Project description

Nature plays an important role in the psychosocial health of children and adolescents. The extent to which people are exposed to nature influences the emergence and development of mental disorders and cognitive development (Engemann et al., 2019; Maes et al., 2021; Sarkar et al., 2018). Numerous studies show positive effects of nature on social integration (Chawla et al., 2014; Taylor et al., 1998), feelings of stress (Chawla et al., 2014; Feda et al., 2015; Wells & Evans, 2003) and emotional well-being (Li et al., 2018). For school-age children and adolescents, extensive contact with nature can therefore be a resilience factor and a preventative approach. However, these findings also shed an even more critical light on climate change, as the gradual destruction of nature limits children's and adolescents' opportunities for contact with nature and thus reduces the potential for preventing externalising behavioural disorders. In addition, the direct and indirect effects of climate change (especially heat, but also economic consequences, displacement and forced migration, collective violence and civil conflict) have a significant impact on the mental health of all people (Palinkas & Wong, 2020).

Two central pedagogical mandates for schools can be derived from this:

1. Firstly, there is a need for pedagogical approaches in schools that promote pupils'* contact with nature.
2. Secondly, pupils must be prepared and educated for a responsible and sustainable approach to nature.

While various multi-level support concepts already exist for the prevention of externalising and internalising behavioural disorders at school, there is a lack of corresponding support concepts for environmentally conscious and sustainable (so-called "green") behaviour. In the GREEN SESAME project, we therefore want to adapt the Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support (SW-PBS) approach to promote environmentally friendly behaviour in secondary schools.

The project has the following objectives:

1. Identify socio-cultural factors that influence pro-environmental behaviour in students
2. Develop an app- and game-based SW-PBS approach to promote pro-environmental behaviour in schools
3. Conception of a teacher training programme to plan and implement the developed approach
4. Testing of the developed concept in partner schools.

Sources

Chawla, L., Keena, K., Pevec, I., & Stanley, E. (2014). Green schoolyards as havens from stress and resources for resilience in childhood and adolescence. Health & place, 28, 1-13.

Engemann, K., Pedersen, C. B., Arge, L., Tsirogiannis, C., Mortensen, P. B., & Svenning, J.-C. (2019). Residential green space in childhood is associated with lower risk of psychiatric disorders from adolescence into adulthood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(11), 5188-5193. doi. org/10.1073/pnas.1807504116

Feda, D. M., Seelbinder, A., Baek, S., Raja, S., Yin, L., & Roemmich, J. N. (2015). Neighbourhood parks and reduction in stress among adolescents: Results from Buffalo, New York. Indoor and Built Environment, 24(5), 631-639. doi. org/10.1177/1420326X14535791

Li, Y., Guan, D., Tao, S., Wang, X., & He, K. (2018). A review of air pollution impact on subjective well-being: Survey versus visual psychophysics. Journal of Cleaner Production, 184, 959-968.

Maes, M. J., Pirani, M., Booth, E. R., Shen, C., Milligan, B., Jones, K. E., & Toledano, M. B. (2021). Benefit of woodland and other natural environments for adolescents' cognition and mental health. Nature sustainability, 4(10), 851-858.

Palinkas, L. A., & Wong, M. (2020). Global climate change and mental health. current opinion in psychology, 32, 12-16.

Sarkar, C., Webster, C., & Gallacher, J. (2018). Residential greenness and prevalence of major depressive disorders: A cross-sectional, observational, associational study of 94 879 adult UK Biobank participants. The Lancet Planetary Health, 2(4), e162-e173. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(18)30051-2

Taylor, A. F., Wiley, A., Kuo, F. E., & Sullivan, W. C. (1998). Growing up in the inner city: Green spaces as places to grow. Environment and Behaviour, 30(1), 3-27.

Wells, N. M., & Evans, G. W. (2003). Nearby Nature: A Buffer of Life Stress among Rural Children. Environment and Behaviour, 35(3), 311-330. doi. org/10.1177/0013916503035003001