Why Outdoor Education?

There is no description, no image in any book that is capable of replacing the site of real trees, and all of the life to be found around them, in a real forest. Something emanates from those trees that speak to the soul, something that no book, no museum, is capable of giving. The woods reveal that it is not only the trees that exist but a whole inter collection of lives (Montessori: Childhood to Adolescence)

Studies report a wide range of health outcomes from gardening, such as reductions in depression, anxiety, and body mass index, as well as increases in life satisfaction, quality of life, and sense of community. Nature in cities can play a key role in achieving a healthy society (Groenewegen et al., 2006, Tzoulas et al., 2007).  There is mounting evidence that direct experience with natural environments offers a wide range of health benefits (Hartig et al., 2014, Keniger et al., 2013, Soga and Gaston, 2016). Louv (2005) argued that a decrease in contact with nature results in a number of health and behavioral problems, especially for children, which in sum can constitute a “nature-deficit disorder.” Recent studies suggest that daily contact with nature has a long-lasting and deep impact on health, including on depression and anxiety symptoms (Beyer et al., 2014), birth weight (Dadvand et al., 2012), diabetes, and obesity (Lachowycz and Jones, 2011), circulatory and heart disease (Maas et al., 2009), and longevity (Takano et al., 2002). It is therefore increasingly recognized that a regular contact with nature can promote human health and be used as a form of preventive medicine (Groenewegen et al., 2006). 

Gardening is arguably one of the most common ways of interacting with nature and indeed is enjoyed as a popular pastime in many countries. it is estimated that in the US, 117 million people, one in three, participate in gardening (Statista, 2015), and that in Japan, 32 million people, one in four, participate in daily gardening as a hobby (Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 2011). Likewise, in the UK, there are estimated to be 27 million people, approximately 40% of the total population, who actively participate in gardening (Bisgrove and Hadley, 2002). Gardening requires, at most, a relatively small piece of land, and in many parts of the world, such gardens are common. Given the scale of gardening activities, and the apparent feasibility of accommodating them in cities and towns, these have great potential for limiting the ongoing loss of human–nature interaction—the extinction of experience (Soga and Gaston, 2016, Soga et al., 2016).

There is increasing awareness among researchers and health practitioners of the potential health benefits derived from gardening activities (Clatworthy et al., 2013, Genter et al., 2015, Wang and MacMillan, 2013). Indeed, previous studies have shown that gardening increases individual's life satisfaction, vigor, psychological wellbeing, positive affects, sense of community, and cognitive function (Gigliotti and Jarrott, 2005, Gonzalez et al., 2010, van den Berg et al., 2010, Wakefield et al., 2007, Wichrowski et al., 2005, Wood et al., 2016). Reductions in stress, anger, fatigue, and depression and anxiety symptoms have also been documented (Rodiek, 2002, Wichrowski et al., 2005, Wilson and Christensen, 2011, Wood et al., 2016). 

Engagement with gardening has increasingly been recognized as not only a cost-effective health intervention (Clatworthy et al., 2013) but also a treatment or occupational therapy for those with psychological health issues, so-called “horticultural therapy” (Gonzalez et al., 2010, Gonzalez et al., 2011a). Two systematic reviews of studies exploring the association between gardening and health (Genter et al., 2015, Wang and MacMillan, 2013) can be explored here, but there have been more recent studies that validate the efficacy of "horticultural therapy."

*A wealth of more recent research is available through the American Horticultural Therapy Association and various other resources. This is just a sample of the research supporting the importance of our work.