Nature Engagement and Wellbeing Pre-, During and Post Covid-19: Supporting the UK (Green) Recovery
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Surrey
Department Name: Psychology
Abstract
On 23 March, the UK went into lockdown in response to the Covid-19 threat. As a result, people's engagement with natural environments may have changed significantly which is likely to have had significant impact on their wellbeing. We will work with Natural England to understand changes in nature engagement and wellbeing in the UK before, during and after lockdown and help understand what Government and Statutory Bodies can do to ameliorate the impact of Covid-19 on wellbeing now and as part of the UK Government Green Recovery strategy from Covid-19.
We will examine what lessons can be learned from this period of disruption for theory development and practice, and for the provision and management of natural places for human wellbeing by:
1) providing an in depth understanding of how wellbeing during and post lock-down has changed across the UK as a result of changes in access to- and engagement with different natural environments.
2) creating a mapping of different wellbeing outcomes associated with different types of natural environments and the use of these environments for different activities.
3) contributing to theory development through improving the measurement and examination of a key concept in nature-wellbeing studies "a sense of being away".
Four studies will be conducted analysing data on nature-engagement and wellbeing in: (1) a longitudinal survey study with a representative sample of (1500) UK households (June 2020-21) studying (changes in) wellbeing and engagement with different natural environments, (2) an analysis of social media images and comments posted during lockdown, (3) an ethnographic study with up to 30 families from different socio-demographic backgrounds to provide an in-depth insight into experiences during and post lockdown, and (4) secondary data analyses of data collected by Natural England over the last ten years to provide a broad perspective of nature engagement pre-, during and post lockdown.
We will examine what lessons can be learned from this period of disruption for theory development and practice, and for the provision and management of natural places for human wellbeing by:
1) providing an in depth understanding of how wellbeing during and post lock-down has changed across the UK as a result of changes in access to- and engagement with different natural environments.
2) creating a mapping of different wellbeing outcomes associated with different types of natural environments and the use of these environments for different activities.
3) contributing to theory development through improving the measurement and examination of a key concept in nature-wellbeing studies "a sense of being away".
Four studies will be conducted analysing data on nature-engagement and wellbeing in: (1) a longitudinal survey study with a representative sample of (1500) UK households (June 2020-21) studying (changes in) wellbeing and engagement with different natural environments, (2) an analysis of social media images and comments posted during lockdown, (3) an ethnographic study with up to 30 families from different socio-demographic backgrounds to provide an in-depth insight into experiences during and post lockdown, and (4) secondary data analyses of data collected by Natural England over the last ten years to provide a broad perspective of nature engagement pre-, during and post lockdown.
Publications
Emma White
(2021)
Gardens & Wellbeing During the First UK Covid-19 Lockdown
Emma White
(2021)
Five ways to use your garden to support your wellbeing
Xu S
(2021)
#Springwatch #WildMorningswithChris: Engaging With Nature via Social Media and Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Lockdown.
