Human-nature connection is recognized for its importance for our well-being, development of our environmental identity, and potentially leading to pro-environmental behaviour due to the support of an individual’s intrinsic values. However, the fostering of this connection is not supported and being implemented within society at large. This research set out to explore the causes of the weak relation to nature and identify potential design interventions to enable the recuperation of nature as part of our identity.  For this exploration, Speculative Design and Transition Design were chosen. In particular, Design Fiction as a method was adopted, not only it allowed us to speculate the future, but also materialise and explore the human-nature connection in ‘objects’. Transition Design was used due to its flexibility to explore interdisciplinary research and solutions, providing ground for the 'constructed reality’ and enabling the built-up of a roadmap towards this preferable future.  Drivers that caused this problem were identified, and it showed how they are closely intertwined and influenced by, or are a result of, each other. One of these is how control and illusion of control plays a role in our weak human-nature connection. Through qualitative fieldwork, some of the ‘characteristics of nature’ and factors that influence human-nature connection were mapped, and they were embodied into objects situated in a ‘constructed reality’. These material objects have taken the form of home products in a product catalogue (‘diegetic prototype’) as human-nature connection can potentially be fostered at home as well as in nature.  The response showed a potential in how a speculative ‘diegetic prototype’ can influence a person's sense of identity in relation to nature. Proving that the ‘diegetic prototype’ has an actual effect on the sense of identity would be impossible due to the complex nature of identity development as many different factors play a role. This research also provided a list of factors for designers to explore with regards to enhancing our human-nature connection through design. It has also shown the potential role of food and home in establishing human-nature connection, on which further research is needed.

The engineering design process can underutilize nature-based solutions during infrastructure development. Instances of nature within the built environment are reflections of the human-nature connection, which may alter how designers ideate solutions to a given design task, especially through virtual reality (VR) as an embodied perspective taking platform. Embodied VR helps designers "see" as an end-user sees, inclusive of the natural environment through the uptake of an avatar, such as a bird or fish. Embodied VR emits empathy toward the avatar, e.g., to see as a bird in VR, one tends to feel and think as a bird. Furthermore, embodied VR also impacts altruistic behavior toward the environment, specifically through proenvironmental behaviors. However, limited research discovers the impact of embodied VR on the human-nature connection and if embodied VR has any impact on how designers ideate, specifically surrounding nature-based solutions as a form of a proenvironmental behavior during the design process. This research first presents a formal measurement of embodied VR's impact on the human-nature connection and maps this impact toward design-related proenvironmental behaviors through design ideas, i. e., tracking changes in nature-based design choices. The design study consisted of three groups of engineering undergraduate students which were given a case study and plan review: a VR group embodying a bird (n=35), a self-lens VR group (n=34), and a control group (n=33). The case study was about a federal mandate to minimize combined sewer overflow in a neighborhood within Cincinnati, OH. Following the plan review, VR groups were given a VR walkthrough or flythrough of the case study area of interest as a selected avatar (embodied:bird, self-lens:oneself). Participants were tested for their connectedness to nature and a mock-design charrette was held to measure engineering design ideas. Verbal protocol analysis was followed, instructing participants to think aloud. Design ideation sessions were recorded and manually transcribed. The results of the study indicated that embodiment impacts the human-nature connection based on participants' perceived connection to nature. Only the bird group witnessed an increase in connectedness to nature, whereas the self-lens and control groups did not report any change. This change in connectedness to nature was also confirmed by engineering design ideas. The bird group was more likely to ideate green-thinking designs to solve the stormwater issue and benefit both nature and socioeconomic conditions, whereas the control group mostly discussed gray designs as the catalyst for minimizing combined sewer overflows. The self-lens group also mentioned green design ideas as well as socioeconomic change, but mostly placed the beneficiary of the design toward people rather than nature in the bird group. The mode of analysis for these findings was driven by thematic content analysis, an exploration of design space as a function of semantic distance, and large language models (LLMs) to synthesize design ideas and themes. An LLM's performance lent accuracy to the design ideas in comparison to thematic content analysis, but struggled to cross-compare groups to provide generalizable findings. This research is intended to benefit the engineering design process with a) the benefit of perspective-taking on design ideas based on lenses of embodied VR and b) various methods to supplement thematic content analysis for coding design ideas. / Doctor of Philosophy / The use of nature in the constructed world, such as rain gardens and natural streams for moving stormwater, is underused during the design process. Virtual reality (VR) programs, like embodiment, have the potential to increase the incorporation of nature and nature-based elements during design. Embodiment is the process of taking on the vantage point of another being or avatar, such as a bird, fish, insect, or other being, in order to see and move as the avatar does. Embodied VR increases the likelihood that the VR participant will act favorably to the subject, specifically when the natural environment is involved. For example, embodying another individual cutting down trees in a virtual forest increased the likelihood that individuals would act favorably to the environment, such as through recycling or conserving energy (Ahn and Bailenson, 2012). Ultimately, this research measures the level of connection participants feel with the environment after an embodied VR experience and motions to discover if this change in connection to nature impacts how participants might design a solution to a problem. This design experiment is based on a case study, which all participants were provided alongside supplemental plan documents of the case. The case study used is about stormwater issues and overflows from infrastructure in a neighborhood in Cincinnati, OH, where key decision-makers were mandated by the federal government to minimize the overflows. The bird group (a bird avatar) performed a fly-through in the area of interest in VR, whereas the self-lens group (first-person, embodying oneself) walked through the same area. The control group received no VR intervention. Following the intervention, participants were asked to re-design the neighborhood and orate their recorded solution. Then, participants were required to score a questionnaire measuring their connectedness to nature. The results show that when people experience the space as a bird in virtual reality, they felt more connected to nature and also included more ideas related to nature in their design. More specifically, ideas involving green infrastructure (using nature-based elements, e.g., rain gardens and streams) and socioeconomic benefits were brought up by the bird group. This research presents embodiment as a tool that can change how engineers design. As stormwater policy has called for more use of green infrastructure (notably, through the Environmental Protection Agency), embodiment may be used during the design process to meet this call from governmental programs. Furthermore, this research impacts how embodiment's effects on design can be interpreted, specifically through quantitative methods through natural language processing and the use of large language models to analyze data and report back on design-related findings. This research is intended to benefit the design process with a) using different avatars in embodiment to impact design ideas and b) a comparison of thematic content analysis and large language models in summarizing design ideas and themes.

