Programme and abstracts - GIH

Abstracts, Saturday June 8 th , 14.45-15.45, Oral paper presentationsTitle:Walking Tall and Proud among the TreesAuthor/s:Jane Acton and Tara Acton, Nature workshops, UK.Abstract:• Secondary research: Studies indicate access to the natural world has beneficial effectson children and young people.(Taylor et al 2001, Wells 2003, Kellert. 2005, O'Brien 2006, AIR2005). While evidence is growing there is a specific ‘call to action’ for more research acrossthe board.• Primary research: With Plymouth University and young carers; young people who haveto care for a sick relative usually a parent, who have disabilities, mental health or drug andalcohol problems.• 8 young people, average aged 12, came to woodlands, 3 kilometres from largest urbanconurbation in Cornwall, completed 30 hours over 5 consecutive days; Forest School modelfocussing on the needs and learning styles of the young people; playing games, learning tooluse, making objects, making fires, eating healthy food and making shelters.• Data: Quantitative: we present graphs of pre and post intervention Emotional LiteracyChecklists (self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills) from youngpeople, parents and teachers from 6 different schools.• Data: Qualitative: data analysis of well being indicators from 'Good from Wood' projectof psychological, emotional, social, physical and natural connection categories with 22 subcategories.• Results, analysis and conclusions will be presented and discussion invited.Title:Space & Navigation: A case-study of Youth with Down syndrome.Author/s:Andreas Valaker Hagen and Kirsti Pedersen Gurholt, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences,Norway.Abstract:Research on how young people with mental disabilities experience, navigate and make senseof outdoor sports/activities and the natural space in which they move close to their homes, ishard to identify. In Adapted Physical Activity/Education (APA) the main approach seems tohave been that the target groups have to adapt to already pre-defined sports and activities,which may not meet the needs of the individual. This presentation will explore and discuss astudy based on the opposite approach, in which the outdoor sport/activity of orienteering wasadapted to a group of youth with Down syndrome aged 14-18, in order to stimulate theirembodied cognition and mastering of navigation within daily life. By using a triple angelmethodology consisting of phenomenological, ecological and grounded theory approach, thepresentation explore the participants’ actions and lived experiences of navigation in an urbannatural area by following specially designed maps; a three-dimension map, a transition map,and an enlarged standard map. Empirically a participant action research approach wasemployed, including the use of first-person camera view, and constant adaptation of theprogram and types of maps according to the ability and ongoing response from the participant.Title:A Deleuzo-Guattarian urban-rural assemblage: An Australian outdoor environmentaleducation perspective.Author/s:Alistair Stewart, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia.33