Rosendal’s Garden Foundation helps children to connect with nature

Experience Rosendal’s Garden all year round

Children who don’t have emotional ties to nature are less inclined to protect it. This is according to research carried out by the University of Gävle.

Today, many children grow up in urban environments. This means they don’t have the opportunity to connect with nature from an early age. The more used to city life children get, the less likely they are to protect nature. This is something which is then likely to continue later in life. Moreover, it can even cause children to become scared of nature, instead of enjoying it and seeing it as something worth protecting. At a time when it is so critical for us to protect the planet, these findings are nothing short of alarming.

Research is leading the way

One of the university’s researchers, Matteo Giusti, has combined research on sustainable cities with environmental psychology studies. This is with the aim of finding ways to design cities where residents feel connected to nature. ”We must incorporate more nature into our cities so that we can see and experience nature in everyday life. We need to realise how important nature is for us”, he says.

Play, Cultivate, Grow!

This is actually something that the Rosendal’s Garden Foundation at Royal Djurgården has been acting on since 2012. Its educational gardening project ’Play, Cultivate, Grow!’ teaches children about nature through hands-on sessions at a custom-made garden playground. Almost 2,000 children have taken part so far, most of whom live in Stockholm’s suburbs. The project takes place over six sessions throughout the year. This means that the children can follow the changing of the seasons.