The National Dialogue on Children and Nature Conference, which included research contributed by the University Architecture School, was held recently at the National Conservation Center in West Virginia.
The University's Institute for Environmental Negotiation, part of the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning in the Architecture School, was one of the main participants in the conference.
This was the largest U.S. conference regarding the connection between children and nature. The conference was highlighted by discussion of children's declining connection with nature and its negative health effects, as well as many potential solutions.
According to Kris Hoellen, director of the Conservation Leadership Network, a wide variety of concerned groups and organizations attended the conference. Over 350 people came, with expertise in areas ranging from both mental and physical health of children, to transportation, to landscape designers and National Park Service representatives Hoellen said.
Frank Dukes, director of the IEN, discussed the extensive research being done into the problems that are arising because of children's lack of outdoor activity.
"One piece of striking evidence is that the decline in time spent outdoors and in any sort of physical activity exactly nears the time increased in [playing] video games and being on the computer," Dukes said.
Hoellen suggested many reasons for the decline in outdoor activity among children, such as the recent omission of recess time from many school systems.
Other contributing factors include "the way we design our [housing] developments so that you can't build a tree house outdoors," Hoellen said, adding that the media also contributes to a decline in outdoor activity among children.
"It's a cultural issue, really," she said.
Those attending the conference also discussed possible solutions to the problem and potential ways to increase children's time spent outdoors.
According to Dukes, one of the main solutions is to implement the Walking School Bus Program.
"Children would be walking to school in groups instead of taking the bus," thus spending more time outdoors, Dukes said.
According to Hoellen, a possible solution at a national level is the Children in Nature Forum. This will be a national forum to host experts that will contribute to "demonstration projects" in specific areas of the country to raise awareness about declining outdoor activity among children and to devise local solutions, Hoellen said.
Overall, Hoellen said she believed the conference was successful in planning various solutions to the problem.
"Solutions range from small-scale to larger-scale, and the momentum was very high leaving the conference," she said.
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