Learning Along the GreenWay: An Experiential, Transdisciplinary Outdoor Classroom for Planetary Health Education

Abstract

Built environment professionals are instrumental in envisioning, implementing and managing the urban realm to ensure that it is health supportive and sustainable. Central to their education is developing a deep understanding and appreciation of this responsibility and opportunity. Despite some progress in the classroom, challenges continue given the long history of siloed and separated disciplines and curricula. The climate emergency, ongoing chronic health conditions, and more recently the global pandemic demand a continued reframing of education away from the tradition of sequential, separated and unlinked faculty and school-based subjects to be transdisciplinary, experiential and authentic. Such principles are embraced by the Planetary Health Educational Framework and One Health. Against this theoretical context, we present our long-term educational practice using the GreenWay in Sydney, Australia, as an outdoor classroom for school and tertiary students. This multi-purpose, complex and nature-based green corridor in the urban heart of an international city facilitates experiential and transdisciplinary learning from a planetary health perspective. Based on the successes and challenges of our teaching, we reflect on the implications for environmental educators to deliver authentic and experiential outdoor education that inspires and empowers the next generation to create health-supportive and sustainable environments.

1. Introduction

The aim of this paper is to communicate and critically reflect on a long-term education practice involving the use of a local outdoor classroom. It is here where we teach school and tertiary students about creating places that are sustainable and responsive to climate change and contemporary human health challenges. This paper does not report on formal research; rather, it is about our experiences as committed educators, researchers and practitioners which have implications for other educators. Our work contributes to the evolution of the Planetary Health Educational Framework [1] and is reinforced by the integration at the heart of One Health [2]. Both approaches demonstrate the crucial role of an integrated method in equipping young people with hope, resources and key skills to address the climate and associated health crises facing the world’s people and the planet.

As teachers and researchers in the fields of urban planning, environmental sustainability, resilience, public health and placemaking, we have been increasingly concerned about environmental deterioration and declining population health and wellbeing. The urgent imperative to address contemporary and complex challenges for human health and environmental sustainability in an integrated and transdisciplinary manner has increasingly dominated our course material and teaching practices. This is reinforced in the scholarly literature—see, for example, Tomassi et al. [3].

For many years we have been using an outdoor classroom site for our teaching. This place is a multi-purpose urban green corridor within the metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia. Called the Cooks River to Iron Cove GreenWay (hereafter called the ‘GreenWay’), it provides community active travel infrastructure, urban ecology programmes, opportunities for social interaction, sport and recreational facilities, heritage acknowledgement, and arts and cultural installations. The corridor also hosts major stormwater and light rail infrastructure. These all make the GreenWay [4] an exemplar outdoor teaching and learning setting which we use to deliver integrated, cross-sector—and enjoyable—educational outcomes focused on the transdisciplinary notion of planetary health for both primary school and tertiary students. Here we tell the story of this long-term educational practice, critically reflecting on successes and challenges and demonstrating its ongoing contemporary relevance and urgency for education.

The paper initially provides an overview of who we are as educators, researchers and authors. This is followed by defining the theoretical pillars of our educational programme—healthy built environments, environmental sustainability, resilience, and integrated, transdisciplinary learning. The Planetary Health Education Framework, alongside the integrative, advocacy, educational and governance principles of One Health, brings these theoretical themes together. They also importantly provide an appropriate contemporary and integrated lens to critically consider our practice. Next, the paper describes the GreenWay outdoor classroom—its physical qualities, historical evolution and governance over time. These are all important aspects of the different subjects we teach school and university students. In this part of the paper, we outline the nature of the educational programmes, detailing specific learning activities. Following is an assessment of the alignment of our teaching practice with the Planetary Health Framework and One Health. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for committed environmental educators. Grounded in our use of the GreenWay as an outdoor classroom, these principles can be applied elsewhere to devise authentic, locally relevant and experiential learning that offers hope and key skills for the next generation to address the growing impacts of climate change and associated human health challenges.

