Resources

In 2009, Janet Ady of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stood before a crowd of grassroots leaders gathered by the Children & Nature Network....

In Canada, an innovative and proactive approach to health care is taking root. Halton Healthcare is now the first hospital system in Canada to partner with PaRx, an evidence-based initiative endorsed by the Canadian Medical Association that encourages professionals to prescribe time spent in nature as medicine. “We know that incorporating these preventative lifestyle measures is an excellent step towards setting up healthier communities and providing holistic care,” hospitalist and physician Dr. Nivedita Patel said. Today, over 16,000 Canadian health care professionals are registered to prescribe time in nature, collectively issuing more than one million nature prescriptions. Global News.

In Greeley, Colorado, the Weld County Department of Public Health and Environment’s OutdoorRx program promotes the benefits of spending time in nature as a health intervention. Studies show that time spent outdoors reduces blood pressure, anxiety and stress while improving cognitive function and cardiovascular health. Even brief periods outside, like sitting in your frontyard, can enhance well-being and counteract the negative effects of excessive screen time. So, join Greeley in getting your Vitamin N(ature) this summer. UCHealth Today.

Dr. Robert Zarr wants to reimagine health care. Zarr was an early proponent of nature prescriptions, the increasingly popular phenomenon that seeks to formalize the link between...

Adapted excerpts from Richard Louv's plenary keynote address to the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference, Oct. 2, 2010 in San Francisco. On Oct....

In today’s rapidly digitizing world, our youths’ lives are increasingly dominated by screens. As of the time of writing this article, we are observing a concerning upward...

Parks play an important role in the physical and mental health of children and families and the resilience of communities. However, there are barriers to park access and use that often fall along income, racial and geographic lines. Improving access to high quality, welcoming and inclusive parks is one important way to enhance nature’s benefits and create more equitable outcomes.

Each year, the Children and Nature Network awards the Richard Louv Prize for Innovation In Nature Connection. Through our application and selection process, we discover remarkable leaders making a difference globally. These individuals showcase unparalleled dedication to the natural world, our climate and the well-being of our youth. Learn more about these inspiring leaders below.

Studies highlighted in this Digest focus on the use of nature to achieve therapeutic goals. Different approaches and different populations served are addressed.

This Digest focuses on factors limiting children’s engagement with nature, some residing in the child and/or family; some associated with urban parks and public greenspaces; some specific to schools.

This Digest focuses on nature as a promoter of resilience in vulnerable children and youth

For many youth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, safe and accessible green space can be hard to come by — an unfortunate circumstance, considering the plethora of health benefits...

Each year, the Children and Nature Network awards the Richard Louv Prize for Innovation In Nature Connection. Through our application and selection process, we discover remarkable leaders making a difference globally. These individuals showcase unparalleled dedication to the natural world, our climate and the well-being of our youth. Learn more about these inspiring leaders below.

This special issue focuses on the physical health benefits of both passive and active forms of nature engagement. Also discussed are several ideas about how health-care professionals are tapping into the health-promoting powers of nature engagement.

In this article written for Sierra Magazine, Louv calls for recognition of nature as a basic human right of all people—and for recognition of the inherent rights of nature.

This Digest offers evidence-based suggestions for using nature to promote the mental health and resilience of children impacted by adversity.

In this issue of the Digest we explore how accessing neighborhood nature is an important strategy for building resilience, buffering stress, and recovering from adversity.

Family-based nature engagement – when children and their parents or caregivers experience a nature-based activity together – can take place everywhere from the backyard to parks and wilderness and even in women’s shelters and prisons. As this Research Digest shows, spending time in nature as a family is good for the whole family.

Adapted from keynote address, American Camp Association National Conference, Feb. 22, 2012 When I was a teenager, I resented camp. Because I never went to camp. Every summer, my buddy...

Do we really want to improve the nation's health care system – or just throw more money at it? If better health is the true objective, a seldom-mentioned...

Join me in the movement to connect children and nature

re·sil·ience: noun, the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Resilience is now firmly woven into our everyday vernacular, in the contexts of climate change and Covid19. Nature’s role— particularly...

A growing body of research connecting exposure to nature with positive health outcomes — from decreased blood pressure, stress and pain to improved sleep and focus — has doctors around the world writing “nature prescriptions” for their patients. Yet as climate change accelerates and weather patterns continue to shift, our ability to access nature and its benefits will be impacted. In fact, some of us may experience climate anxiety or “solastagia,” a term for the distress and pain caused by the loss of our home environments and the solace they bring. Inside Climate News.

In this issue: Biophilia; Education; Environmental Attitudes & Actions; Parks and Park Prescriptions;

The new nature movement isn’t about going back to nature, but forward to nature, writes Richard Louv. He presents ideas that are explored in greater detail in his 2011 book,” The Nature Principle.”

Richard Louv presents 12 principles for creating a nature-rich city, urban region or community.

Now, more than ever, parents and others can feel good about getting kids and themselves outdoors. But doing that isn’t always easy. Richard Louv provides this starter list of a dozen simple ways to get a dose of Vitamin N.