Research Findings: The Role of Community Nature Projects in Climate Action
Research shows that the more connected we feel to nature, the more likely we are to take part in everyday behaviours that are good for the environment.
As part of the In Our Nature programme, we wanted to dig into this theory a bit deeper and explore the role that community nature projects play in climate action and our connection to nature. To find out, we partnered with Chrysalis Research to help answer the question:
If having a deeper connection to nature can influence our behaviours, can we use it to help build a movement of people taking climate action?
As part of our innovative research project, we consulted 182 participants involved in 19 community nature projects across Greater Manchester. Our findings show that there is a clear correlation between taking part in community nature projects and pro-environmental behaviours. Whilst connection to nature plays an important role in community nature projects, it seems that community and feeling part of something bigger is the most important factor when it comes to developing a sense of agency when it comes to taking climate action.
So, what did we find?
Taking part in community nature projects, for any length of time, increased participants’ connection to nature. For many participants being involved in their project not only prompted them to adopt more pro-environmental behaviours but also increased their sense of agency and empowerment to take climate action. The ability to learn and develop, whilst supporting their community and being around like-minded people, was a key factor for people to feel part of a group, and keep coming back.
Our research found that there is a link between participating in community nature projects and increased nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviours.
Some stats…
92% of participants felt a deeper and stronger engagement to nature due to their involvement in community nature projects. The longer they were involved the more likely this connection was.
93% of participants took at least one pro-environmental action as part of the project, (and almost 3 actions per participant on average).
64% of participants agreed that taking part in the project made them feel they could do more themselves to tackle climate change, this was more apparent for participants who engaged in their project for longer periods of time (69%).
Read more about what we found out and the community projects involved in our summary report below.
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