Our contact with nature is decreasing in what has been referred to as the “extinction of experience”. Consequences of the loss of nature experiences are far-reaching and involve not only changes in health and wellbeing, but also changes emotions, attitudes, and behaviour towards nature. This research aims to fill a knowledge gap in understanding specific characteristics of nature experiences in relation to both a) generating human wellbeing, and b) improving Human-Nature Connection (HNC), defined as how people relate to nature. The aim is to increase our understanding of the characteristics of nature experiences that can achieve both of these positive outcomes. Furthermore, this research explores an organisational perspective through interviewing organisations that are currently incorporating or thinking to implement practices that include nature experiences. To address the main aim, an integrative literature review was conducted, and the results revealed that intentional contact, active engagement (specifically appreciative outdoor activities, cognitive engagement, cues, and direct earth contact), and biodiversity and wildness to be significant characteristics that positively impact human beings. Moreover, appreciative outdoor activities and cognitive engagement have been shown to be beneficial even when passive. In addition, there is some evidence that there is a link between HNC and wellbeing, which suggests that improving HNC would increase the wellbeing effects experienced by an individual during a nature experience. This knowledge is crucial for designing nature experiences that are able to more efficiently improve wellbeing, as well as improve HNC. Regarding the organisational perspective, a barrier that needs to be overcome is reaching an understanding of the benefits of such experiences, not only for the employees but for the business. One major opportunity identified is the hybrid working model, which allows employees to work remotely, and the possibility for the company to actively encourage its employees to experience nature.

The dissertation investigates how non-profit organisations (NPOs) can function more efficiently by sharing resources and services. The design responds with the strategy of service integration, by transforming the facilities of POPUP, a single NPO, into a shared services hub for multiple NPOs. POPUP is a People Upliftment Programme in Salvokop, Pretoria, and serves the under-privileged communities of Pretoria with skills development courses. The dissertation aims to create restorative environments for these students and explores the theoretical approaches of regenerative design, biophilic design and restorative environmental design. The premise of the investigation is that humanity has an inherent inclination towards nature and that a healthy human-nature connection enables the healing process. Furthermore, the dissertation follows a contextual approach that responds to the railway heritage significance of Salvokop, the urban condition of disconnection from the Central Business District, as well as the self-restoration of the natural landscape. The study seeks to regenerate the human-nature connection, a manifestation of the connection between the current natural landscape and the urban condition. In this way, restorative environments are created that contribute to the regeneration of people. / Dissertation MArch(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2014 / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

