Natural values: promoting outdoor experiences for all children

Examples of best practice for promoting inclusion of all young people in real learning opportunities in school grounds and outdoor environmental centres. This chapter argues that all young people need access to nature and that this would have a beneficial effect on society and its environmental values. An innovative educational proposal to reconnect young people with the natural world was unveiled by the UK Sustainable Development Commission as a potential “Breakthrough for the 21st Century” in June 2009. This was one of 19 best ideas, selected from 300, to really inspire and motivate policy makers and others to catalyse change and accelerate the pace of progress on sustainable development over the next 3 to 5 years. Promoting outdoor experiences in school curricula to support changes in society’s values were selected by SDC as one of the 19 best ideas which could transform the UK into a sustainable society. The SDC’s Breakthroughs project set out to identify the ideas with the most potential for tackling climate change, resource depletion and inequality. Natural Values, an idea promoting outdoor experiences for all children in the UK, was submitted by Dr Kate Rawles and Dr Chris Loynes of the University of Cumbria.