You're Part of the New Nature Movement If ...
- You want to reconnect with real life in a virtual age.
- You’re a student who’s decided to build a career connecting people to nature.
- You’re an entrepreneur who wants to build a business connecting people to nature.
- You’re a parent, child or therapist who believes that the family that plays in nature together stays together.
- You’re a biologist, landscape architect or policymaker dedicated to transforming cities into engines of biodiversity and human health.
- You're someone who understands that all spiritual life begins with a sense of wonder, and that nature is a window into that wonder.
- You hunger for authenticity; you believe in nature’s power to create a deeper sense of personal and regional identity.
- You can be of any race or culture, you can live in an inner-city, suburb or small town, and you see your connection to nature as a birthright.
- You're a biophilic architect on the cutting edge of green design.
- You’re a nature-smart developer who creates or rebuilds neighborhoods that connect people to nature.
- You’re an urban planner or public health official who believes that creating more nearby nature builds better health, tighter social bonds and a smarter workforce.
- You’re an employer using biophilic design to create a more productive workplace.
- You’re a nature-smart homeowner determined to create a healthier, happier, restorative home, yard and garden.
- You’re a pediatrician or other health care professional who prescribes nature for your young patients and their families.
- You're helping a hospital, children's mental health center, nursing home or other health facility encourage healing through nature.
- You’re an ecopsychologist, wilderness therapy professional, nature therapist, camp counselor, docent, or park ranger working as a “park health paraprofessional.”
- You’re a “new agrarian” -- an organic farmer or rancher or urban gardener.
- You're a locavore, dedicated to consuming locally grown food.
- You want to reignite all your senses.
- You’re a nature-smart teacher who takes your students outside because you understand the power of nature to help them learn.
- You’re an artist, writer, photographer or musician who knows the power of nature to stimulate creativity, and you use your talents to reconnect people to nature.
- You’re an outdoor recreationist who restores nature.
- You're a citizen naturalist.
- You care about the human relationship with nature, whether you're liberal, conservative...or other.
- You’re a law enforcement official who believes nature can play a role in crime prevention and prison recidivism.
- You’re an attorney who protects the forgotten human right to our connection to nature and the responsibilities that come with that right.
- You’re a mayor or county official or business leader looking for a new way to envision your region’s future.
- You’re done with despair; you want to create a newer world.
- You’re ….
This is a partial list, based on "The Nature Principle." Where do you see yourself?
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Richard Louv is chair emeritus of The Children & Nature Network and author of eight books, including THE NATURE PRINCIPLE and LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS.
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Richard-
I love this list .... Can I share my novel, Flotilla, with you? People seem to really enjoy it and it falls right into what you’re saying about the new nature movement. I put a link in if you’d like to check it out.
Regards,
Dan
I am a grandmother and a hiking instructor for a seniour group called the Silver Sneakers Hiking Club Level I and II and in the summer also for another group of Little Trekkers with caretakers, as Mommies, Daddies, Grandparents or Nannies…...
I am always amazed how these little 10 week sessions change every body…...BIG SMILE
They dress differnt, talk different and develop a certain HAPPINESS….I recommend your book the Nature Principle a lot to parents and my seniours
Great post Richard!! I’ll try my best to stay connected with new nature movement. Thanks for this blog.
Wow. You’ve inspired us again! What if each community could identify just one person for each of these? And what if each person influenced just one other…and then that one other influenced just one other…Isn’t that something we could do?
I am wondering about the momentum of the movement. Do you see in the near future a restored desire to spend time in the woods, etc.? I am connected with an all-outdoor living-in-the- woods camp that is challenged in finding campers because so many people think it can’t be fun out there.
Hi, Richard,
I put my own name into a search engine and came up with your new book - “The Nature Principle” - and found an extensive quote of mine. I had no idea! And it’s a faithful quote; thanks.
I just took my students to the ocean to collect diatoms to view under the microscope. I take them outside as often as I can.
We go outside as a family as often as we can. A few years ago I was seized by the need to declutter and clean the house. It was a sunny day. My then three year old daughter asked at the end of the day, “Aren’t we going on a walk?” I said, no, it’s dinner time and she said, “We didn’t get outside once today! And it was a sunny day! I’m not sure I want to be in this family anymore!” As such, our house will never be featured by Martha Stewart or Sunset magazine… but we do get outside.
It is snowing in Seaside. We are lucky if it happens once a year.
I hope all is well with you.
—Suzanna
Yes, it’s right. Everyone in the world can be the part of the new nature movement. I am a software developer, but we have developed some systems which used in the nature,so I think no matter who you are, no matter what your work is, you can be part of the nature movement.
Good post Richard!! I’ll follow the steps you mentioned to get part of the new nature movement. Thanks
I see myself in more than one of the items in this quite extensive list. We are a part of nature so it should be self-evident that we need it around us and we feel the need to protect it. I cant comprehend how people can be so ignorant to pollute their surroundings.
Just got in from a walk in the snow. Great post, I especiallu like the one about a sense of wonder and igniting the senses.
You’re a teacher, student, or parent volunteer who spends a full school day outdoors every week and constantly looks for ways to be in nature. Especially in the rain!
I am reading the Nature Principle. You are saying/proving what I have intuitively known from earliest childhood. On more than one occasion, nature deprivation has sent me into depression.
I am also reading The earth Path by Starhawk. She is also saying the same thing. She was the recipient of the 2003 Nautilus award. I hope your paths cross.
Thank you for what you are doing. We and the earth need it!!!
Then I am obviously a part of new nature movement. Because I can declare myself as an entrepreneur and I want to build my business connecting people to nature. Through meditation, people may get closed to the nature and I have devoted my life in this area.
With Spring approaching us quickly, connecting with the nature is the perfect topic for everyone now. It doesn’t take a big gesture to reconnect with nature, but it can begin right outside your house! Why not reconnect with nature by planting a butterfly garden this Spring? Here are some great tips on it: http://www.mymove.com/tips-advice/home-improvement/lawn-garden/how-to-plant-a-butterfly-garden . Make your home feel like home.
Rich is again revealing a truth and a solvable problem. My son has a t-shirt that says, “Internet was down so thought I’d come outside today.†It’s supposed to be a joke. We have a choice and we need to keep reminding ourselves lest we forget to go outside.
My husband and I are in the process of starting a non-profit Farm/Nature based program for children of all ages and capabilities. Your book and two others were the inspiration for our program. Thank you!!
It seems there are many of us who are part of this movement—write about it on our blogs and in our books, and live it with our families. How do we build the movement? How do we connect and grow a sustainable community of nature lovers?
Wow.. I wish I would have stumbled onto this earlier. Your list is spot on Richard! You see this all the time and I agree with you. I still remember when my kids were small taking them in the car, we took the video games out of their hands so that they could enjoy the beauty and surroundings of nature on the trips we would take.
Thank you!
I Truly agree that everyone in the world can be the part of the new nature movement. I am part of Landscaping team and we promotes green environment by planting air refreshing flowers and trees.
I am reading the Nature Principle. You are saying/proving what I have intuitively known from earliest childhood. I like your postings very much and i will keep visiting your blog for latest updates
I am also reading the Nature Principle. I don’t live in a city though. I live in a rural area. I get to feel like im ahead of alot of people. Thanks for the article!