Fostering human-nature connection (HNC) relates to the inner worlds of humans as a realm of influence for sustainability and is considered a deep leverage point for system transformation. Both direct nature experiences and states of mindfulness are significant for influencing the development of HNC. Therefore, in this thesis, I explore the potential of guided forest bathing – an originally Japanese practice of mindfully immersing one’s senses in the atmosphere of a forest – as an intervention for HNC. I do so by applying a mixed-methods approach and a relational, multidimensional assessment of the qualities and effects of a guided forest bathing session, as conducted in the methodology of the Scandinavian Nature and Forest Therapy Institute. While not able to establish causality, the study results suggest that participation in just one guided forest bathing session may positively influence the development of HNC, primarily in participants new to the experience. The results also suggest that several qualities of guided forest bating are important for influencing HNC, including mindfulness, engagement of senses, and self-restoration. These qualities and others related to the specific structure and social setting of the experience can provoke thoughts that meaningfully shift how individuals perceive and interact with nature. This leads the thesis to conclude that guided forest bathing represents a novel nature experience with promising potential as an intervention for HNC.

As environmental challenges are increasing in the current era of the Anthropocene, there is a growing need to understand what would instigate pro-environmental behaviour. One such factor that research has suggested is to (re)connect people with nature. This research aims to find out whether school pedagogy can have a role in this by investigating the relation between pupils’ human–nature connection (HNC) and the pedagogy of the school they attend. In order to do this, the study uses ACHUNAS, a recently developed framework to assess where and how children connect to nature. Two types of school took part in the research: one conventional school and two alternative schools, all rural schools. Based on semi-structured interviews and participant observations, the study found that there is indeed a relation between the pedagogical approach of the school and the HNC of the pupils. Alternative schools offered more recurring and more versatile nature experiences than the conventional school, and pupils in alternative schools had developed more abilities of HNC than their peers in conventional schools. Pupils in alternative schools stated that the school had changed their HNC, while in the conventional school half of the pupils stated that the school had made no impact on their HNC. On top of the findings related to the relation between school pedagogy and HNC, the study found two aspects of HNC that could be included in the ACHUNAS framework. / Tendo em vista que os desafios ambientais estão se tornando mais comuns no atual Antropoceno, há uma necessidade crescente de se entender os fatores que favorecem um comportamento sustentável. Um fator sugerido por várias pesquisas é a (re)conexão com a natureza. Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo descobrir se a pedagogia escolar possui um papel neste processo, ao investigar a relação entre a conexão com a natureza de estudantes e a abordagem pedagógica utilizada pela escola em que frequentam. Para isto, esta pesquisa empregou o método “ACHUNAS”, desenvolvido recentemente para avaliar onde e como as crianças desenvolvem uma conexão com a natureza. Três escolas do campo participaram desta pesquisa: uma escola convencional e duas escolas alternativas. Utilizando os métodos de entrevistas semiestruturadas e observações participativas, esta pesquisa descobriu que há uma relação entre a abordagem pedagógica da escola e a conexão com a natureza dos seus estudantes. As escolas alternativas ofereceram experiências na natureza com maior frequência e variação comparadas à escola convencional. Os estudantes das escolas alternativas mostraram maiores habilidades de conexão com a natureza do que os estudantes da escola convencional. Os estudantes das escolas alternativas afirmaram que a escola mudou a conexão deles com a natureza, enquanto que a metade dos estudantes na escola convencional disseram que a escola não teve um impacto na conexão deles com a natureza. Além dos resultados relacionados à relação entre a pedagogia e a conexão com a natureza, esta pesquisa descobriu dois aspetos da conexão com a natureza que poderiam ser incluídos no ACHUNAS. / Concepções, práticas e conexão de professores e estudantes com a natureza em escolas rurais no norte de Mato Grosso

This thesis is an exploratory look into the use of mindfulness practice on in-depth nature experiences to determine if the practice has benefit to the participant, their outdoor experience, and overall connectedness with nature. An original research project examined three groups of adolescents from St. Michaels University School Outdoor Education program in Victoria, BC, Canada, as they hiked the Juan de Fuca trail. Two of the three groups undertook a simple mindfulness protocol to explore the outcomes. Based on participant-observation and interviews, mindfulness practice was determined to be a useful practice towards alleviating stress and anxiety associated with aspects of in-depth outdoor experiences, such as morning preparations. Participants who practiced mindfulness on the trip asked fewer questions about the future and remained present more often than those who did not practice mindfulness. A further finding was that there are aspects of mindfulness inherent in in-depth nature experiences, such as sitting around a fire. These inherent mindfulness moments should be encouraged as they provide benefit to trip experiences, and potentially towards greater connectedness with nature. Overall, this qualitative study suggests that mindfulness is a useful tool for the benefit of human well-being and nature connection. However, more research is needed to further identify the magnitude and mechanisms of the benefit. / Graduate