2. Theoretical Foundations

This section presents the educational motivations and pedagogical rationale that form the foundation of our educational practice and programmes. It is important to clearly identify these foundations, as they define our positionality—that is, who we are and the principles that underpin our work as teachers, scholars and advocates for a sustainable environment and human health. We contend that such statements should be articulated by all scholars and educators to demonstrate their understanding of the urgency and complexity of contemporary planetary health challenges [3].

The theories that underpin our educational practice are categorised as follows:

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Content—healthy built environments; sustainability; resilience

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Process—transdisciplinarity

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Organisational structures—One Health and the Planetary Health Education Framework.

These are illustrated in Figure 1.

2.1. What Are the Foundational Pillars upon Which Our Educational Philosophy and Practices Are Based?

We are long-term educators from the built environment disciplines—principally working in academia (Thompson, Author 1) and local government (Chapman, Author 2). Climate change, chronic health issues, and inaction for a sustainable future increasingly disturb, distress and disrupt us, as do the competing and complex socio-economic and cultural conditions within which society operates [3]. We see young people struggling to comprehend the nature of this existential crisis and what it means for their future. They can experience feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and overwhelm, as well as anger about government and private sector prevarication [5]. As educators, we have a responsibility to teach young people about the environment in an empowering way. This can be most effective if education is about the real world with which students interact and regularly experience—their local environment.

The outdoor classroom is where we do this. Using Sydney’s inner west GreenWay, we explain the value of thinking globally and acting locally in realistic, positive and inspiring ways. We seek to empower our students to moderate personal behaviours and invest time and energy in community-based activities to reduce their environmental footprint. Further, we show how the local environment and community can be resilient and resourceful in the face of growing climate change impacts, health challenges, urban intensification and loss of biodiversity.

2.1.1. Content—What Are the Core Theoretical Content Areas of Our Programmes?

The GreenWay educational programmes embody three major content areas. These are defined below, although it is important to note that they are not in any priority order. The specific ways in which the content areas are used in the delivery of course material are explained later in the paper (see Section 4. ‘The GreenWay as an Outdoor Classroom’).

• Healthy Built Environments (HBEs)

The role of the built environment in supporting human health is a central content area of our educational programmes. A healthy built environment is defined as one which promotes human health by making it easy and convenient for everyone, irrespective of residential location or economic capacity, to avoid car transport and be regularly physically active in daily commuting and recreational activities. Eating fresh, nutritious, affordable and culturally appropriate foods readily sourced from local stores, gardens and markets is also facilitated. So too is being socially connected, feeling safe and appreciating a sense of belonging, especially in nearby and easy-to-get-to public urban and green open spaces [6].

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been instrumental in advancing understandings of healthy built environments through its seminal ‘Healthy Cities’ movement. This places ‘…health, social wellbeing, equity and sustainable development at the centre of local policies, strategies and programmes based on core values of the right to health and well-being, peace, social justice, gender equality, solidarity, social inclusion and sustainable development’ [7] (p. 4). Also included are the principles of intersectoral governance, health-in-all-policies, community participation, social cohesion and innovation.

The relevance of healthy built environments is also reinforced by the evolution of the role of health in the urban planning profession (a key topic for tertiary students). The discipline’s original objectives included improving human health. At the time the focus was on infectious disease, but over the years concern shifted with the rise of non-communicable chronic conditions. This was associated with an increasing appreciation that sprawling suburbs with their low residential densities, separated land uses, limited ability to sustain public transport, and few local employment opportunities discouraged being physically active [8,9,10,11]. The lack of regular and sustained physical activity is a major behavioural risk factor for many chronic non-communicable diseases, including cancers, heart conditions, diabetes, depression, and dementia. This is the situation facing us today, and accordingly, an important aspect of the educational content of our classes—both in formal lessons/lectures and using the GreenWay to demonstrate how this can be ameliorated (see Section 4).

