Generation Wild: The role of children’s experiences of nature in nature connectedness, wellbeing, and environmental values and behaviour

Numerous studies have documented positive relations between experiences of nature and human physical, emotional, and social wellbeing. For example, spending time in nature increases attention and cognitive capacity compared to spending time in urban or indoor environments (Berman, Jonides, & Kaplan, 2008; Stevenson, Schilhab, & Bentsen, 2018). Spending time in nature is also associated with numerous positive outcomes for children, including social and emotional wellbeing (Chawla, 2015; Mygind et al., 2021). Children are also more communicative and responsive when outdoors in nature compared to when indoors (Cameron-Faulkner, Macdonald, Serratrice, Melville, & Gattis, 2017; Cameron-Faulkner, Melville, & Gattis, 2018). Current evidence thus indicates that spending time in nature is good for humans at all life stages.

 Spending time in nature may lead to positive outcomes not only for humans, but also for the environment, as nature experience is positively related to environmentally responsible behaviour (e.g., Collado, Staats, & Corraliza, 2013; Duerden & Witt, 2010; Otto & Pensini, 2017). For example, in one study of children’s participation in nature-based environmental education, the frequency with which children visited environmental education centres was positively related to environmentally responsible behaviour (Otto & Pensini, 2017). Furthermore, the positive relation between experience and behaviour was mediated by the extent to which children reported feeling connected to nature, consistent with the results of numerous studies reporting a positive relation between feeling connected to nature and environmentally responsible behaviour (Mackay & Schmitt, 2019; Tam, 2013; Whitburn, Linklater, & Abrahamse, 2020). Importantly, however, the majority of studies investigating relations between experience, connectedness, and behaviour toward nature have been correlational rather than experimental. Evidence from experiments and interventions is needed to evaluate whether the links between nature experience and environmentally responsible behaviour via feeling connected to nature are causal or simply correlational.

This PhD project is a collaboration between Cardiff University and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT). The overarching aim of the project is to investigate how engagement in nature-based interventions (‘Generation Wild’) can enhance children’s wellbeing as well as their care and concern for the natural world. The project will use a mixed-methods intervention design, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, that will allow causal inferences about whether and how children’s nature experiences impact their wellbeing and their environmental values and behaviour via their feelings of connection to nature. The research is part of a new WWT initiative that will engage 45,000 children with nature through visits to WWT wetland centres and activities in the local community. WWT staff will deliver the interventions and provide research expertise on understanding the links between people and wetlands.

The PhD student will be supervised by Professor Merideth Gattis (School of Psychology, Cardiff University) together with Professor Wouter Poortinga (School of Psychology, Cardiff University), Dr Kersty Hobson (Geography and Planning, Cardiff University), Dr Julia Newth (WWT), and Dr Jonathan Reeves (WWT). The PhD student will contribute to the selection and implementation of outcome measures, and will be responsible for management, analysis, and interpretation of the evaluation data. There will also be opportunities to contribute to the long-term impact of the research, through, for example, engaging policy makers with research findings and recommendations.

Applicants should have some experience of and an interest in conducting mixed methods research in psychology or a related field of the social sciences. Research experience and interest in environmental education, environmental social sciences/geography, environmental psychology, or developmental psychology are highly desirable. The studentship offers an exciting and challenging opportunity for those who are interested in further developing their skills and experience in designing and conducting impactful research within a vibrant and interdisciplinary academic community.