"It’s important for the future of our children to get them outside exploring and experiencing. . . This is the kind of project that we need to be thinking about it"
- 2014 Awards Jury
“这对孩子未来的外部探险和体验十分重要。所以我们需要考虑这样的项目”
- 2014年评审团
2014 ASLA
Finding Connections to the Outdoors for Youth and Families in Larimer County, Colorado By Design Workshop Inc.
全国各地的孩子们都缺乏与大自然的接触。事实上，以自然界为基础的活动减少的后果是显而易见的，这种现象被称为：自然缺陷障碍。一些消息表明此现象在十年前还不到50%。这种缺陷的原因并不清楚。拉里默尔县研究的重点是理解缺陷潜在模式和自然连接障碍。分析现有的社区结构与空间数据，这有助于确定城市物理组织是促进还是妨碍与自然领域的互动。
Across the nation, children lack access to nature. In fact, the result of the decline in nature-based activities is so significant, it now has a name: Nature Deficiency Disorder. Some sources suggest they are outside less than 50 percent as much as they were ten years ago. The reasons for this decline are not well understood. The focus of the Larimer County study is to understand the underlying patterns for the decline and the barriers to nature connections. Analyzing existing community structures with the application of spatial data has helped determine how the physical organization of cities either encourages or discourages interaction with natural areas.
↑ 户外和自然程序可用性以及项目协调机会通过一个详细目录程序进行评估。一份由35位户外和自然程序提供者回答的调查问卷被编译成一个电子数据库，通过网站可进行公开访问。
Outdoor and nature program availability and opportunities for program coordination were evaluated through an inventory process. Responses to a questionnaire from thirty-five Outdoor and Nature Program Providers were compiled into an electronic database publically accessible via a website.
Photo Credit: Design Workshop, Inc., Tembo Consulting
为了了解如何才能更好地连接大自然和家庭儿童，户外科罗拉多信托基金(GOCO)，一个国家机构，负责每年提供1.35亿美元的贷款来保持开放空间，增加娱乐机会和关于土地资源价值的公众教育，赞助一个科研试点研究。此项目在科罗拉多，拉里默尔县进行，通过一个学术和非营利组织之间的协作研究方法进行体验数据和地理空间分析。一个科学文献综述，通过对程序提供者数据和人口统计资料进行分析来确定个人和家庭为什么不与自然互动。基于这些结果，GOCO现在有能力来推断选择授予和供资策略的有效性。
这项研究旨在回答下列问题，以寻找重新连接孩子、成年人、家庭与自然的有效方法：
1)自然缺陷障碍是由于物理约束限制进入自然地区而引起的结果，还是与通过数字媒体引起的社会变化相关？
2)什么是群落兴趣缺乏的根源？
3)在农村、郊区和城市社区中，住宅位置对自然渴望的变化是什么？
4)种族和收入水平等因素对访问自然区域的兴趣的影响是什么？
5)开放空间用户的人口统计数据和开放空间的分布对一个地区连接的影响是什么?
6)所需的休闲需求可以通过可用资金来进行合理分配吗？
7)生育规范或行为是否对室外区域使用的下降负有责任，如果有的话，这些因素对开放空间的未来分配意味着什么?
