What do you see when you look outside? A bird on a tree branch or a great tit in a black alder? Or a diligent male great tit looking for an insect under the leaves of the black alder? Most people I know see the former, if they look outside at all. When they walk through the city, they see buildings and not moss, they hear traffic (or noise from their headphones) and no birds. When they hear the word ‘nature’ they imagine something with trees or a cow in a meadow.
That makes sense, because unlike people in many non-Western communities, we do not learn to read the world around us. In fact, children spend less and less time outside. That is bad for them and for the animals and plants with whom we share our environment. If you mainly see nature on your screen, you lead a meager existence, but you also do not learn to care for the world on which we depend.
In Scandinavia, learning outdoors – about and in nature – is part of the curriculum at many schools. In Sweden there are nature schools, which use a teaching method in which children learn outside from seven in the morning to four in the afternoon, about the seasons, the moon, the landscape and insects. Children who are taught outdoors not only know more about nature than indoor children. They are according to Research fall ill less often, have better motor skills, can plan better and concentrate better. They can also deal better with their emotions and with others. Playfully they also learn read better and solve problems, for example by reading maps.
Nature education is therefore educational and healthy for children. Living together also improves because they develop their social capabilities. And it’s good for plants and non-human animals. We live in a time of large-scale ecological crises, such as global warming, species extinction and biodiversity loss. Who learns about animals and nature, feels more involved the future of the natural world and is more inclined to work for the non-human beings with whom we share the planet.
This all sounds very serious, but becoming children according to research also happier with outdoor education. This is probably recognized by anyone who has ever taken a walk in a forest, on the beach or through the polder. In particular, there are many studies on the effect of trees on people, which show that these earthlings make people healthier and happier, and ensure that people are nicer to each other. In cities there is less crime in neighborhoods with many trees. Even photos of trees reduce stressthat’s why you also see them in hospitals.
It is therefore logical to introduce nature education in Dutch schools. That is a first step towards multi-species education: by this I mean an education system in which we learn with and from other animals and plants about how we can live in more harmony with each other. Learning about and with pets is also part of multi-species education. There are already projects aimed at this, for example in which children read to shelter animals. This makes the shelter animals feel less alone children learn read better.
Of course, you don’t have to be a child to learn about the living world. So dear reader, go do some research later. A pair of shoes, your eyes and ears can go a long way. Or with a window. The great tit just flew away, but listen: there the robin is singing.
Eva Meijer is a writer and philosopher. She writes a column every other week.