Abstract
As nature and greenspaces in urban areas are agreed to enhance children’s appreciation towards natureand so the purposes of environmental education, it is of high importance to create spaces in and aroundschools that allow students to connect to nature on a daily basis. The aim of the study was to analysefunctions and other components supporting environmental education appear in the open spaces ofschool grounds in Budapest, and to understand the main characteristics of school grounds with thehighest potential in environmental education. The study points out that the presence of environmentaleducational functions often depends on the size, urban context and location of the school grounds,however the curriculum of the school does not necessarily influence its open spaces, while the presenceof motivated and engaged teachers does. The study reveals environmental educational functions doexist in school grounds of primary schools in Budapest, however they play only secondary role behindactive movement and play functions. The schools with the best potentials in environmental educationare without doubt the ones situated on large plots in the suburban zone, mostly with a high proportionof green spaces in and around the school grounds.
Highlights
Childhood exposure to nature is essential for many reasons, as – besides many other benefits –it can result in higher environmental awareness as an adult (Broom 2017), contributing to the long-term success of environmental education
The schools who filled the online survey, participate in environmental educational programs in a significantly higher percentage than all the analysed schools in Budapest (Fig. 1: Participation in environmental educational programs in surveyed schools and Fig. 2: Participation in environmental educational programs in primary schools in Budapest). This suggests that schools participating in some kind of environmental educational program had a higher willingness to fill a questionnaire related to environmental education and school grounds, which might have an effect on the results of the survey
The presence of environmental educational functions often depends on the size, urban context and location of the school grounds, the curriculum of the school does not necessarily influence its open spaces, while motivated teachers are inevitable in terms of this topic
Summary
Childhood exposure to nature is essential for many reasons, as – besides many other benefits –it can result in higher environmental awareness as an adult (Broom 2017), contributing to the long-term success of environmental education. In many cases school grounds are almost the only places where urban children can be exposed to nature on a daily basis (Rivkin 1995), the proper design of school grounds has become an important task for landscape architects, to potentially contribute to the wellbeing of children as well as to the success of environmental educational activities of schools. Existing literature and research about school grounds mostly deal with its effect on and use in play and physical activities (Tranter – Malone 2004; Bell – Dyment 2006; Dyment – Bell, 2008; Dyment et al 2009; Fjørtoft et al 2009; Cosco et al 2010; Fishman 2001; Mårtensson et al 2014; Marouf et al 2015), and learning processes and motivation (Malone – Tranter 2003a, 2003b; Tranter – Malone 2004; Atmodiwirjo 2013; Ali et al 2015). Hungarian literature do exist about designing ecological schools (from a pedagogic point of view) but they have little focus on the outdoor areas (Réti 2011)
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