Our results will serve this purpose, by focusing on how youth workers, trainers and youth organisations can develop nature connectedness and promote nature intelligence in young people. Based on the inputs of the theoretical framework and on the current practices and experiences of the project partners, the publication we will create will include a needs assessment tool that youth workers can use to identify the nature intelligence competences and innovative strategies, methods, and tools to support young people in nurturing their gratitude and respect towards nature and in developing their environmental citizenship.
The same publication with its strategies, methods, tools, and practices, will also serve as the base for the creation of a pilot training, combining online self-paced and on-site learning, that aims at testing the resonance and outcomes of the identified tools.
The publication will also include selected embodied routines that can support the daily practices of the persons targeted by the pilot course. This will guarantee access to the resources also after the project ends, thus making the learning more sustainable.
The publication will be available in English free of charge and easily downloadable from our website.
Our project outputs
What is our understanding of NQ?
Action
is the ability to use emotional, cognitive and spiritual competencies for regulating one’s own health and the planet’s health, as well as for socializing with peers. The competencies within this dimension are:
- Health: recognising and using the relaxing and empowering capacities of nature for self-regulation and health
- Engagement: being motivated and capable to engage in actions that make the planet greener and more sustainable
- Socialization: choosing nature as a place to spend time with friends and using a shared interest for nature to strengthen connections with peers
Emotion
reflects a sensation of kinship and an affective individual experience of connection with nature, both psychologically and physically, through direct embodied experience and an open-mind to the pleasant as well as the challenging and more uneasy side of nature. The competencies within this dimension are:
- Connectedness: it’s about identifying oneself as part of nature, sincerely caring for other living beings, living in harmony and balance with nature.
- Embodiment: a direct connection with nature through physical contact, which also implies resilience against more adverse conditions in nature, such as bad weather or dirt
- Open-mindedness: it’s about enjoying all aspects of nature, even the things that might be scary or disgusting
Spirit
refers to a feeling of transcendence and interconnectedness, based on the realization that the natural world that surrounds us is alive and intelligent, just as humans are. The competencies within this dimension are:
- Transcendence: a ‘flow experience’ (also known as ‘magical moments’ or ‘peak experiences’) during which one feels lifted beyond the hustle and bustle of daily life and connected to something bigger
- Mindfulness: having a mindful sensory experience of nature
- Authenticity: the capacity to be true to oneself, to be an authentic person guided by one’s own inner principles, as a precondition for, and outcome of, spiritual experiences with nature
Cognition
taps into the intuitive and experiential competencies of environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. These include:
- Literacy: an intuitive understanding of the dimensions, elements, patterns and processes of nature
- Curiosity: an interest in nature and awareness of the intrinsic value of nature
- Outdoor skills: having practical knowledge and basic skills for staying outdoors and living in nature
