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Outdoor spaces are a crucial component in empowering children and adults alike as they grow and develop.
Outdoor spaces are a crucial component in empowering children and adults alike as they grow and develop.
Research on Landscapes and Empowerment
Research on Landscapes and Empowerment
Research has strongly supported the theory that childhood development and enrichment are significantly enhanced by greenery in and around the classroom setting (Heerwagen and Orians 2002, Kellert 2002, 2005). The natural landscape and the designed spaces within it play a vital role in empowering children to learn, grow, and thrive.
Accessible and educational outdoor spaces are supplemental components of empowering children as they grow and supports the following:
Encouraging Curiosity
Encouraging Curiosity
Building Confidence
Building Confidence
Nurturing Educational Development
Nurturing Educational Development
Design Considerations for Empowerment
Design Considerations for Empowerment
Exploring a variety of design elements and qualities of inclusion, enrichment, and participation in nature is essential to increasing child empowerment in the spaces they occupy and use for their education. Actively participating in the experiences designers offer within the built environment is also essential to supporting the most beneficial experience that allows children to develop physical, social, cognitive, and emotional skills. Combining the participation of the youth in shaping their environments with increasing their access to enriching, natural spaces and healthy attachments to their outdoor environments helps to flourish children’s educational potential.
For successful design of educationally empowering landscapes, five important design considerations were identified:
Gathering Areas
Gathering Areas
Urban Meadows
Urban Meadows
Planting Beds
Planting Beds
Green Practices
Green Practices
Signage
Signage
Design Examples
Design Examples
Four case studies were identified as exemplifying a built landscape's ability to empower individuals and groups.
Brent Elementary Schoolyard Greening
Linden Waldorf School Outdoor Classroom
Dignity Village
Greening the Grounds Initiative
Sources
Sources
Bradekamp S, Copple C (1997) Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood education. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Brussoni, Mariana, Rebecca Gibbons, Casey Gray, Takuro Ishikawa, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, Adam Bienenstock, Guylaine Chabot et al. (2015). What is the relationship between risky outdoor play and health in children? A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(6), 6423-6454.
Heerwagen JH, Orians GH (2002) The ecological world of children. pp. 29–64. In Kahn PHJ, Kellert SR (eds.) Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Kellert SR (2002) Experiencing Nature: Affective, Cognitive and Evaluative Development. pp. 117–152. In Kahn PH, Kellert SR (eds.) Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Investigations. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press).
Kuo, Ming, Samantha E Klein, Matthew HEM Browning, and Jaime Zaplatosch. “Greening for academic achievement: Prioritizing what to plant and where.” Landscape and Urban Planning 206 (2021).
Sobel D (2017) Wild play: Parenting adventures in the great outdoors. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Wells, N. M., Myers, B. M., Todd, L. E., Barale, K., Gaolach, B., Ferenz, G., et al. (2015). The effects of school gardens on children’s science knowledge: A randomized controlled trial of low-income elementary schools. Int. J. Sci. Educ. 37, 2858–2878. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2015.1112048.
“Benefits of Outdoor Classrooms.” Nebraska Game & Parks Commission, 29 Mar. 2023, outdoornebraska.gov
Loebach, Janet, et al. The Routledge Handbook of Designing Public Spaces for Young People: Processes, Practices and Policies for Youth Inclusion. Routledge, Taylor et Francis Group, 2020.
“Outdoor Classroom Design Guide.” Boston Schoolyard Initiative | Design & Maintenance | Outdoor Classroom Design Guide, www.schoolyards.org/design.outdoor.html.
The Empowered Educator. “Designing Outdoor Play Spaces - Easy Ideas for Educators.” The Empowered Educator, 28 Apr. 2021, theempowerededucatoronline.com
Virtual Lab School, www.virtuallabschool.org
https://www.landscapeperformance.org/case-study-briefs/brent-elementary-schoolyard#/overviewhttps://www.landscapeperformance.org/case-study-briefs/brent-elementary-schoolyard-greening-phase-1#project-team
https://childrensplaygarden.org/our-story-in-pictures/
https://www.greenschoolyards.org/linden-waldorf
https://www.communitecture.net/dignity-village.html
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Dignity_Village_Row.jpg
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/dignity_village/
https://dignityvillage.org/history/photos/#jp-carousel-84
https://wl.apsva.us/families/pta-home-page/greening-the-grounds/
https://earlyspace.com/sustainability-at-the-front-door/
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