Nature Connection

Nature connection is the diverse ways in which meaningful experiences are had with nature and that are claimed to have positive impacts on the wellbeing of people and the environment. Definitions range holistically across mind, body and emotional engagements. Activities in nature are understood variously as taking place everywhere or only in wild settings. There is a long history of modern society’s apparent disconnection from nature with related counter movements. Latterly, there has been a renaissance of the urgent need to understand and value humans as natural in order to tackle urgent environmental crises on a global scale. As a result, research to better understand what has become known as nature connectedness has grown rapidly as have instruments to measure the quality and impact of connections. Educational practices are increasingly alert to the need to promote nature connectedness with significant changes in policy and practice to encourage experiences in what is perceived as nature. Many of the environmental education themes in this book are currently being influenced by the trends explored in this chapter.