Teach on the beach within reach: the challenges of, and opportunities for creating place-responsive activities for primary aged children in an area of urban deprivation in the UK

Heather Prince is Professor Emerita of Outdoor and Environmental Education at the University of Cumbria, Associate Tutor at the University of Edinburgh and Visiting Professor at Plymouth Marjon University, UK. Her research and practice interests are in enabling all children and young people to learn and spend time outdoors, with a focus on accessibility and inclusion. Many coastal towns comprise some of the most disadvantaged communities in the UK. These areas, often with an industrial legacy have been marginalised through government underfunding over many years resulting in social, health and economic inequalities in, and challenges for their populations. Children and young people live near the sea but many rarely or never visit it as there are challenges and barriers to accessing coastal areas and exploring their affordances. However, there are recent funded initiatives to facilitate place-based, experiential outdoor learning to provide opportunities to inspire children and young people about their environment and local community towards increased place attachment, place identity (Lewicka, 2011; Scannell & Gifford, 2013) and place-responsiveness (Mannion & Lynch, 2016). It is hoped that these experiences will provide communities with an increased sense of belonging to their local places and spaces, enhancing the way in which they value and care for these coastal environments to become active citizens for a sustainable future.