Written by: Francesca Boyd and Paul Brindley, University of Sheffield
Abstract: This paper presents lessons learnt from research on integrating urban nature into university students’ daily lives for wellbeing benefits. It examines the application of traditional and technological interventions as a way of increasing university students’ engagement with urban nature to support their mental health. It focuses on two research questions: (1) How does a walking intervention and a mobile phone app intervention in urban nature compare - in terms of their effect on nature connection and wellbeing measures? (2) How should engagement with the natural environment be encouraged for university students’ wellbeing? The use of two different styles of nature-based interventions demonstrated the implementation opportunities and challenges amongst the student population. Results analysed the extent of changes over time and differences within groups. This confirmed that the relationship between different aspects of an individual’s relationship with nature is complex and dynamic. The experience of conducting this research highlighted the challenges to implementing novel technological interventions - including creating a nature-based intervention scheme at a university. The difference in outcome measures and unexpected direction of change for connection to nature suggests the need for a holistic approach to improve student wellbeing, including different ways to integrate nature into the university experience.
Keywords: urban nature, university students, interventions, mobile phone app, wellbeing.