Beyond knowing nature: Contact, emotion, compassion, meaning, and beauty are pathways to nature connection

Summary

Feeling connected to nature has been shown to be beneficial to wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour. General nature contact and knowledge based activities are often used in an attempt to engage people with nature. However the specific routes to nature connectedness have not been examined systematically. Two online surveys (total n = 321) of engagement with, and value of, nature activities structured around the nine values of the Biophila Hypothesis were conducted. Contact, emotion, meaning, and compassion, with the latter mediated by engagement with natural beauty, were predictors of connection with nature, yet knowledge based activities were not. In a third study (n = 72), a walking intervention with activities operationalising the identified predictors, was found to significantly increase connection to nature when compared to walking in nature alone or walking in and engaging with the built environment. The findings indicate that contact, emotion, meaning, compassion, and beauty are pathways for improving nature connectedness. The pathways also provide alternative values and frames to the traditional knowledge and identification routes often used by organisations when engaging the public with nature.

Related articles

• ECODIGEST RQ

  🧬 ECODIGEST — POSSIBLE PANEL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS A. BASIC QUESTIONS 1. What is your study all about? Answer: Our study investigates the biodegradation potential of crude enzymes extracted from cacao pod

• ECODIGEST

  If a judge asks: “What is your research about?” Say: Our study compares crude enzymes derived from cacao pod husks, superworms, and banana peels to determine their potential to biodegrade HDPE, primarily

• ECODIGEST SCRIPT

  You throw away a bottle. The drink is gone. The taste is forgotten. But the plastic remains. You threw it away, but the Earth didn’t. And that growing accumulation of waste is

• Comparative Assessment of PM2.5 and PM10 Concentrations Across the Eight Sitios in Poblacion Zone III, Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur

  This research proposal aims to assess the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 across eight sitios in Poblacion Zone III, Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur, examining demographic profiles and identifying significant differences in particulate matter levels.

• AN ACT RECOGNIZING AND PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF NATURE IN THE PHILIPPINES

  This act seeks to legally recognize and protect the rights of natural ecosystems and processes in the Philippines by granting them inherent rights and establishing legal mechanisms for their protection and restoration.