• Environmental Sustainability

Closely related to a health-supportive built environment is the notion of sustainability. For this content area we use the enduring and groundbreaking definition established by the United Nations Brundtland Commission: ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ [12]. This has set the stage for subsequent global developments, including the evolution of planetary health. This is defined as ‘a solutions-orientated transdisciplinary field and social movement that analyses and addresses the impacts of destabilised natural systems on human health and all life on earth’ [13]. The term was initially advanced by the Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on Planetary Health [14] and since 2017 championed in the scholarly journal of the same name—‘Lancet Planetary Health’.

In close alignment sits the United Nations’ Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), which link planetary protection, the attainment of universal health and the elimination of inequity across the globe in an interconnected and holistic framework [15]. Another demonstration of this integrated and practical approach is the Thrives framework (also known as healthy urbanism), which emphasises the core principles of equity, inclusion and sustainability in the quest for health and wellbeing [16]. This is very much associated with the built environment and the involvement of local communities in achieving positive sustainability outcomes. These are all key content elements of our classes as illustrated in Section 4 ‘The GreenWay as an Outdoor Classroom’.

• Resilience

Our third content theoretical pillar is resilience. Well-established in engineering as the ability of a system to modify its functioning to accommodate stresses and uncertainty [17], resilience in relation to the community and its urban environment is similarly understood. It can be defined as ‘the capacity of individuals, communities, businesses and systems within a city to survive, adapt and thrive no matter what kinds of acute shocks and chronic stresses they experience’ [18] (p. 22).

Acute shocks occur suddenly and are ‘relatively short-term events that threaten a city’ [19] (p. 8). Examples in Sydney, where our educational programmes are based, have included unprecedented levels of smoke pollution from November 2019 to February 2020 during the Black Summer bushfires, several extreme, record-breaking rain events, and, at a global level, the COVID-19 pandemic. Chronic stresses differ in that they are longer-term and render communities vulnerable, and consequently, make it more difficult to overcome an acute shock [19]. Examples of chronic stressors for urban residents are climate change and associated urban heat, increasingly unaffordable housing, traffic congestion, and escalating rates of loneliness. As well as these content areas, students learn from resilience specialists working in local councils developing approaches to build community resilience. Their plans and actions typically focus on vulnerable populations, including youth, older people and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Resilience is an aspirational state for communities to enable empowerment and agency in dealing with contemporary health and environmental threats. It is an important component of our educational approach in bringing healthy people and planet together in a way that offers hope for our students’ futures.

2.1.2. Process

In order to facilitate an understanding of the breadth of our foundational content pillars (HBEs, environmental sustainability and resilience) and to engender an appreciation of their interrelated nature, we use the notion of ‘transdisciplinarity’. This foundational pillar under ‘process’ speaks to our deeply held belief that as educators we are responsible for equipping our students with an integrated knowledge base. The aim is to empower students to evolve into their professional roles competently and with hope as they deal with the complexity and enormity of the environmental and associated health challenges of the 21st century.

• Transdisciplinarity

In arguing for transformative change in public health and urban planning to achieve healthy cities as envisaged by the WHO, Roderick Lawrence draws on a lifetime of work as a built environment professional linking health and sustainability to define ‘transdisciplinarity’ [20,21]. To do this, Lawrence sets out the following clarifications:

Disciplinarity: the specialisation of individual academic disciplines—its own concepts, research methods and notions of competence.

Multidisciplinarity: an ‘additive approach’ comprising multiple contributions from a range of disciplines but still remaining within the singular definitions adopted by each discipline. Does not intentionally involve collaboration.

Interdisciplinarity: ‘intentional collaborative actions’ involving at least two separate disciplines which result in an agreed research objective to address a common problem. There is a sharing of concepts and research approaches. This is within an academic/scholarly context.

Transdisciplinary contributions go beyond scientific knowledge and include non-academic researchers and institutions across the private sector, public administration, community associations and citizens. ‘Cross fertilisation of knowledge and the experiences of people educated in disciplines, trained in professions, and experienced in policy making’ is enabled via transdisciplinarity [20] (p. 63); [21] (p. 2).