in Frontiers in psychology
| Description | Since the last submission we have collected our second wave of data Some new key findings demonstrated that nature engagement a year after the fist lockdown period was similar to nature engagement prior to that. - Key finding: High quality nearby natural spaces for everyone is important, people seek out nature where they can and nearby nature benefits wellbeing. Implications: It is important to provide nature corridors/nature in everyday environments (work/shools/travel/) for spontaneous everyday encounters for all - Key findings: People use natural spaces for different reasons and there is not a one size fit all approach; Implication: understand different user needs and provides spaces to fit those needs. - Key finding: many people need support to reap the benefits of nature. Implications: support organisations that help encourage and enable people to go outdoors In particular More mindful engagement Biodiversity |
| Exploitation Route | These findings have implications for targeting nature-based interventions to different groups. Some people (women, those living in built environments, younger adults, those who do not work) might have a greater need to escape and benefit more from specific types of nature-engagement. |
| Sectors | Environment,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Description | Through the program of work we have developed a huge network with organisations, policy makers and third sector organisations with an interest in nature engagement and wellbeing. Since the start of the program we have started working on an informal basis with a range of charitable organisations to support their work. This includes, for instance, working with a charity that supports outdoor leadership training for disabled and vulnerable groups. We started working with them after they saw us present in a workshop. We are continuing to work with Surrey Hills and expanded our work with them to further analyse our project data and explore nature engagement among minority groups. We have received numerous invitations to present to on-academic audiences - mostly policy makers - to share our findings. Those we were able to attend have been included in this submission. The tangible impact on policy and practice that our project has had and is still having has been difficult to capture but judging by the ongoing interest in our work we have clearly reached a lot of people and interested organisations. We have continued to develop our network and secured further funding building on our work in 2022/23. We are still working with our key non-academic partner "natural England" to support and feed into their work and have recently started work with Natural England to look at the value of trees using outputs from this project. We are continuing to produce outputs from our work and have several publications and conference presentations that will appear this summer. A key outcome of our work this year has been the exploratorium exhibition at the University of Surrey that was embedded in the Surrey Hills Symposium in November 2022 organised by Surrey County Council and Surrey Hills. Our work continues to feed into different knowledge exchange and outreach activities. We are tracking how these activities are taking up and used outside of academia. |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment,Healthcare,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | ACCESS: Advancing Capacity for Climate and Environment Social Science |
| Amount | £6,250,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ES/W00805X/1 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2022 |
| End | 01/2027 |
| Description | Less Netflix, More Nature! Unlocking the potential of green social prescriptions to reduce health inequity and strengthen environmental sustainability |
| Amount | $10,000 (USD) |
| Organisation | UGPN |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Start | 12/2021 |
| End | 12/2022 |
| Description | Throughout the project we have been and will continue to work closely with Natural England |
| Organisation | Natural England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | One of the workpackages in our research project involves analysing the NEME and PaN data collected by Natural England. our NE partners attend all project team meetings to discuss research questions, analyses and plan impact activities. We have worked closely together to organise the two-day interactive workshop which was attended by a large number of non-academic stakeholders invited through the NE networks. Members of the research team have joined the PAN user group. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Beth Brocket and Cheryl Willis (natural England) are key members of the research team. They initially committed to spending 15 days on the project but this has already been exceeded. They both attend each of our fortnightly research group meetings and engage with all key research discussions providing suggestions for impact activities and on-academic stakeholder engagement. The research team and Natural England partners worked together very closely to organise the 2 day event. |
| Impact | The two day workshop. Several policy briefing documents. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Blog for Natural England based on garden report |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Blog for Natural England based on our garden report to discuss the benefits of access to gardens during the lockdown periods |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://people-and-nature-survey-defra.hub.arcgis.com/pages/blog#emma-blog |
| Description | Blog for Natural England on nature and wellbeing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Blog for Natural England based on the findings from one of our studies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://people-and-nature-survey-defra.hub.arcgis.com/pages/blog#tracy-blog |
| Description | Blog: Recovering from the Pandemic: Bolstering Wellbeing with Nature |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Blog written for the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity website to present this new project. Recovering from the Pandemic: Bolstering Wellbeing with Nature |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.cusp.ac.uk/themes/s1/news-covid-env-psychology/ |
