The role of outdoor environments in children and youth's everyday lives is the focus of this course. The course introduces perspectives, concepts and methods applied in the interdisciplinary study of children and youth's interactions in and with outdoor spaces. You will learn about strategies to investigate their relationship with place and scrutinize how they use different outdoor environments to meet their needs. This is knowledge that can be used to improve the quality of outdoor settings to benefit their play, learning, social life and well-being. We will also investigate how we can meet their needs in practice (planning, design and management) and the role of children and youth's participation in this process. In focus for assignments are the particular qualities children and youth seek in outdoor spaces, the testing of methods to study children's and youth's use of outdoor spaces, and a closer look at a specific problem children/youth face where you live with regards their use of and access to outdoor enviroments.

The course starts in autumn 2022 and is offered online via digital resources (Zoom and Canvas). Note that most of the online lessons will be compulsory. In addition to the online sessions there can be occasions offered to meet up on campus as well as a study visit during the first module.

Module dates (start 2022)

7 sept - 9 sept
26 okt - 28 okt
23 nov - 25 nov
11 jan - 12 jan

The course evaluation is now closed

MP0006-10015 - Course evaluation report

Once the evaluation is closed, the course coordinator and student representative have 1 month to draft their comments. The comments will be published in the evaluation report.

Additional course evaluations for MP0006

Academic year 2023/2024

Outdoor Environments for Children and Youth (MP0006-10218)

2023-08-28 - 2024-01-14

Academic year 2021/2022

Outdoor Environments for Children and Youth (MP0006-10292)

2021-08-30 - 2022-01-16

Print Syllabus

Syllabus

MP0006 Outdoor Environments for Children and Youth, 15.0 Credits

Utomhusmiljöer för barn och ungdom

Subjects

Environmental Psychology Landscape Architecture

Education cycle

Master’s level

Modules

Title	Credits	Code
The child	5.0	0202
The microsystem	5.0	0203
The macrosystem	5.0	0204

Advanced study in the main field

Second cycle, has only first-cycle course/s as entry requirementsMaster’s level (A1N)

Grading scale

Language

English

Prior knowledge

The equivalent of 120 credits and English 6

Objectives

The overall aim of the course is to give insights about the role of outdoor environments for children and youth in their everyday life, and how these spaces can be located, developed and maintained to support their health and social life, with benefits for their play, learning and development.

After completion of the course, the student will be able to:

• Describe characteristics of outdoor environment important for children’s social life including opportunities for play, learning and development

• Apply relevant strategies to investigate children’s experiences of and perspectives on place

• Analyse what a specific setting implies for children concerning its location, content, design and management

• Suggest general principles for planning and designing an outdoor environment for and with children and youth

• Discuss the interaction between physical and social planning on issues related to children and youth

• List documents regulating the planning and design of children’s outdoor environments

Content

The course is about outdoor environments for children and youth and the different strategies used to investigate their relationship with place and developing its benefits. The knowledge can be used to improve planning, design and management for and with children to make outdoor settings adventurous, safe and health-promoting. The first section of the course elaborates on the role of outdoor environments for children’s social life with benefits for their play, learning, and development. The second section of the course deals with planning, design and management of both formal and informal outdoor spaces in cities, neighbourhoods and the natural surroundings. The third section deals with planning practices related to children and youth as part of social and physical planning at national and international level. Special attention is paid to the role of natural environment and its variation related to season, geographic location and the role of specific elements, as edible plants, animals and water. The course comprises lectures, literature seminars, study visits, project work, exercises and a written exam. Besides a project work, a written exam and examined assignments the course requires the student to carry out assignments and exercises during study visits and seminars.

The course combines mandatory online meetings with tasks carried out independently.

Formats and requirements for examination

Successful completion of assignments and exercises as part of lectures, seminars, study visits and a written exam. If a student fails a test, the examiner may give the student a supplementary assignment, provided this is possible and there is reason to do so.

If a student has been granted targeted study support because of a disability, the examiner has the right to offer the student an adapted test, or provide an alternative form of assessment.

If this course is discontinued, SLU will decide on transitional provisions for the examination of students admitted under this syllabus who have not yet been awarded a Pass grade.

For the assessment an independent project (degree project), the examiner may also allow a student to add supplemental information after  the deadline for submission.  For more information, please refer to the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.

• If the student fails a test, the examiner may give the student a supplementary assignment, provided this is possible and there is reason to do so.
• If the student has been granted special educational support because of a disability, the examiner has the right to offer the student an adapted test, or provide an alternative assessment.
• If changes are made to this course syllabus, or if the course is closed, SLU shall decide on transitional rules for examination of students admitted under this syllabus but who have not yet passed the course.
• For the examination of a degree project (independent project), the examiner may also allow the student to add supplemental information after the deadline. For more information on this, please refer to the regulations for education at Bachelor's and Master's level.