A transdisciplinary approach is at the heart of our educative practice. This is particularly so for tertiary students, many of whom will ultimately work in the built environment or public health professions. We bring them integrated disciplinary content and impactful ways of working to achieve healthy cities for communities and the planet upon which all life depends. This approach aligns with a range of scholars who have long argued the necessity of synthesising tools and knowledge of different disciplinary perspectives into a new comprehensive integrative understanding to address health and urban challenges (see, for example, [22,23,24]). Botchwey et al.’s [25] development of a model curriculum for such courses was an important pioneering step and incredibly useful in the evolution of our work [26]. Nevertheless, for us Lawrence’s ‘transdisciplinary’ process offers a conscious and deliberate way to move further in delivering integrated disciplinary content which bridges theory and practice for real-world, achievable action and impact (this is pertinently illustrated in the example of ‘Battle Bridge—a case study of urban governance complexity’).

2.1.3. Organising Structures

Our final foundational pillar sits under the organising structures of ‘One Health’ and the ‘Planetary Health Education Framework’. The rationale for their inclusion is that they are complementary and offer a contemporary, rigorous and integrative approach to people and planetary health that sits well with the notion of ‘transdisciplinarity’, Further, they bring scholarly content together across multiple sectors in relevant and coordinated ways for effective and informed practice. Both One Health and the Planetary Health Education Framework reflect and reinforce the urgency of the educational work with which we have been engaged for over two decades.

• One Health

The WHO’s One Health is an interconnected way of linking humans, other life forms and planetary health under the banner of sustainability. It considers that the health of people, animals and ecosystems are interdependent and aims to achieve health improvements for all living creatures in the context of sustainable development [2]. As well as its integrative aim, One Health heightens awareness of threats to health, something that the global COVID 19 pandemic reawakened and reinforced [27].

In defining One Health, it is noted that there are narrow and broad definitions [28]. For the purposes of our educational work, a broad definition is adopted. In the One Health Joint Plan of Action, One Health is defined as ‘an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of humans, animals, plants and ecosystems…. The approach mobilizes multiple sectors, disciplines and communities at varying levels of society to work together to foster well-being and tackle threats to health and ecosystems while addressing the collective need for clean water, energy and air, safe and nutritious food, taking action on climate change, and contributing to sustainable development’ [29] (p. 4).

There are six actions in the Plan of Action, strongly focused on health and disease prevention, but importantly linking to environmental well-being. This is explicit in Action 6, ‘Integrating the Environment into One Health’, and is a key principle for our educational work, especially for specific tertiary learning activities. Action 1, ‘Enhancing One Health Capacities to Strengthen Health Systems’, is also applicable when considering the role of the built environment in supporting healthy behaviours for humans. These activities, such as being physically active and socially connected, have co-benefits for the planet’s health through, for example, reduced greenhouse gas emissions. This message is central to lectures, and our outdoor classroom demonstrates how this occurs.

Underpinning the action tracks are ‘cross cutting principles’. Of particular salience to the GreenWay educational programmes are systems thinking, advocacy, communication, enabling governance frameworks, and the use of knowledge from Indigenous and local communities [29] (p. 21). Further, to create a ‘sustainable and healthy future’ across a range of sectors, disciplines and society, One Health champions the actions of communication, collaboration, coordination and capacity building [29] (p. 4).

The One Health Joint Plan of Action Implementation Guide [30] embraces education as one of the ‘relevant multisectoral stakeholders’ (p. 17). Our classroom programme includes many of the One Health stakeholders, both identified as the ‘main sectors’—human health, environment, food and plants—and ‘other relevant sectors’—education, academia, industry/private and local government. The Plan of Action calls for the integration of education about One Health approaches in ‘the curricula for students in primary education, universities and academic settings…’ [30] (p. 20). This paper outlines how we have achieved that using the GreenWay as an outdoor classroom.

