Beyond knowing nature: Contact, emotion, compassion, meaning, and beauty are pathways to nature connection

TLDR

Feeling connected to nature benefits wellbeing and pro‑environmental behaviour, yet most engagement relies on general contact or knowledge‑based activities. The study aims to systematically examine the specific routes to nature connectedness. The authors conducted two online surveys of 321 participants assessing engagement with nature activities framed by the nine values of the Biophila Hypothesis. Contact, emotion, meaning, compassion, and beauty—particularly when mediated by engagement with natural beauty—predict nature connectedness, and a walking intervention targeting these predictors significantly increased connection compared to walking alone or in built environments, offering alternative routes beyond traditional knowledge‑based engagement.

Abstract

Feeling connected to nature has been shown to be beneficial to wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour. General nature contact and knowledge based activities are often used in an attempt to engage people with nature. However the specific routes to nature connectedness have not been examined systematically. Two online surveys (total n = 321) of engagement with, and value of, nature activities structured around the nine values of the Biophila Hypothesis were conducted. Contact, emotion, meaning, and compassion, with the latter mediated by engagement with natural beauty, were predictors of connection with nature, yet knowledge based activities were not. In a third study (n = 72), a walking intervention with activities operationalising the identified predictors, was found to significantly increase connection to nature when compared to walking in nature alone or walking in and engaging with the built environment. The findings indicate that contact, emotion, meaning, compassion, and beauty are pathways for improving nature connectedness. The pathways also provide alternative values and frames to the traditional knowledge and identification routes often used by organisations when engaging the public with nature.