In the past, knowledge of species and the natural world was part of general knowledge and was passed down through generations. Today, there is talk of ‘species-blindness’ – the fact that many cannot name what they see in nature. Research shows that those who know more about nature are also more concerned about it. The project Natural Nations seeks to increase understanding of the role of the schoolyard and its contribution to biodiversity in the built environment as well as highlighting children’s opportunities for ecological literacy.
“Through Natural Nations, we introduce biodiversity into schools so that children learn early on about pollinating insects and birds. In turn, the children help provide data for our research, so that we can learn more about the impact of various measures,” explain Anna Persson, Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC) and Maria von Post, Department of Biology at Lund University. Both are a part of BECC.
Along with colleague Johan Kjellberg Jensen, a doctoral student at CEC and BECC, they have worked on developing guides for teachers and protocols for data collection as well as practical advice for plantings that favour pollinators, insects and birds.
Why do we need to learn about biodiversity?
For example, a rich biodiversity contributes to the presence of a variety of insects that can pollinate our crops and wild plants, and more species of insectivorous birds keep down the number of insect pests. In addition, ecosystems help provide us with clean air and healthy bodies of water. In a short period of time, we have depleted most habitats and this negative trend is reinforced by climate change.
The more we learn, the better we can manage and safeguard nature. It is well established that spending time in nature is good for us. It offers recuperation, reduced stress and increased wellbeing. Not only that, but it is also beneficial to our skin and gut micro-biota when we come into contact with soil, animals and vegetation. There is also research to show that children’s development, especially in terms of cognition and memory, benefits from being in nature and we perceive nature and its condition through our own lived experiences.
To improve ecological literacy in an everyday way, teachers can use questions such as: How many species have you eaten today? That provides a natural link to talking about both the species themselves and our relationship with nature. The idea of the teaching materials from Natural Nations is that teachers and children will go out and conduct surveys of species in their local environment or around the school grounds. Perhaps the planting of selected plant species could increase diversity? By repeating measurements over time, it is possible to see what effect any measures may have had, or whether species have generally changed between two points in time, regardless of whether any intervention has taken place. Are there different insects and birds present in the habitat, are there more of them, or fewer?
New methodology and citizen science
Naturskolan in Lund has been working on green schoolyards since the early 1990s, and through their network they were in contact with the English organisation Learning through Landscapes, focused on play and learning in outdoor surroundings. Through the collaborative Natural Nations project, they also linked up with BirdLife Spain and BirdLife Malta, as well as researchers from Lund University in developing new teaching material and providing feedback by collecting and reporting data to an online portal.
“We always include current research in our continuing education programmes, but this time a clear link to the university emerged, since we built up a whole new concept and a method together over a longer period,” recounts Anna Ekblad, manager of Naturskolan in Lund.
The central point of the methodology is that teachers at primary level and in preschools should be able to work with these questions as part of their ordinary work, not as an additional extra. By working with biology in this way, other subjects such as language and maths are integrated and provide an understanding of how researchers work.
“The data gathered becomes visible, entering species into the database is something concrete and they can see what the researchers are gaining access to. It is not common to get this clear connection,” says Anna Ekblad, who is now spreading awareness of the project and the material to schools around the country.
The pandemic provided unique learnings
Anna Persson is particularly interested in pollinating insects and Maria von Post conducts research into green infrastructure, which can include where and what kinds of green habitats can be favoured or created in cities and the countryside to improve conditions for biodiversity. They complement each other well in designing schoolyards where insects and birds thrive and where biodiversity is promoted. They both want to help teachers and pupils to understand the importance of how the whole food web is connected, so the idea of obtaining data for research from schoolyards was a great advantage.
“It was both a blessing and a curse that the Covid pandemic struck during our project. Clearly, we were not able to do what we had planned, but on the other hand, Sweden was unique in that we did not close schools and we were allowed to spend time outdoors” recall Anna Persson and Maria von Post.
This meant that the material was largely designed and tested by Swedish children. However, the international collaboration still gave great advantages, one of which was the fact that teaching material is already available in several languages. Now the next phase of the project is starting – application. Swedish teachers and schools can find the project via Naturskolan in Lund’s website. There are examples of protocols and instructional videos. Once data is ready for reporting, this is done via a portal which has versions in several languages.
“In a few years from now, we hope to be able to begin processing data from different countries and see how they differ and where there are similarities. How important is the amount and diversity of flowering plants and the presence of more insects in urban environments? Does more food in the trees result in more birds nesting? There are many questions that we hope to learn more about,” conclude Anna Persson and Maria von Post.