Research Digest

Community and environmental benefits of green schoolyards 

This month’s Digest focuses on the community, economic and environmental benefits of greening schoolyards. It is inspired by a collaboration between the Children & Nature Network, economist Rob GrunewaldThe Big Sandbox and Autocase Economic Advisory. The result of this collaboration will be a white paper on how green schoolyards create economic value. The research that grounds this white paper, as well as the evidence described in this Digest, suggest that the benefits of green schoolyards accrue broadly to society, not just to the individual students who attend schools with green schoolyards. Following this Digest, we look forward to sharing the white paper with our diverse, multi-sectoral community – as green schoolyards really do offer something for everyone!

Finally, our annual membership drive begins this week. If you value the mission of the Children & Nature Network, and specifically, the work we do to curate, summarize and make research freely available in our Research Library and the Research Digest, please join me today as a member.

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Green Schoolyards: A broad range of benefits

Robust evidence indicates that nature-filled schoolyards have many benefits for kids, communities and the environment. As the benefits to kids have been highlighted in previous Digests (see especially October 2022 and June 2018), this Digest will focus primarily on benefits to the urban community, the economy and the natural environment. The findings indicate that what is gained through green schoolyard investment compares favorably to the efforts and resources involved. In other words, the greening of schoolyards represents a positive return on investment for people and the planet. 

The process of greening schoolyards often involves the application of nature-based solutions (NBS), which refer to human actions inspired by or copied from nature to enhance sustainable urbanization. NBS have been used to manage stormwater, lower temperatures in urban environments, provide pollinator habitat, sequester carbon, and remove air pollution. NBS can promote urban resilience while also addressing some of the economic and health disparities evident in many urban communities.

GREEN SCHOOLYARDS FOR URBAN RESILIENCE

Urban resilience is the capacity of cities to survive and function well under stress. Climate change is a major source of stress for cities around the world. Cities with urban climate change resilience (UCCR) are adaptable to climate change on multiple levels. Their systems can survive the stresses of climate change; the people and organizations within the city can accommodate these stresses; and the city’s institutional structures continue to support people and organizations in the fulfillment of their aims. Green schoolyards are one form of neighborhood greenspace that can contribute to urban resilience. Green schoolyards, when available to the public, can function as a public park or greenspace. Some examples of research on such public greenspaces with implications for the greater good are summarized below, after those specific to schoolyards.


Using a resilience frame to explore greening schoolyard initiatives can support the strengthening of systems at different scales

Researchers applied a nine-box resilience frame to study the multi-beneficial impacts of greening schoolyards in three large cities (Chicago, Amsterdam and Paris). Benefits identified through this approach included (a) enhanced community engagement and social cohesion, (b) mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and (c) improved human health and well-being.
Flax et al. 2020. Greening schoolyards: An urban resilience perspective. 
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School parks can serve as a tool for urban heat island adaptation and health promotion

Environmental assessments conducted in three school parks in low-income communities in Texas found extreme heat conditions and significant differences in heat index across park sites, with tree canopy accounting for the differences. Observations of children in the parks showed that they positioned themselves under trees during periods of high heat index for thermal comfort.
Lanza et al., 2021. Effects of trees, gardens, and nature trails on heat index and child health: Design and methods of the Green Schoolyards Project.
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Greater tree canopy can preserve moderate to vigorous physical activity levels in children compared to areas with less tree canopy

Data collected from accelerometers and global positioning system monitors worn by 213 students from three schools in Texas showed that the children’s outdoor activity levels decreased as temperatures increased. The data also showed that children at the schoolyard with the most tree canopy spent more time in moderate to vigorous physical activity, which can promote long-term health, than children in the other schoolyards.
Lanza, K. et al. (2023). Heat-resilient schoolyards: Relations between temperature, shade, and physical activity of children during recess.
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Increasing environmental biodiversity on school grounds may lessen immune-mediated diseases in urban communities

Natural forest floor and sod were used to cover the yard of four childcare centers in Finland. Follow-up assessment showed that these yards had considerably more soil microbiota than the standard yard. Assessments also showed that children attending the centers with natural forest floor had more diverse skin and gut bacteria and signs of better immune system functioning than children in centers without the forest floor.
Roslund et al. 2020. Biodiversity intervention enhances immune regulation and health-associated commensal microbiota among daycare children.
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Increasing the biodiversity of urban green spaces can help people and the planet adapt to the urban environment in the face of climate change

This systematic review of the academic literature analyzed the relationships between the characteristics of public urban green spaces and human well-being components. Findings support the idea that structure-related variables of green space (form of trees, vegetation cover, green space connectivity and size, and the distance among green spaces) are essential for promoting human benefits of green space but also highlight the importance of biodiversity and naturalness.
Reyes-Riveros et al. 2021. Linking public urban green spaces and human well-being: A systematic review. 
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Neighbourhood greenspace increases citizens’ sense of community connection

This paper draws from multiple areas of research to illustrate how exposure to nature and community cohesion are positively linked. Positive associations of neighborhood greenspace with social cohesion are consistent across different types of studies and have been observed in many regions around the world. The positive effects of nature exposure on social health include both immediate and long-term outcomes.
Arbuthnott, 2023. Nature exposure and social health: Prosocial behavior, social cohesion, and effect pathways.
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Evidence linking nature and health strongly supports the idea of looking to nature as a community health tool

