In this blog post, Dr. Sander van der Jagt, Assistant Professor at the School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure, and Society (Edinburgh) discusses methods of increasing access to outdoor learning and how he is exploring this in his teaching.
Most university teaching still takes place indoors, yet few of our students will spend their professional lives in classrooms. This separation of learning from lived environments reflects an Enlightenment legacy that privileges rational thought over embodied experience (Beames et al., 2024). But limiting engagement with nature risks reinforcing a human-centred worldview – the very mindset that has contributed to climate breakdown and biodiversity decline (Ripple et al., 2017).
Outdoor learning offers a way to challenge this status quo. It is not only enjoyable but also cultivates appreciation and empathy for the natural world (Rios and Brewer, 2014). It can improve student engagement, academic attainment, foster collaboration, and nurture cultural values that support sustainability (Bayer and Finley, 2022; Christie and Higgins, 2020). It supports wellbeing through therapeutic benefits such as improved mood, self-esteem, and focus (Mygind et al., 2019). Yet, despite these benefits, outdoor learning is not equally accessible to all, especially at universities.
Figure 1. Students on an urban field trip, February 2025. Image credit: Ewan McDonagh and Sander van der Jagt.
Barriers to Participation
Outdoor learning is a core element of Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence, intended to provide regular opportunities for all learners aged 3–18 (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010). Yet there has been a worrying decline in provision: Scottish primary pupils only spent an average of 7 minutes per week learning outdoors in 2022, down from 30 minutes in 2014 (Mannion et al., 2023). Across the UK, just over a third of primary schools embed outdoor learning for all pupils, falling to under 10% in secondary schools, with 56% offering none at all (McKinlay et al., 2024). Universities seem to fare even worse with very little evidence of outdoor learning in most social science and humanities programmes. Moreover, existing provision is under pressure as evidenced by a recent open letter from environmental professionals to government ministers, urging them to act in halting a concerning decline of fieldwork opportunities within the life sciences (Mammal Society, 2025).
A clear pattern emerges: the older students get, the fewer outdoor learning opportunities they encounter – especially if they are not in environmental disciplines. Research further indicates that provision is uneven across socioeconomic and associated ethnic groups, with just 24% of schools in high‑deprivation contexts embedding it for all pupils (McKinlay et al. 2024). Gaps in access to nature extend beyond the classroom: The National Trust (2022) reported that Black and Asian people visit green spaces 60% less than White people in the UK. Research shows that physically disabled people, women, and people of colour often face barriers to enjoying outdoor spaces, whether due to accessibility issues or feelings of unsafety (Harrison, 2022; Peat, Winstanley and Iqbal, 2025). These disparities highlight that outdoor learning – even if equal opportunities would be provided – cannot be assumed to be universally inclusive.
For higher education professionals, this raises an urgent challenge: how do we design outdoor learning activities that lower barriers and invite participation from all students and staff, while operating within institutional contexts that often undervalue and under-resource outdoor education?
Every Tree Tells a Story
Everyday encounters with green and blue spaces are important to tackle avoidant attitudes to nature (DeVille et al., 2021) and experiencing the benefits of outdoor learning does not necessarily require venturing to remote wilderness locations (Mann et al. 2022). When also considering the current climate of financial pressures within the sector, there is a case for prioritising frequent small‑scale, local outdoor experiences over large, resource‑intensive excursions.
To meet this need, I am incorporating the storytelling activity called Every Tree Tells a Story (Dodd et al. 2025) into my social science teaching on human nature-relationships, as part of the ‘Nature-based Solutions in the City’ course delivered this January semester. In this activity, students pick a tree close to home, sketch it, and write a brief reflection on its meaning. Their stories are captured on beautifully crafted postcards created by an artist and provided by the activity developers at the University of Strathclyde.
This activity lowers barriers in several ways:
- Self–paced and self–directed: Participants engage in their own time, without peer pressure, and can do it together with a friend.
- Ease of participation: Because it requires just a brief visit to a nearby tree, the activity is accessible even for those with mobility challenges or limited chances to spend time in nature.
- Providing a safe space: By framing the activity as reflective and creative, it reduces the feelings of vulnerability some may feel from spending time outdoors.
To make participation more inviting, students are gifted an artist-designed postcard where they can capture and share their story. Examples of completed cards will be shared in advance, offering reassurance and inspiration.
Figure 2. An impression of the postcards to be used in the activity. Reprinted from Dodd et al. (2025).
