It's only in the great outdoors that children can learn crucial life lessons like resilience and respect, says scholar and child advocate Tim Gill.
He talks to Kathryn Ryan about what makes a child-friendly city and the invaluable lessons of the wild.
By the early 21st century, the UK had developed a zero-risk mindset when it came to children – a fantasy, he points out – which resulted in the construction of many "terribly dull" playgrounds.
These well-meaning attempts to remove harm from children's lives actually deprive them of the very experiences that need in order to learn to overcome challenges, he says.
Photo: Supplied
Facing risk is an essential step for a child to become confident, capable, responsible and aware of the world around them.
"We find out about our own agency, about what we're capable of, what engages us. We understand how to get along with other people. That taste of freedom and autonomy ... we must hold on to that, we mustn't let it go."
Now, thousands of nurseries in the UK run outdoor programmes and some don't even have a building, Gill says.
The Forest School Association – of which he's a patron – enables child-led learning in the outdoors.
Their educators don't push content or knowledge but accompany the child in discovering and developing skills, sometimes with tools such as knives, saws and ropes.
In these environments, children learn to get along with each other and engage with projects at the same time as they're learning about nature, he says.
Photo: Supplied
"If we want the next generation to care about this planet that they live on, they need to feel a connection to it – those connections, those attachments are best formed at an early age."
In the city, children can be an 'indicator species' for the general health of the environment, Gill says.
"In the same way eels swimming up a stream or a creek is a sign of that habitat, if you see children of different ages, with and without their parents, out and about in a neighbourhood, that's a sign of the quality of the human habitat."
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