This study investigates outdoor learning opportunities for students in Higher Education (HE) contexts and the effects of these experiences on students’ sense of belonging and connection. It also seeks to understand how outdoor spaces in HE are structured, which spaces are accessed, by who and how. There is a well- established body of research on health and wellbeing gains of being outside in nature (Becker et. al., 2017). How HE institutions engage with outdoor spaces and nature can therefore be viewed as an issue of ‘spatial justice’ (Soja, 2010).

In many European counties outdoor learning is seen as a core right of all students (Blanchet-Cohen and Elliot, 2011). In many contexts it is embedded in school practice, especially in early year contexts (Bilton and Waters, 2017). However, it is not so prevalent in HE institutions. Research on outdoor learning in H.E. tends to focus on three key areas; the field of ‘Outdoor Education’ (Cooley, 2015, Nicol, 2014), on ‘fieldwork’ opportunities (Towers and Loynes, 2018) and on residential trips (Pickard et al, 2020,). Studies indicate that outdoor learning opportunities in HE can build student resilience and efficacy, teamwork skills, opportunities to connect with and care for the environment and experiential learning experiences (Cooley et al 2015). Despite this, inequalities exist in access to spaces at HE which intersects structural, cultural and individual factors (Wong, 2023). The structuring of how the university uses and organises outdoor spaces can reflect and reproduce wider societal inequalities in relation to gender, class, race.

This study aims to understand the experiences HE students have of outdoor spaces and nature in HE contexts, how outdoor spaces in HE are constructed (who accesses outdoor spaces and how are they used) and how engaging with outdoor spaces can effect students’ sense of belonging and connection. The study focuses on a cohort of students at the University of East London (UEL), a post -92 HE institution. The university attracts larger than average numbers of ‘non-traditional’ students, such as mature, part-time, and ethnic minority students who may be members of communities noted as often excluded from nature (Waite et al 2023).

The study draws on three main theoretical ideas, that of, Waite et al.’s (2023) theory of ‘Nature Capital’; Wong’s (2023) ‘Conceptual Framework of Spatial Belonging in HE’ and Lefebvre’s (1991) ‘Production of Space’. We argue that HE outdoor space is contested, experienced multidimensionally and often conceived and perceived narrowly by those with power. We also argue that outdoor spaces can be used more creatively with students to co-construct meaningful learning experiences that support academic identity and belonging. We are interested in understanding our students’ agency and how this might contrast with dominant narratives about racialized minority ethnic students from post-92 universities.

This study aims to investigate the following research questions:

1. What are students’ experiences of outdoor spaces and nature in HE contexts? (lived experiences of students at HE, student agency, intersectionality)

2. How are outdoor spaces and nature built into HE curricular? (conceptions and perceptions of outdoor learning pedagogy at HE)

3. What are the benefits and challenges of engaging with the outdoors and nature in HE contexts?

It builds on previous research (Hoskin and Page, 2024) exploring students’ perceptions of a weekend residential visit to Bannau Brycheiniog National Park in Wales. Findings suggested that the outdoor experience developed students social and nature connections. However, assumptions about minority communities’ engagement with nature can persist and power and privilege continues to effect who and how outdoor spaces are used.

Phase 1: June 2025 to September 2025 We are interested in researching ‘with’ rather than ‘on’ participants (Heron, 1996). As Timmis et al (2024) highlight, participatory approaches to research in Higher Education and students’ experiences of teaching and learning is an important element of the decolonising agenda. In June 2025 we will therefore recruit three to four students for the Steering Group that will support the direction of the research and help with analysis of data from the staff online questionnaire and student interviews/focus groups. An Online Staff Questionnaire will be sent to all staff members involved in teaching and learning at the School of Childhood and Social Care at UEL (approx.150 staff). A purposive sampling approach will be used as this aspect of the research study is to assess the current outdoor provision for students on courses at the School of Childhood and Social Care. Initial Analysis of data from the Staff Questionnaires and will take place in the summer of 2025 using a Reflexive Thematic Analysis Approach (Braun and Clarke, 2019). The Student Steering Group will support the analysis through the discussion of anonymized transcripts and Data Matrix (on Excel) of questionnaire data. Phase 2: October 2025 to May 2026 A purposive sampling approach will be utilised, inviting twenty to thirty students on Early Childhood, Education Studies and Special Education courses at the University of East London to participate. Many of these students are from low income, minority racialised families and many are parents or carers. Face to face or online semi-structured interviews/or focus groups with a mapping exercise will be used as data collection tools in order to understand students’ experiences of outside spaces and nature and how this is intersected with multiple identities. A Reflexive Thematic Analysis Approach (Braun and Clarke, 2019) will be used to analyze the experiences and opinions of students. Such an approach acknowledges the researchers’ active role in knowledge production (Braun and Clarke, 2019). Student co-researchers will be included in the shared reflexive analysis and take part in Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six step approach which involves familiarisation with the data before going on to create descriptive and then latent codes. This will be an iterative process involving 2 – 3 online meetings to explore the transcripts and maps that have been created and to name, adapt and amend themes that are co-produced by the research team.

The study outlined above will take place in Spring 2025 with data analysis in Summer 2025. This current study has been informed by a previous study entitled ‘Decolonising Assumptions about Post-92 University Students and Outdoor Spaces’ (Hoskin & Page, 2024), that explored students’ experience of nature through engagement with an Outdoor Adventure Education residential weekend and local green spaces. Findings highlighted the positive impact of being in a vast natural landscape in terms of connection with nature as well as building social connections. However, as has been noted in literature (Waite et al 2023), some students highlighted how they might feel if they visited these places again on their own without the group, suggesting it may be less welcoming for ‘visibly Muslim women’. We also found that students did engage with their local green spaces, particularly those with small children. In the current study we are keen to develop this further by exploring how relationships with space and the outdoors impacts on our participants’ sense of belonging in HE, in particular those who are from racialised minority ethnic communities and those who are older and have children. We are keen to understand how the university can better foster a sense of belonging and agency for students who view themselves as having intersecting identities and who might experience a range of challenges due to structural inequities.

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