This article draws from three categories of research to support the use of nature for promoting the health of individuals and communities: population-level studies; research evaluating the immediate physical and mental health impacts of nature contact; and intervention studies offering empirical evidence of a causal link between nature contact and positive health outcomes. Implications include incorporating nature contact counseling into existing health-promotion efforts and making greater investments in changing neighborhood conditions to provide more nature contact.
South, Kondo & Razani, 2020. Nature as a community health tool: The case for healthcare providers and systems.
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Nature-based solutions in urban environments could become a public health tool

Thirteen studies were included in a literature review focusing on associations between public health and natural urban environments. Findings provide strong evidence for green space being effective in improving affect in people and reducing heat in urban environments, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
van den Bosch & Sang, 2017. Urban natural environments as nature-based solutions for improved public health — A systematic review of reviews.
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GREEN SCHOOLYARDS AS PROMOTERS OF EQUITY

Access to green space and related benefits are not equitably distributed across urban populations, resulting in a widening of health, mental health and educational gaps between socioeconomic groups. Increasing equitable access to green space is a strategy to address these disparities. Since children spend a considerable amount of time in school settings, the greening of schoolyards, particularly in low income communities, is one strategy that might be used to reduce disparities in urban children’s access to nature and thus promote educational, economic and health equity. As noted above, green schoolyards, when available to the public, can provide public greenspace. Examples of research on public greenspaces as promotors of equity are provided below, after those specific to schoolyards.


Green schoolyards may be powerful drivers of health equity

Observations and surveys completed before and after the greening of schoolyards in two Chicago, Illinois (USA) schools indicate that green schoolyards can provide a safe space for children and adults to engage in social, outdoor activities and thus benefit from the increased access to nature. These benefits may promote health equity for people living in urban low-income communities.
Bohnert et al. 2021. Green schoolyard renovations in low‐income urban neighborhoods: Benefits to students, schools, and the surrounding community.
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Increases in activity and positive social interaction linked to schoolyard greening in low-income neighborhoods were maintained over time

Behavior mapping conducted after schoolyard greening in three Chicago low-income neighborhoods showed that the renovated schoolyards may have contributed to sustained increases in physical activity and in positive social interactions. Data based on teacher perceptions indicate a reduction in bullying, teasing, injuries, and gang-related activity after the schoolyard greening. This research suggests that green schoolyards can promote positive development outcomes for youth in low-income neighborhoods.
Bates, Bohnert & Gerstein, 2018. Green schoolyards in low-income urban neighborhoods: Natural spaces for positive youth development outcomes. 
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Schools with green yards might buffer the effects of limited contacts with nature outside of school

A study conducted with three elementary schools in Portugal found that children who had lesser contact with nature outside of school had stronger perceived restorativeness from schoolyard greening than children with more contact with nature. Findings also showed that children in the most green school reported more positive attitudes towards nature and more connectedness to nature than children in the other two schools.
Luís, S., Dias, R., Lima, M. L., (2020). Greener schoolyards, greener futures? Greener schoolyards buffer decreased contact with nature and are linked to connectedness to nature.
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Increased exposure to greenness could help children rise out of poverty

A study conducted with adults from the ten largest cities in the U.S. linked their childhood exposure to green space with their income 30 years later. Overall findings showed that greenness was positively associated with income. According to the data, children growing up with the most vegetative cover will, on average, earn $28,000 more over a 30-year career than children growing up with the least cover.
Browning. M.H.E.M., Rigolon, A., (2019). Could nature help children rise out of poverty? Green space and future earnings from a cohort in ten U.S. cities.
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Increasing access to green space could be used to promote health equity

This review of studies from multiple countries found that green space had more protective effects for lower-income groups than higher-income groups. Of the different types of green space, public spaces/parks provided stronger protective effects for this population than other types, including green land cover.
Rigolon et al. 2021. Green space and health equity: A systematic review on the potential of green space to reduce health disparities.
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Improving the quantity and quality of public open space in disadvantaged neighborhoods may help reduce mental health inequities

This systematic review of 14 quantitative studies from multiple countries indicates that young children living near nature and public open space tend to have better mental health than young children without nearby nature. Two of the three studies which compared associations across socio-economic strata found that public open space may be more important to children from more disadvantaged backgrounds.
Alderton et al., 2019. Reducing inequities in early childhood mental health: How might the neighborhood built environment help close the gap? A systematic search and critical review.
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In search of a greener schoolyard: As the planet heats up, green schoolyards offer a world of benefits

August 2023 | James Norton
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, shade and evaporation processes from trees can reduce the air temperature around them by as much as 6ºF. And, because “cool air settles near the ground, air temperatures directly under trees can be as much as 25°F cooler than air temperatures above blacktop.”
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In Flagstaff, green schoolyards sprout after climate-related disasters

November 2022 | Alejandra Pallais
Killip Elementary in Flagstaff, Arizona, is a model of what can sprout, literally, after traumatic natural disasters.
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The Equigenic Effect: How Nature Access Can Level the Playing Field for Children
September 2020 | Cathy Jordan
While nature is good for all children, it’s especially good for those who might be at risk for poorer health, mental health, social or educational outcomes as a result of factors associated with limited financial resources.
READ MORE

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