文献综述
综述的发行学术文献由超过400篇文章、报告、专书章节和其他文件组成，以便更好地理解开放空间和娱乐设施的使用。在这里我们有组织地将综述分为四类：a)自然的连接，b)自然基础经验的好处，c）这些经验的障碍和d)当前的趋势和问题。这些领域值得获得更多的关注，因为在过去八年中只有四个学术研究专注于这个主题。有证据充分表明了身处自然的好处，并且健康组织和教育者对此进行了越来越多的研究，因为亲近自然可以降低肥胖水平，提高自尊和社会适应能力以及提高自信的决策过程与自然培养。文献综述引用了旅行距离和一个旅行范围的危险感知来作为开放空间访问的重要物理约束。媒体和数字娱乐的普及理念，包括电视和电脑，导致了自然体验的下降，然而，它在任何学术研究评估中并不被支持。对自然中参与特定活动的障碍的评估是一个相对较新的关注和调查领域。文献综述帮助定义与自然有关的人类行为和思想。由它鉴定的链接行为和开放空间，物理约束和社会变化的定量行为被记录在研究中。然而这些研究显示，目前很少有与政策和地区设计水平相关的干预方案。
研究方法和分析
研究者通过调查法和教育工作者，发育良好和身体残疾的孩子父母，双语组，低收入群体，农村，青年团体，孩子和卫生保健专业人员，地方和国家户外项目提供者的焦点小组分析了来自2000多个参与者的数据。对用户模式和活动要求进行评估，确定居民对户外娱乐设施、公园、小路和开放空间的态度和行为。使用一个广泛的地理信息系统(GIS)数据库，将参与者的反应和实际的物理特性相连接，允许人口和物理数据能够同时进行空间显示和测量。现有的公园和开放空间数据被用来审查参与者选定的户外体验的最好位置。对进入公园的路线和开放空间设施的易用性以及旅游安全进行评估。使用一个认知绘图来开发访问数据的详细特点，并培养社区和城市组织如何影响自然和使用关系的理解。
以历史因素为基础的GIS预测模型和未来土地利用模式的预测被开发出来，它影响了该地区的城市化进程。本研究的设计允许未来景观的可视化。特别是，它准确地找到了发展模式和区域可视化之间的冲突点。
研究成果和意义
为了重新连接儿童、成年人、家庭与自然，地址物理障碍必须与社会变化程序串联起来。而拉里默尔县人口的绝大多数(79%)表示，希望能够经常与大自然进行连接。根据这项研究表明，用户对时间和便利性的重视超过许多其他因素。公园和开放空间的便利位置也成为了使用频率增加的重要因素。在住宅区的分析中，城市特征，如州际公路，主要城市的街道，小径和人行道网的中段，都对用户创造了物理访问冲突,，抑制了他们寻求户外机遇的渴望。当前普遍持有的观念是数字媒体分散了用户与自然的连接，但它没有被挑出来作为自然体验的一个主要障碍。
基于调查结果，与自然体验相关的信息在第一次是不容易获得的。与典型学校的全面监督环境相比(如教室、防护操场)，父母担心的是从家到公园的物理距离以及在户外与陌生人接触的危险。最重要的是，调查结果表明，缺乏参与是不必要的社会接触恐惧和安全恐惧导致的结果。
社区、群体和地域的地理和物理特征被发现影响了居民和自然的连接。对自然区域中的小公园进行探索，将其作为孩子对大自然和野外环境感到舒适并有很大兴趣的一个途径。如果在适当土地设置中的自然机会是可用的，受访者则会有一个高满意度。在认知地图的运用中，对局部物理情况的细节进行积累并在开发空间位置和使用频率之间形成可靠的联系。
对拉里默尔县收入和种族划分之间的关系以及现有开放空间的分布进行了测试。种族和收入对平等分配或访问都没有重要作用。
研究潜在自然区域的可用性目前对社区并没有效果，GIS方法能使调查人员确定人们想要使用的土地自然特征，这将增加他们的户外体验。对未来土地收购、地役权保护以及与政府机构之间的使用协议进行识别并与人口数据相连接，收集关于态度、未被满足的需求、可访问性以及未来发展的数据，形成良好的区域基线。研究提出了一个GOCO方法来评估未来资助和融资方案的功效，并证实补助政策和开放空间收购支出以及提高可访问性是增加自然连接最好的工具。
GOCO试点项目提供了年轻人和自然之间的脱节性的最全面的区域分析并对此提供了建议。政策调整建立了这些联系的基础并支持增加开放空间和更改程序。可将项目的可扩展流程模型和复制指南用在科罗拉多中，来指导社区对当前家庭与自然世界间的连接水平的理解，考虑提高这些连接的方式，定位阻止此链接的缺口和障碍，并找到更多的链接人与自然的机会。关键指标在目前有了明确定义并且可对其跟踪以确保可说明性和测量成果。将应用研究聚集起来，景观建筑师负责设计公园和开放空间，开放空间中的社区规划者和管理者可以充实他们的设计和程序。该研究提出的对自然缺陷障碍的理解以及面向解决方案的干预措施可以帮助培养健康的情感；社会、人与户外的联系以及在一个特定社区、群落、更大的城市和整个地区中重新建立人与自然的连接。
↑ 研究方法包括文献综述、自然机遇的详细目录、数据收集、访谈、分析和案例研究。由此产生的研究记录和随后的复制指南被分布到其他科罗拉多州社区。
Photo Credit: Design Workshop, Inc
↑ 调查方法被用来衡量关于居民在自然体验中的态度和行为。85%的人强烈同意，将时间花费在与自然接触上能够为孩子提供有价值的益处。
Photo Credit: Design Workshop, Inc., Tembo Consulting
↑ 户外和自然程序可用性以及项目协调机会通过一个详细目录程序进行评估。一份由35位户外和自然程序提供者回答的调查问卷被编译成一个电子数据库，通过网站可进行公开访问。
Photo Credit: Design Workshop, Inc., Tembo Consulting
↑ 来自65名利益相关者的认知地图被译成遍及整个县渴望引进户外活动的一个位置综述。
Photo Credit: Design Workshop, Inc.
