Situated on over 300 acres of Canadian cottage country, Lakefield College School is an independent, co-ed secondary school comprised of boarding and day students from 46 different countries.  The school’s mission to “challenge and enable students to reach their individual potential in mind, body and spirit’’ encapsulates our commitment to educating and developing the whole student. 

Since the launch of THRIVE seven years ago, LCS has embarked upon a journey into positive education, infusing programs with positive psychology as well as emphasizing physical wellbeing to build mental health and resilience in students.  Our strategic initiative to get students “outdoors every day”  has created momentum to embed nature-connectedness into our positive education practice. 

Growing research reveals powerful evidence that nature-connectedness promotes enhanced hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing.  Empirical studies refer to a combination of theories to explain why nature is beneficial. Participation in nature-based recreation is declining as young people spend less time outdoors.  People differ in their connection to the natural environment (‘nature relatedness’; Nisbet et al., 2009), yet little is known about how outdoor education is associated with individual differences in cognition, affect, and experiences with nature. Strong connections with nature predict happiness, but research is needed on how this applies to adolescents, and how connectedness affects wellbeing.

Four years ago, we began a longitudinal research study with the Nisbet psychology lab at Trent University to investigate how differences in students’ outdoor and school experiences, as well as feelings of connectedness to nature and others, impact their wellbeing.  What have we learned thus far from our data?  How were the study results impacted by the pandemic?  Has the implementation of our regenerative farm shifted the way our students think? Are there links between wellbeing, nature connectedness and academic achievement?

This presentation will share the results of that study and outline our school’s multi-layered approach to fostering nature-connectedness in adolescents through enhanced infrastructure and programming.