Earthworm
to the Pocket Monster: Childhood Experience of Nature and Environmental
Behavior Over Time in Taipei Min-Quan Elementary School Neighborhood |
| There is some agreement that childhood experiences of nature are important for humans to develop environmental knowledge and values. There are, however, few longitudinal and even fewer studies focusing on the relationship between children’s experiences of nearby nature and their environmental behavior as adults. In this research, a questionnaire was designed to ask four different age groups about their childhood experiences of nearby nature and their current environmental behavior. The four groups each spent their elementary school years in the same Taipei, Taiwan neighborhood at different time periods (1970’s, 1980’s, 1990’s, 2000’s) when the character and availability of nearby nature changed rapidly as agricultural villages transformed into urban neighborhoods. For example, those who were children during the 1970’s had access to an open channel stream; the 1980’s group experienced a partially culverted stream which was completely culverted in the 1990’s. The youngest group experienced a new artificially created watercourse above the original creek location during the 2000’s. The research findings show that the children’s experience of nature declined from the 1970’s to 1990’s and increased again between the 1990’s and 2000’s as the places where children played changed. The results also show that an increase in the children’s experiences of nearby nature translated into increased participation in environment – related activities as adults. This paper will present a case for why environmental planners/designers; science educators and parents should revalue the importance of nearby nature in creating neighborhoods for rich experiences with nature. |