Joy of nature,<i>friluftsliv</i>education and self: combining narrative and cultural–ecological approaches to environmental sustainability

Abstract

Autobiographies of prominent environmentalists describe that their early lives have been rich in personal experiences of nature. The early childhood experiences of philosopher and climber Arne Næss (1912–2009) inspired the development of deep ecology philosophy, which markedly influenced the emergence of Norwegian friluftsliv (literally: free-air life) as a foremost environmental pedagogy in the 1970s. The approach was underpinned by the notion of identification with nature and this empathy was intended to encourage people to act protectively towards nature and to develop sustainable ways of living. In 2001 and 2006, nearly 200 youths aged 15–19 living in the sub-Arctic, in a suburb of the capital city Oslo and along the southern coast wrote essays on their relationships towards (local) natural places. Hereby, semi-structured questions stimulated a biographical approach. This article contributes to the understanding of the complex empathetic relationships of natural places, education and environmental sustainability by combining a narrative and cultural–ecological analysis of young people’s lived experience of friluftsliv and manifestation of self, ascribed to embodied and emotional experiences of and care for natural place.