11th March, 2019

Nature: Kids love nature – but is this at risk from ‘screen time’?

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At 56 Degree Insight we bring a passion and expertise developed over many years working with clients across a range of sectors. As we approach our launch in June we will be sharing some details on our offer, our points of view and our recent experiences working in each of these areas. Let’s look at Nature – an area of passion for us at 56 Degree Insight 

Our experience is built over the last 20 years, working with a range of clients large and small, from local authorities to national organisations.

10 years of MENE completed last month

Duncan Stewart has been working with Natural England over the last 10 years to deliver their Monitor of Engagement with Natural Environment (or MENE). Fieldwork for this 10-year study started in 2009 and finally completed in February.

Over that time some 468,000 interviews have been completed, providing an exceptional dataset covering all aspects of engagement with nature from time spent outdoors to pro-environmental behaviours and related attitudes and concerns.

Kids spend more time outdoors than any other age group

Last week Natural England released the latest MENE report, written jointly by Natural England and Duncan.

The report focuses on time spent outdoors by children, some of the headline findings include:

  • Kids under 16 spend more time outdoors than any other age group – 70% at least once a week.

  • Urban green spaces are a vital resource for kids; the majority of their time outdoors is spent in local parks - visits to the countryside and coast are much more occasional.

  • As children grow older, they spend more time outdoors without adults. This trend is stronger amongst boys and in households with a dog.

  • However over the last 5 years there has been a decline in the overall amount of time spent outdoors without adults. Could the rise of competing activities such as gaming be a factor?

Download a copy of the full report HERE

Please get in touch to find out more about how we can support you in this area – from bespoke analyses to setting up your own monitors or a more in depth qualitative view