8&9 Oct:
Ruth's guests Alison Hill and Genna Vlittas discuss the importance of nature connection for our young people as they face an uncertain future.
“Healthy Humans Need Healthy Habitats to Survive and Thrive.”
Children need nature for the healthy development of their senses, and therefore, for learning and creativity.
The challenges of 2020 have only further highlighted how critical being in nature is for our health and wellbeing.
We humans are spending less time in nature than ever before in history, with more time indoors, sedentary, and on screens. Time in nature is a strong predictor of wanting to protect it, so in losing our connection to nature we risk losing our desire to care for it.
When the science alone is not enough evidence, how can we inspire a critical mass of Australians to become passionate nature protectors?
The recent BACK TO NATURE ABC TV series was conceived as a response to this question, understanding that we protect what we love. The Melbourne based People and Parks Foundation are partners/backers of the Back to Nature ABC TV series.
Alison Hill is the managing director of the People and Parks Foundation. She is a passionate advocate for connecting people to nature for both health and wellbeing, and environmental outcomes. For more information about Alison: https://peopleandparks.org/about/our-board-staff/
Genna Vlitas joins us from Nexus Primary Health to report on her experience of applying the recent People and Parks Foundation’s #NaturePact campaign in her role as the Health and Diversity Team Leader at Nexus. Genna is passionate about equity and big picture thinking. She enjoys working with diverse people to achieve healthier and more inclusive communities. She too is nourished and restored from her time in nature.
With a team of health promotion workers, Genna is currently working on the RESPOND Project - a childhood obesity prevention project all about supporting and celebrating community actions that promote healthy eating and physical activity. This project will commence in Mitchell Shire in 2022.
Join us on EarthChat as Alison, Genna, and Ruth discuss how being in nature is key to empowering our children to meet these challenges as they prepare to become the next leaders of our country, and the planet. How can we adults can usefully support them?
References made in the program: Richard Louv - author of ‘Last Child in the Woods’ and ‘The Nature Principle’ www.richardlouv.com
1500 Dutch children form the world’s biggest living animation to deliver an urgent message to our world leaders about addressing the climate emergency.
EarthChat on 103.9 Seymour FM on Friday at 10am, repeated on Saturday at 8am and also podcast.
Listen up and get fired up.