↑ 这些图形阐明了对现有方案的意见，使儿童参与进来和确定元素阵列可以改善或提高现有的项目。
Design Workshop, Inc., Lisa Evans
↑ 在此建立了所有现存的公共公园，开放空间，游径，学校土地，保护地役权和其他自然属性的详细目录以及公共可访问性的评估。
Design Workshop, Inc., Larimer County, Colorado
↑ 如果公园离他们的家、学校或儿童看护中心很近，那么儿童更容易适合在一天中进行适当的户外活动。公园分布的不平等感知也通过绘图进行了调查。
Design Workshop, Inc., US Census, ESRI
↑ 识别以自然经验权重叠加地图为目标的土地，辨认未来每个社区的公园和开放空间的最理想位置。
Design Workshop, Inc.
↑ GIS数据促进了最适合自然活动的潜在未来位置的技术分析。这种分析可以帮助管理未来发展和开放空间之间的冲突。
Photo Credit: Design Workshop, Inc.
↑ 在本研究中，每个城市和农村地区的发展指标提供了一种研究进程以达到确定基准的手段。
Photo Credit: Design Workshop, Inc.
↑ 位置鉴定作为对自然/户外重点干预的重要设置，已经优先配予了资金。
Photo Credit: Design Workshop, Inc.
In an effort to understand how best to connect families and children with nature, the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund (GOCO), a state agency tasked with granting $135 million annually to preserve open space, increase recreational opportunities and educate the public about the value of land resources, sponsored research in a pilot study. The program, initiated in Larimer County, Colorado, employed a collaborative research method between academic and non-profit instututions, government entities, and private researchers, using empirical data and geo-spatial analysis. A scientific literature review, program provider data, and demographics were analyzed to determine why individuals and families do not interact with nature. Based on these results, GOCO now has the ability to understand the effectiveness of alternative granting and funding strategies.
The research was designed to answer the following questions in order to find ways to meaningfully re-engage children, adults and families with nature:
1) Is Nature Deficiency Disorder the result of physical constraints limiting access to natural areas, or is it related to social changes created by digital media, limited time or disinterest?
2) What are the root causes of a community’s lack of interest in, or dissatisfaction with, programs and statewide offerings?
3) Within rural, suburban and urban neighborhoods, does the desire for nature based activities vary by residential location?
4) Do factors such as ethnicity and income levels determine interest in accessing natural areas?
5) Do the demographics of open space users and the distribution of open spaces within a region influence connections?
6) Are the desired recreational needs properly matched with the funding opportunities available through granting programs?
7) Are there generational norms or behaviors responsible for a decline in the use of outdoor areas, and if so, what do these factors mean for future allocations of open space?
Literature Review
A review of published academic literature including over 400 articles, reports, book chapters, and other documents was completed to better understand public use of open space and recreation amenities. The review was organized into four categories: a) connections to nature, b) benefits of nature based experiences, c) barriers to these experiences, and d) current trends and issues. These areas merit more attention, as there have been only four academic studies completed in the last eight years focused on this subject. The benefits of being in nature are well documented, and are increasingly studied by health organizations and educators because of the greater educational success, health and well-being, lower obesity levels, increased self-esteem and social acclimatization, and increased confident decision-making processes contact with nature fosters. The literature review references travel distance and the perceived danger of traveling outside of a ‘comfort radius’ as significant physical constraints to open space access. The popularized idea that media and digital diversions, including television and computers, contribute to the decline in nature-based experiences, however, is not supported in any of the academic studies reviewed. The evaluation of barriers to participation in nature specific activities is a relatively new area of focus and investigation. The literature review helped define human behaviors and ideas related to nature. It identified quantitative research that links behavior and open space, physical constraints and social changes, documenting completed studies. However, these studies suggest little in the way of solution-oriented interventions at policy and regional design levels.