Other information

The right to take part in teaching and/or supervision only applies to the course instance which the student has been admitted to and registered on.

If there are special reasons, the student may take part in course components that require compulsory attendance at a later date. For more information, please refer to the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.

Additional information

The course is given as a distance course, with mandatory online meetings, at 50% speed.

Responsible department

Department of People and Society

Below you will find the literature for each module (I-III) that is mandatory reading. The literature will be discussed in groups during mandatory self-organised literature seminars (see separate instructions on Canvas). All of the texts below should be accessible using SLU’s VPN service: Access to databases and e-journals requires VPN | Studentwebben (slu.se).

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are having difficulty accessing any of the texts.

Module I: the child/adolescent (7th-9th September, 2022)

Badland, H., Kearns, R., Carroll, P., Oliver, M., Mavoa, S., Donovan, P., ... & Witten, K. (2016). Development of a systems model to visualise the complexity of children's independent mobility. Children's Geographies, 14(1), 91-100.

Chawla, L. (2015). Benefits of nature contact for children. Journal of planning literature, 30(4), 433-452

Jarvis, I., Sbihi, H., Davis, Z., Brauer, M., Czekajlo, A., Davies, H.W., Gergel, S.E., Guhn, M., Jerrett, M., Koehoorn, M. and Nesbitt, L., 2022. The influence of early-life residential exposure to different vegetation types and paved surfaces on early childhood development: A population-based birth cohort study. Environment International, 163, p.107196.

Loebach, J., & Gilliland, J. (2016). Neighbourhood play on the endangered list: examining patterns in children's local activity and mobility using GPS monitoring and qualitative GIS. Children's geographies, 14(5), 573-589.

Wales, M., Mårtensson, F., Hoff, E., and Jansson, M. (2022). Elevating the Role of the Outdoor Environment for Adolescent Wellbeing in Everyday Life. Frontiers in Psychology 13. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.774592.

Wells, N. M., Jimenez, F. E., & Mårtensson, F. (2016). Children and nature. Citizen Science. Public Participation in Environmental Research, 201-213.

Module II: the microsystem (26th-28th October, 2022)

Aminpour, F., Bishop, K. and Corkery, L., 2020. The hidden value of in-between spaces for children’s self directed play within outdoor school environments. Landscape and urban planning, 194, p.103683.

Bishop, K. & Corkery, L. (2017). Designing Cities with Children and Young People. Beyond Playgrounds and Skate Parks, Routledge London and New York (Chapter 11). AVAILABLE AS E-BOOK ON CANVAS UNDER COURSE BOOKS.

Jansson, M., Herbert, E., Zalar, A., & Johansson, M. (2022). Child-Friendly Environments—What, How and by Whom?. Sustainability, 14(8), 4852.

Johansson, M., Mårtensson, F., Jansson, M., & Sternudd, C. (2020). Urban space for children on the move. In *Transport and Children's Wellbeing *(pp. 217-235). Elsevier.

Snow, D., Bundy, A., Tranter, P., Wyver, S., Naughton, G., Ragen, J., & Engelen, L. (2019). Girls’ perspectives on the ideal school playground experience: An exploratory study of four Australian primary schools. Children's geographies, 17(2), 148-161.

Wales, M., Mårtensson, F., & Jansson, M. (2021). ‘You can be outside a lot': independent mobility and agency among children in a suburban community in Sweden. Children's Geographies, 19(2), 184-196.

Module III: the macrosystem (23rd-25th November, 2022)

Bishop, K. & Corkery, L. (2017). Designing Cities with Children and Young People. Beyond Playgrounds and Skate Parks, Routledge London and New York (Chapter 3 and 5). AVAILABLE AS E-BOOK ON CANVAS UNDER COURSE BOOKS.

Cele, S., & van Der Burgt, D. (2015). Participation, consultation, confusion: professionals' understandings of children's participation in physical planning. Children's Geographies, 13(1), 14-29.

Derr, V., Chawla, L., & Mintzer, M. (2018). Placemaking with children and youth: Participatory practices for planning sustainable communities. New Village Press (Chapter 1). AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD ON CANVAS UNDER COURSE BOOKS.

Jansson, M., & Lerstrup, I. (2020). Children's perspectives on green space management in Sweden and Denmark. In Place, Pedagogy and Play. Taylor & Francis.

Woolley, H. (2013). Now being social: The barrier of designing outdoor play spaces for disabled children. Children & Society, 27(6), 448-458.