This study is a content analysis of nature education lesson plans submitted by Chinese participants in Cornell University's online course, conducted in 2024. Open-access article published with the journal Integrative Conservation's special issue on nature education.

🍃Nature education in China has been rapidly expanding across diverse audiences and urban settings, with lesson goals tailored to age-specific developmental and social needs.

🌳Most nature education lessons emphasized personal growth such as cognitive development, mental well-being, and family bonding, but few explicitly addressed environmental conservation goals.

🌍To better align nature education with sustainability goals, practitioners should integrate environmental action and civic engagement strategies while maintaining the broad appeal of their programs. 

We found that nature education practices covered a wide range of topics, settings, objectives, and activities, gaining popularity among diverse audiences. Distinct objectives are tailored to different audiences: early childhood lesson plans primarily focused on skills and cognitive development; plans for students emphasized the development of scientific knowledge and skills; for adults, the main objective was to foster nature connection and enhance health, particularly through stress reduction; and for families, the focus was on strengthening parent-child relationships. However, very few lesson plans incorporated objectives related to environmental conservation or sustainability actions, particularly those involving civic engagement strategies. Nature education in China stays exploratory and is largely driven by broader social needs in education and well-being. We offer recommendations for integrating more intentional conservation outcomes while maintaining nature education’s broad appeal within modern Chinese society.