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Outdoor and Environmental Education: Nature and Wellbeing

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Encyclopedia of Teacher Education

The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction. Rachel Carson

Nature Is Imperative for Human Wellbeing

Since the beginning of time, nature has been imperative for human wellbeing. Early humans knew this and lived in relation with nature, as part of nature, with no distinction or conception of nature as different or separate from humanity. Humans were nature and nature was us. While a predominantly Western tendency assumes humans as separate and outside of natural ecosystems, evidence indicates that early humans were interwoven with nature, coevolving with the other flora and fauna in a mutualistic manner. Mutualistic relationships, connecting all beings, including humans to natural elements, prompted the web of life theory that all life is one living system some call Gaia. The integration of these two conflicting concepts – separate and symbiotic – has led to humans having a complex and...

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References

  • Brymer, E. Freeman, E., & Richardson, M. (2019). One health: The wellbeing impacts of human-nature relationships. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01611/full

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Prescott College, Prescott, AZ, USA

    Denise Mitten

  2. Australian College of Applied Psychology, Brisbane, Australia

    Eric Brymer

Authors
  1. Denise Mitten
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  2. Eric Brymer
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Correspondence to Denise Mitten .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. WMIER, The University of Waikato WMIER, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand

    Michael A. Peters

Section Editor information

  1. No affiliation provided

    John Quay

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    Tonia Gray

  3. No affiliation provided

    Peter Higgins

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Mitten, D., Brymer, E. (2020). Outdoor and Environmental Education: Nature and Wellbeing. In: Peters, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Teacher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_365-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_365-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-1179-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-1179-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

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