Developing a co-design methodology for school ground greening
Date
2016-02Citation:
Wake, S. J., & Wang, Q. (2016, February). Developing a co-design methodology for school ground greening. S. Birdsall & S. J. Wake (Ed.), Edited Proceedings of the New Zealand Association of Environmental Education Biennial Conference: Activate, Agitate, Advocate. 9-12 February, University of Auckland (pp.24-31).Permanent link to Research Bank record:
https://hdl.handle.net/10652/3841Abstract
If school grounds are developed as ecologically diverse and environmentally stimulating places that encourage student engagement and learning, they can contribute to children demonstrating,what researchers such as Chawla and Cushing (2007) have termed, pro-environmental behaviour. School ground greening is the general term used for the transformation of school grounds from asphalt, concrete and grass to spaces that invite children to explore and experiment (Dyment, 2005),and a significant rationale for its current popularity is the potential for developing positive environmental values and attitudes as a result of these nature encounters (Williams & Brown, 2012). Further, if children participate in the design of these environments it can foster creativity and imagination, develop communication and thinking skills, and engender ownership, sharing and belonging (Christidou, Tsevreni, Epitropou & Kittas, 2013). Architectural codesign with children may be defined as them working directly and collaboratively with designers to contribute and make decisions within the design process,and this kind of spatial advocacy is known to be empowering (Parnell, 2014).
This presentation considers different ways that co-design could occur within the school environment as part of a study investigating how landscape architects can work with schools to help with school ground greening projects that promote environmental and design learning.