Transcript What do young people get out of tree planting?

What do young people get out of tree
planting?
Vickie Norris & Nicky Puttick
The Silvanus Trust
4th July 2014
Content
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Background
Methods
Results
Conclusions
Key messages
Background
• On behalf of Woodland Trust (WT)
• Conducted in 2012
• Retrospective exploration of well-being outcomes of tree
planting activities
• What do young people think about woods and tree
planting to create new
woods?
• How does planting trees
to create new woods
make young people feel?
Background
• Focused around secondary schools in St Austell area,
where WT did tree planting with primary schools 5 years
previously
• Also interested in those that:
• planted trees in other contexts
• hadn’t planted trees at all.
• Participating schools may have stronger
environmental ethos than other schools
Methods
Online survey
• 113 students took part from 4 schools
• Gathered initial information on memories,
experiences and feelings
• Identified potential discussion group participants
Discussion groups
• 18 students took part
from 3 schools
• Explored survey
findings in more depth
Data analysed using GfW
indicators to identify
well-being themes
Results
• 55% of students who took part had planted a tree
before
• Most of these trees had been planted in primary
school grounds
• Unclear how many were on woodland sites
• Those that had planted a tree were:
• more likely to think tree planting was important
• more likely to think it was important to plant
trees to combat climate change
Results
Results
Results – well-being
Self-transcendent purposefulness
• Taking action for a purpose greater than oneself
• Often linked to global environmental crisis and feelings of
disillusionment, anger, sadness, helplessness, fear of
impending doom
• Link between personal action & global issues
• Increased as knowledge of issues increased
• Knowledge of planting a tree acts as a well-being
resource that can be accessed in the future
“It makes you feel kind of successful cos you’re
making a difference to climate change”.
Results – well-being
Feelings of nurturing the natural world
• Feelings of being in a care-giving role towards trees,
animals and ecosystems
• Differs to previous indicator as depends on direct
relationship with nature
• Derived from directly benefitting plants, animals and
trees
‘Sort of like...you’re benefitting to the animals like
helping them out to get along with life a lot more.’
Experiencing positive emotions and moods
• Mostly linked to practising pro-environmental
behaviours, not to planting trees directly.
Researcher: “Right, and how did it make you feel to think that you
were helping the environment?”
M: “Yeah it made me feel a little bit happier.”
Results – well-being
Feelings of closeness to the natural world
• Closely related to feelings of nurturing the natural world.
• When asked about experiences that provided similar
feelings to tree planting –
“Sometimes in the woods, basically where the plants
have grown most, just in there... just makes me feel
connected… Just sitting there and watching it.”
Being engaged in a relationship with nature
• Being able to influence the future of the environment
through tree planting appeared to be significant
• When asked what about tree planting made them feel
connected ‘...I just sort of like thought it could just be like a huge tree
later on and just kind of have lots of animals inhabiting it.’
Conclusions
• Well-being outcomes were mostly found to be focused
on biophilic (connection to nature) benefits, but
psychological, emotional, social and physical outcomes
were also mentioned.
• Young people do not consider that they have personally
benefitted from tree planting, but largely focus on the
impact their actions had on the natural environment.
• Participants reported that by planting trees they felt
that they were ‘doing their bit’ to help reverse
environmental destruction and restore the natural
environment.
Key Messages
• Adapt the way that tree planting activities are facilitated
to take into account the main motivating (and well-being
inducing) factors for young people; namely:
•Creation of habitats
•Feelings of nuturing/care giver role
•Taking action towards a greater purpose than
themselves
• Enable young people to access well-being through
activities and discussion
• Ensure tree planting activity participants are not demotivated to engage in further pro-environmental
behaviour through feeling that they have ‘done their bit’.
Thank you for listening
Any questions?
[email protected]
www.silvanus.org.uk
goodfromwoods.wordpress.com
Twitter: @goodfromwoods