Nebraska Hosts Children and Nature Conference

Omaha World-Herald – July 24, 2008
By John Ferak

If 19th century naturalist Henry David Thoreau were growing up today in America, would he spend 30 hours or more each week watching television, using a computer, listening to his headphones or talking on a cell phone?

More than ever, say some scholars, there's a widening disconnect between children and nature.

About 300 educators, environmentalists and landscape design architects gathered this week at the Lied Lodge & Conference Center as part of a symposium to discuss topics relating to children and nature. The conference was hosted by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Handouts reminded adults that only a generation ago, children walked and played outside much more, planting things in the dirt, riding their bicycles and inventing games.

Children roamed beyond their neighborhoods to streams, woods and urban parks. That exposure to the environment helped develop a sense of place.

"Children have been spending more time in front of electronic screens than they do outdoors, so the purpose of our movement is to get children outdoors," said Roger Neugebauer of Seattle, a representative of the World Forum Foundation. "If children today don't love nature, then as adults they won't protect the planet."

The presenters at the conference, which ended Wednesday, included experts from 27 nations in community planning, urban green space and landscape design.

Martha Cecilia Fajardo, a member of the International Association of Landscape Architects, discussed how she's spent the past 20 years helping to connect children with nature in her native Bogotá, Colombia.

Elaborate networks of sidewalks, bicycle routes and new parks have emerged in some of Bogotá's most degraded areas, she said.

"We must work with our children to love the environment," Fajardo said, "before they can learn about science and ecology."

Dong Kim, a faculty member from South Korea's Sungkyunkwan University, gave a 20-minute slide show discussing the school forest movement in Korea that he helped pioneer.

Kim said that in 1999, only a handful of schools participated in a pilot program. Now about 750 of Korea's 10,000 schools have planted small forests, trees and botanical gardens throughout their school grounds.

Kim showed before-and-after photos of drab-looking school grounds rejuvenated into beautiful walkways and courtyards dominated by overhanging trees, colorful flowers and large bushes.

"Students, teachers, parents, even some of the local residents all come together to plant trees on school grounds," he said.

One of the next endeavors is to build a school surrounded by a forest, Kim said.

He urged audience members to develop support teams of local architects and private businesses for financial contributions and design ideas.

Two faculty members from Doane College who attended the forum said they continue to try to come up with ways to encourage local children and families to find pleasure in nature.

Doane recently developed a prairie dog colony at a natural prairie site about 40 miles from the campus in Crete, Neb., that serves as a resource for an early-childhood development program.

In the coming year, Doane officials hope to build a nature center on campus for use by local families and for students majoring in environmental sciences and early childhood elementary education.

"There are just so many opportunities for children and families if they can explore nature," said Rod Diercks, an education professor at Doane.

"The more they can connect with nature, the more they will care about their world."

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