Our connection with nature – nature as teacher in behaviour change and evaluation
Show me the Change
Complexity and the Art of Evaluation – Reporting Sheet
Topic: Our connection with nature – nature as teacher in behaviour change and evaluation
Leader: 2 person conversation under the oak tree
Participants: Tanya Loos – City of Ballarat (nature@wideband.net.au)
Ellen Regos – Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne
Key Points:
• Connection with nature – isn’t that our motivating factor for so much of our work in environmental and social sustainability?
• Do we value our experiences in nature? Are nature walks, meditations and sensory activities valid tools for sustainability/BC conferences?
• This conference has been a lot about the head – sensory experiences and heart based activities, our whole self – this has been missing.
• However, deep ecology and other “fringe” education and BC methodologies have shown that creating beautiful, fun, sensory experiences in nature we actually highly successful ways of generosity behaviour change.
• Our conference question – just go outside, sit in the garden and see what answers come.
• The mainstream does not value nature as a tool as teacher, it is seen as not valid or rational, not part of the built environment.
• Certainly, we need to frame nature connection experiences appropriately so as to not alienate people. Big fear: “we are not going to hug trees are we?”
• Can we bring in nature connection methodologies into the more conservative/traditional spaces of workshops, eg, “field visits”.
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