The importance of Place
Place based outdoor learning experiences adds huge value to children and young people’s understanding of their world. Check out the new Our Place website. It includes case studies, resources (including for climate and environment) and tools to assess the quality of your space.
Birds and bees: why new buildings need to support the natural world
This article in The Conversation (19 January 2022) explores how buildings can be adapted to provide homes for species such as swifts, and bees. Councils can do more to encourage developers to build sustainably and in nature-friendly ways (and this could include school buildings). NatureScot’s campaign also shows how you [...]
Planning for and with children and young people – FREE seminar in February
Play Scotland and A Place in Childhood are offering an invitation to this discussion to help inform responses from the sector to the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) draft, released by Scottish Government in November 2021. NPF4 is not about just about a revised planning system, it sets a vision [...]
Benefits found for children living near woodland
This article in Child in the City (18 August 2021) shares research findings that suggests that proximity to woodlands links with better cognitive development and a lower risk of emotional and behavioural problems in children and young people. The lessons learned could help influence planning decisions in urban areas.
Sunshine on leaf
This article on living walls may be useful to gardeners, or those who use, plan and design school grounds.
Designing child-friendly streets – a review
This Child in the City article (16 June 2021) describes the new publication Designing Streets for Kids, including tools for providing spaces for play and learning.
The benefits of nature during Covid – international findings
Science Direct shares this Environmental International paper (Vol 154, September 2021) Exposure to nature and mental health outcomes during COVID-19 lockdown. A comparison between Portugal and Spain. This found that exposure to nature was associated with better mental health outcomes during lockdowns, but the natural features associated with improved mental [...]
