The Nature Access Project

We're working with Early Education (The British Association for Early Childhood Education) on a project exploring young families' access to nature. The aim of the project is to investigate equity of access to nature for babies and young children - discovering what aspects of nature are important for young families and why.

By access to nature, we mean babies and young children having the opportunity to be outdoors in the open air. This might be in a school or setting garden, in a green space (such as a park) or children spending time in the garden at home.

Phase one of the project is already underway with a literature review examining current and published research on this subject.

Phase two has just launched with a consultation seeking the views and experiences of children, parents, carers and practitioners. The research team are interested in hearing from practitioners, educators, parents and carers - to gather your perceptions of nature and to understand what values you place on being outdoors with the children you work with, support and care for.

Educators - we need your views!

Practitioners, educators and teachers - please get involved with the project and share your experiences by completing this anonymous online survey.

Parents & carers - we need your views!

There's also an online survey especially for parents and carers. It should take no longer than 10 mins to complete.

The consultation's findings will be made available to all those who take part in the surveys.

A series of practical resources and guides based on The Nature Access Project's findings will be published and shared in Spring 2022.