Research Methods and Analysis
The investigators analyzed data obtained from over 2,000 participants, through survey methods and focus groups with educators, parents of children with developmental and physical disabilities, bilingual groups, low-income groups, rural communities, youth groups, child and health care professionals, and local and state level outdoor program providers. User patterns and activity demands for outdoor recreation facilities, parks, trails and open spaces were evaluated to determine resident attitudes and behaviors. An extensive Geographic Information System (GIS) database was employed to correlate participant responses with actual physical characteristics, allowing demographic and physical data to be spatially displayed and measured simultaneously. Existing parks and open space data was used to review lands selected by survey participants as preferable locations for outdoor experience. Routes and access to parks and open space facilities were evaluated for their ease of use and travel safety. Cognitive mapping exercises were employed to develop detailed characteristics of access data and to cultivate an understanding of how the organization of neighborhoods and cities affects nature and use relationships.
Predictive GIS models and forecasts of future land use patterns were developed based on historic factors that have influenced urbanization in the region. This research design allowed the visualization of the future landscape. In particular, it pinpointed the points of conflict between development patterns and the areas visualized as having the highest value for outdoor experiences.
Research Findings and Significance
In order to re-engage children, adults, and families with nature, strategies that address physical barriers must be considered in tandem with programming that considers social changes. While a large majority of Larimer County’s population (79%) has expressed a desire to connect more often with nature, factors like cost, access, time constraints, concern for children’s safety, awareness of where to go and program opportunities, and the right program activities at the right times are major constraints that contribute to lack of participation. According to this study, users value time and convenience over many other factors. Close proximity to and convenient locations of parks and open space are also vital factors for increasing frequency of use. In the analysis of residential neighborhoods, urban features such as interstate highways, major urban streets, interruptions of trail and sidewalk networks, create physical accessibility conflicts for users, dampening their desire to seek outdoor opportunities. The commonly held belief that digital media has distracted users from connecting with nature was not singled out as a major barrier to nature-based experiences.
Based on survey results, information related to nature-based experiences is not readily available to the first time or infrequent user. Parents do not receive the same level of communication and information exchange for parks and recreation opportunities as they do for organized sports programs. In contrast to the fully supervised environment of a typical school setting (e.g. classroom, fenced playground), parents have safety concerns about physical distances from homes to parks, and the effects/perceived dangers of coming into contact with strangers outdoors. Most importantly, survey responses indicate that lack of participation is due to fear of unwanted social contact and questionable safety.
The geography and physical characteristics of neighborhoods, communities, and regions were found to influence the connections of residents to nature. Small parks with nature areas that allow exploration are appropriate responses in urban locations and serve as a gateway for children to become interested in and feel comfortable in larger natural and wilderness settings. If the nature based opportunities were available in the appropriate land settings, high satisfaction was noted by respondents. In the cognitive mapping exercise, the specifics of localized physical situations were accumulated to form a reliable correlation between locations of open space with frequency of use.
The relationship between incomes and ethnicities in Larimer County and the distribution of existing open space areas was tested. Neither ethnicity nor income plays a significant role in the equality of distribution or access.
Researching the availability of potential natural areas not currently available to the communities, GIS methods allowed the investigators to pinpoint land with natural characteristics that people want to use and that will increase their outdoor experiences. Land for future acquisitions, conservation easements, and use agreements between governmental agencies were identified and linked with demographic data, data gathered about attitudes, unfulfilled needs, accessibility, and future development, forming the baseline for areas not well served today. The research provides a way for GOCO to evaluate the efficacy of future grant and funding programs and confirms that grant policies and expenditures for open space acquisitions and improved accessibility are the best tools for increasing connections to nature.
The GOCO pilot program provides the most comprehensive regional analysis of the disconnect between youth and nature to date, and offers recommendations. Policy adjustments that help create the foundation for these connections and encourage open space additions and programming changes must be considered. The project’s scalable process model and replication manual can be utilized throughout Colorado to guide communities in understanding current levels of connections between families and the natural world, considering ways to enhance these connections, locating gaps and barriers that prevent such connections, and finding opportunities to link people to nature more often. Key metrics are now defined and can be tracked to ensure accountability and measure achievements over time. With the applied research gathered, Landscape Architects charged with designing parks and open space, Community Planners, and Managers of open space, can enrich their designs and programs. The study advances the understanding of Nature Deficiency Disorder, and supports the idea that solution-oriented interventions can help foster healthy emotional, social and intellectual connections to the great outdoors and re-engage people with nature in specific neighborhoods, communities, larger cities, and entire regions.
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