| Description | ESRC-GSR Actionable Insights Seminar: The Environment & Green Recovery |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the ESRC-GSR Actionable Insights Seminar Series, titled The Environment and Green Recovery on Thursday 3rd March, 12:30-13:30 I presented alongside Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh, and Dr Mike Rivington, to a range of policymakers and government analyst professionals. Format of Seminar 12:30-12:35 Introduction by Chairs: Nanda Ray and Nicola Golding, Head of DEFRA's Strategic Projects Team 12:35-12:45 Presentation 1 12:45-12:55 Presentation 2 12:55-13:05 Presentation 3 13:05-13:25 Q&A Session 13:25-13:30 Wrap up and close Brief for Seminar 9 This lunchtime seminar will focus on: • The impacts of COVID-19 on public engagement with climate change • Public support for a green recovery and attitudes to specific net zero policies • The impact of the pandemic on food and nutrition security in the context of long-term challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss • The impact of COVID-19 on nature engagement and wellbeing in the UK and strategies aimed at ameliorating impacts and managing recovery |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Hawk Conservancy Trust Podcast Nature's a Hoot Episode 4: Wildlife and Well-being |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Hawk Conservancy Trust Podcast Nature's a Hoot Episode 4: Wildlife and Well-being - Hawk Conservancy Trust - Hawk Conservancy Trust (hawk-conservancy.org) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.hawk-conservancy.org/2020/10/30/podcast-wildlife-and-well-being/ |
| Description | Nature exploratorium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Launch of the exploratorium. An innovative immersive exhibition using virtual nature engagement based on the data from our research work. Further funding £50K was received to build the exhibition from the University of Surrey through EHIF funding. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.surrey.ac.uk/events/20221107-innovation-exploratorium |
| Description | Organised a two day interactive on-line stakeholder engagement workshop (8th and 9th December 2020) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On 8th and 9th December 2020, an online interactive workshop was held to bring together researchers, policy makers and practitioners to share ideas, challenges and experiences with respect to nature engagement, wellbeing and Covid-19. The event was organised by The University of Surrey and Natural England. The online workshop took place over 2 mornings in December 2020. The workshop took place over 2 days. Day 1 focused on network building and sharing ideas and experiences. Day 2 focused on methodological issues. Across the two days, almost 70 participants registered for the event, from a range of academic and non-academic institutions (60% academic, 40% policy makers and practitioners); 45 people attended on Thursday and 37 on Friday. At the end of the workshop, participants were asked what, if anything, the workshop had inspired them to do next. It was evident from the responses that participants felt inspired to learn more, ask new questions and connect with more people. The workshop generated a lot of interesting discussion and questions. It brought together a lot of people with shared interests in understanding people-nature engagement and wellbeing both from a research and a practical perspective. Since the workshop we have received numerous requests from a range of non-academic stakeholders for further collaboration and information. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.surrey.ac.uk/research-projects/people-and-nature-pandemic-studying-nature-engagement-and... |
| Description | Presentation at ESRC workshop by Emma White |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation by Emma White entitled: Bringing Nature Indoors. 30 min presentation at the ESRC Festival of Science - Thriving in lockdown: 5 ways to celebrate staying at home. Organised by Eleanor Ratcliffe at the University of Surrey Mostly non-academic audience. Participants could sign up to receive a houseplants to boost wellbeing during the pandemic. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Presentation for library staff on how to improve wellbeing by bringing nature indoors |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Emma White. Presented "Bringing Nature Indoors". Invited by The Wellbeing Forum at Surrey University library. A 40 min presentation given to library staff, discussing how to bring nature indoors during the pandemic to improve wellbeing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Presentation of Study 2 - social media analyses |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Xu and Murrel. Social media analyses to study virtual nature engagement during Covid-19. Presentation given at 4th DUFE (Dongbei University of Finance and Economics) - Surrey workshop. Mostly academic audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Presentation to Outdoor Recreation Network annual conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the outdoor recreation network on women's engagement with natural environments and the impact on health and wellbeing |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Project website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Preparation and publication of the project website to the research and project outcomes with a wider audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.surrey.ac.uk/research-projects/people-and-nature-pandemic-studying-nature-engagement-and... |
| Description | Social media engagement during the 2-day workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 11 social media posts during the launch event via Twitter @EPRG_Surrey. e.g., tweets. For example, one tweet received: Impressions = 3,386 Total engagements = 188 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/eprg_surrey |