Whilst professional consultants, designers and planners continually discuss better ways of designing the future layout of our landscapes, how many of them ask what children want? Perhaps as adults we feel we have a more sound reasoning behind our decisions, but how often is this reasoning overruled by the repetitive pleas of our children?
New research carried out by Growing up Boulder suggests that our children want better access to nature in our cities. But the research goes further than this and reveals that children also want more interaction with nature. This does not mean that children should start digging up slow worms and eating beetles from the garden, rather we need to be more creative in how our kids can interact with nature. We can take inspiration from Danish landscape architect Helle Nebelong who designed Valbyparken playground, measuring 20.000 m². The playground originated from an old rubbish tip and now offers a pristine landscape, full of biodiversity, where children can have a playing experience close to nature. In the leafy suburbs of Surrey, JFA have worked with clients from the educational sector to propose mitigation which included the creation of a minibeast area. The area includes display boards to teach children on the importance of saproxylic beetles in their natural environment and viewing platform to allow interaction between children and nature, bug hotels and paving that lifts to allow a view of earth worms and ants below. The mitigation has successfully achieved planning. We are looking forward to hearing how the children get on with their new minibeast area. More details of the research carried out at Boulder Journey School can be found by following this link http://www.childinthecity.eu/2016/01/20/children-seek-greater-access-to-nature/ .
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