Campaign for outdoor learning reaches Parliament

Dr Kaye Richards, a leading expert in the impact on health of the great outdoors is supporting moves for a greater role for the outdoors in children’s education.

Kaye has been briefing legislators this week as a tabled Early Day Motion to the House of Commons is currently backed by 37 MPs.

The push comes as the Government acts to curb children’s access to the ‘digisphere’ amid growing concerns of social media’s impact on health and wellbeing among under 16s.

The UK minister for children and families went as far as describing the impact of the internet and social media as a “complete rewiring of childhood’.

Cross-party support

Kaye, an adviser to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Outdoor Learning (AAPG) said: “We have an abundance of evidence of the positive benefits for children and young people on the effects of going outdoors and being in Nature.”

The parliamentary motion, led by former Lib-Dem leader and MP Tim Farron, who chairs the APPG calls for Parliament's sustained attention to the role of outdoor learning in improving wellbeing, engagement and opportunity.

Kaye, who is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, has spent time discussing the evidence with parliamentarians in preparation for the motion.

Scotland recently passed a bill – ‘The Schools Residential Outdoor Education Bill’ - which has drawn even more attention and momentum to the issue.

Kaye, who was in parliament this week added: “Parents, are increasingly concerned about issues regarding how their children interface with the world and how they support their positive mental health, so this is very timely indeed.”