Linking Outdoor Learning to Curriculum
Outdoor learning works best when it connects to bigger teaching goals. That’s why Every Tree Tells a Story is linked to course readings and the final assignment, making it a meaningful part of students’ learning journey. In the activity, students reflect on their personal connection to a tree (emotional, cognitive, etc.) and consider how technology shapes their experience of nature. They share their ideas with classmates and use two readings to identify different types of human-nature connections – both their own and others’ – and examine how these are shaped by living in a post-digital world. They capture these reflections in a short blog, which counts toward their course mark.
Providing opportunities for outdoor learning is crucial for connecting future generations with nature for sustainability. This should not be a privilege reserved for those growing up in affluent areas or pursuing a career as an environmental professional. It should be a practice that actively invites participation from those who might otherwise be excluded. By creating activities that are accessible, reflective, and integrated with academic outcomes, we can open outdoor learning to more students, while making it more inviting for staff to take their first steps into outdoor teaching.
References
Bayer, E., & Finley, J. B. (2022). Out of the classroom and into the wild: Ecopedagogies in action. In E. Bayer & J. B. Finley (eds.), Ecopedagogies. Routledge.
Beames, S., Higgins, P., Nicol, R., & Smith, H. et al. (2024). Outdoor Learning Across the Curriculum. 2nd edn. Abingdon: Routledge.
Christie, B., & Higgins, P. (2020). The Educational Outcomes of Learning for Sustainability: A Brief Review of Literature. Scottish Government.
DeVille, N. V., Tomasso, L. P., Stoddard, O. P., Wilt, G. E., Horton, T. H., Wolf, K. L., … & James, P. (2021). Time spent in nature is associated with increased pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(14), 7498.
Dodd, S., Wilson, J., Zeinali, S., Dick, G., Currie, E., Johnson, M. P., & Bonner, J. (2025). Every tree tells a story: the treescape and citizen wellbeing. Ecological Frontiers.
Harrison, S. (2022). Field journaling in the wild: Defamiliarizing everyday environments in environmental humanities courses. In E. Bayer & J. C. Finlay (Eds.), Ecopedagogies. Routledge.
Learning and Teaching Scotland (2010). Curriculum For Excellence Through Outdoor Learning. https://education.gov.scot/media/isxg4lb0/cfe-through-outdoor-learning.pdf.
Mammal Society (2025). Cross-Sector Concerns about Decline of Fieldwork Opportunities in UK Life Science Courses. https://mammal.org.uk/press-hub/cross-sector-concerns-about-decline-of-fieldwork-opportunities-in-uk-life-science-courses.
Mann, J., Gray, T., Truong, S., Brymer, E., Passy, R., Ho, S., … & Cowper, R. (2022). Getting out of the classroom and into nature: a systematic review of nature-specific outdoor learning on school children’s learning and development. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, 877058.
Mannion, G., Ramjan, C., McNicol, S., Sowerby, M. and Lambert, P. (2023). Teaching, Learning and Play in the Outdoors: a Survey of Provision in 2022. NatureScot Research Report 1313.
McKinlay, M., Turner, J., & Mist, R. (2024). Schools for Nature: Integrating Nature into Education. WWF.
Mygind, L., Kjeldsted, E., Hartmeyer, R., Mygind, E., Stevenson, M. P., Quintana, D. S., & Bentsen, P. (2019). Mental, physical and social health benefits of immersive nature experience for children and adolescents: A systematic review and quality assessment of the evidence. Health & Place, 58, 102136.
National Trust (2022). New research reveals need for urban green space. Available at: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/new-research-shows-the-need-for-urban-green-space. (Accessed: 27 January 2026).
Peat, J., Winstanley, C., & Iqbal, S. (2025). Harnessing outdoor spaces in an urban university to promote student wellbeing. In W. Garnham & P. Oprandi (Eds.), Outdoor Learning in Higher Education (pp. 92–104). Routledge.
Rios, J. M. and Brewer, J. (2014). Outdoor Education and Science Achievement. Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 13(4), 234–240.
Ripple, W. J., Wolf, C., Newsome, T. M., Galetti, M., Alamgir, M., Crist, E., … & 15,364 Scientist Signatories from 184 Countries. (2017). World scientists’ warning to humanity: a second notice. BioScience, 67(12), 1026–1028.
Image credits:
Figure 1: Collage of outdoor learning: Ewan McDonagh and Sander van der Jagt
Figure 2: Reprinted from Dodd et al. (2025).
Header: Stock images MS 365
