Exploring the Wadden Sea Ecosystem Through an Educational Intervention to Promote Connectedness with Nature

Abstract

Promoting a connectedness with nature makes sense in many ways and has, as various studies show, positive effects not only on the environment, but on the individual as well. In this study, the influence of a mudflat hiking tour is empirically researched from an ecopsychological perspective for the first time. For this purpose, 780 secondary school students participated in an excursion to this UNESCO World Heritage Site and were asked about their connectedness with nature. The measurement took place before the excursion, immediately afterward, and again 4 to 6 weeks later. The results showed that the stay in the Wadden Sea had a positive influence on the participants' connectedness with nature. Similarly, it was found that gender differences in the expression of connectedness with nature could be equalized for with this intervention. The negative relationship between age and connectedness with nature reported in the literature was confirmed. To check the influence of previous lessons in school as well as previous stays in the Wadden Sea, statistical tests were also carried out. It can be shown that a mudflat hiking tour can equalize for existing differences with regard to the connectedness with nature of the participants. The results provide the first findings for an approach to the world's largest contiguous Wadden Sea from the perspective of ecopsychology.