and having a subsequent diagnosis of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder found that exposure to a household pet dog was associated with a significantly decreased hazard of having a subsequent diagnosis of schizophrenia. The researchers ….  Read More

The National Park Service announced five fee-free days for the year ahead, applying to the 111 park sites that normally charge visitors. The number of free days is the same as last year, but down from the 10 that were offered in 2017 as part of the National Park Service’s centennial celebration.

Playgrounds across Colorado have been redesigned with an emphasis on natural materials such as stumps and boulders instead of slides and swings as part of the ECHO program. ECHO or the Early Childhood Health Outdoors initiative is a joint venture of the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Learning Initiative at North Carolina State University that ….  Read More

Adidas Outdoor has launched the Urban Climbing Project, a pilot project introducing the sport of climbing to young people in inner-city Manchester, UK. The project has launched with 83 local schoolchildren from six different primary and secondary schools in the city. Adidas Outdoor hopes to expand the Urban Climbing Project in 2020, offering learn to ….  Read More

Researchers at Guangzhou’s South China Institute of Environmental Sciences found that children at schools with more trees and green space are less likely to have ADHD. After assessing the surrounding environments of the schools of almost 60,000 youngsters in China, the study showed that children were less likely to have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder if their school offered ….  Read More

The Boulder, Colorado-based organization, Growing Up Boulder, has created the nation’s first printed kid-friendly city map, designed to help parents and children find such child-friendly spaces such as parks and nature trails in the city. Growing Up Boulder collaborated with more than 30 organizations and 700 children, caregivers, and teachers to complete the map. The ….  Read More