Result Announcements –
Hong Kong’s First Large-Scale Baseline Research on Children’s Nature Connectedness and Outdoor Environmental Education in Schools –
A Tripartite Study Involving Students, Parents and Teachers
Baseline research on children’s nature connectedness reveals over 30% of students reported poor mental well-being, attributing to disconnection from nature
Under the project “Nurture via Nature: Hong Kong Nature Connectedness and Outdoor Environmental Education” funded by The Swire Group Charitable Trust, Outdoor Wildlife Learning Hong Kong and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have jointly conducted Hong Kong’s first baseline research on Nature Connectedness of Children and Outdoor Environmental Education in Schools. The result was announced yesterday. The study involved 2,824 Primary 4-6 students and 2,413 parent-child dyads, revealing Hong Kong children’s nature connectedness current status, as well as its profound impact on their psychological well-being.
The findings indicated that 27.3% of Hong Kong children have low nature connectedness, significantly lower than that of children in England and Canada. Additionally, 32.58% of surveyed children had poor mental well-being. Furthermore, there was a positive relationship between nature connectedness and psychological health.
Lack of Nature Connectedness in Parents and Children
Over 40% of our child participants reported visiting nature with family only once every six months or less frequently, with close to 10% reporting no such experience at all. In contrast, over 65% of our parent participants reported that their child spent at least an hour on a typical non-school day using digital devices.
Over 85% of our parent participants agreed that their children did not have enough contact with nature, while more than 90% of parent participants agreed that contacting with nature was beneficial to children’s psychological health. Nevertheless, more than 50% of parents thought they did not have time to bring their children to experience nature.
Unsatisfactory School Outdoor Learning Hours
In the 2023-2024 school year, nearly 30% of schools did not organise any outdoor environmental education in natural environments for Primary 4-6 students. Approximately 50,000 students lacked access to natural environment learning, spending only 4.43 hours annually outdoors, significantly below the recommended hours by teachers.
Consolidating findings from this research, the team has tailored a total of 30 recommendations, targeting different groups and impact levels. All recommendations are now included in the publication “A Report and Handbook on Hong Kong Students' Nature Connectedness and School Outdoor Environmental Education”. You are welcome to access the link below to download the report for free. Let’s create the ideal blueprint for environmental education!