• Planetary Health Educational Framework

Our final foundational platform is the Planetary Health Educational Framework. This complements One Health. It is pertinent for our work in that it places education at the centre of achieving human and planetary health integration, recognising the enormous challenges in effectively responding to complex, interconnected and threatening environmental, social and health crises [1]. Further, our educational practices respond to calls for transformative approaches situated within the framework [31].

The Planetary Health Education Framework aims ‘to guide the education of global citizens, practitioners, and professionals’, seeking to inspire transformative global action to achieve the conservation of ‘healthy ecosystems for a thriving human civilization’ [32] (p. 3). In terms of education, a ‘common foundational language that serves as the cornerstone for diverse education strategies’ is offered [32] (p. 8). There are no specific learning themes nor a list of prescribed competencies [32]. This importantly acknowledges diverse ways of learning and varying educational approaches. These aspirations within the framework are pivotal to education along the GreenWay as a multi-curricular outdoor classroom (see Section 4. ‘The GreenWay as an Outdoor Classroom’).

The framework comprises five domains (Figure 2), which are interdependent and interconnected. All have relevance to our educational programmes, featuring in formal classes and field trips along the GreenWay, as illustrated in Section 4 of the paper.

At the framework’s centre is ‘interconnection within nature’. The aim is to advance ‘compassion for planet Earth through the recognition of the personal, cognitive, social, and emotional aspects of the education process’ [1] (p. e253). The combination of Indigenous and Western education modalities and ways of working are championed, as are ‘deep interconnectedness within nature’ [1] (p. e253).

The second domain is the ‘Anthropocene and health’. This centres on how the world’s population has expanded its ecological footprint to catastrophically disrupt nature’s systems and health—both human and planetary. In terms of education, the critical factor here is to build an understanding of these disturbances, what can enhance and undermine health outcomes, and their social and ecological interrelationships.

The third domain is ‘systems thinking and complexity’. This is derived from a long history of dealing with complex or wicked problems [33] that do not respond to singular thinking, siloed disciplinary knowledge or specific research methods. The domain references the long tradition of using systems thinking in ecology and extending this to teaching, which illuminates ‘linkages between environmental changes and human health at different geospatial and temporal scales’ [32] (p. 29).

The fourth domain is ‘equity and social justice’. The foci here are rights—of humans and the natural environment—and an appreciation of intergenerational equity for future populations to enjoy optimal health and sustainability. Educative processes must embrace difficult discussions to help emerging leaders (the students in our classes) challenge neoliberalism, colonial legacies, racism and discrimination of different groups.

The fifth domain is ‘movement building and systems change’ for a just future. This embraces action and transformative change to effectively address the urgency of planetary degradation. Developing the necessary skills and eagerness to ‘create much-needed momentum for change’ [1] (p. e254) sits at the heart of what we teach, using the GreenWay as an exemplar embodiment of what is achievable.

The next part of the paper presents the specifics of the GreenWay educational programmes demonstrating how they embrace the theoretical content, process and organisational foundations detailed above.

3. The GreenWay Place for Education

Sydney’s Inner West GreenWay [4] is the physical setting for our educational programmes. It is a place with a complex history and ongoing community, legislative and governance issues. Significant environmental initiatives to address pollution, enhance biodiversity, and support the health of urban residents are found along the GreenWay. These factors provide multiple opportunities for us to impart knowledge about a local place that aligns with the theoretical foundations articulated above in Section 2.

3.1. What Is the GreenWay and What Are Its Features?

While urban greenways across the globe are unique, they share common environmental and physical features that support health for local communities. Typically, there will be a combination of facilities, with a walking and cycling shared path a key feature. This can also incorporate safe and pleasant local streets and pedestrian footpaths. Urban bushland sites, including both natural and rehabilitated areas, and waterways such as creeks, canals and stormwater retention ponds, are often integrated into an urban greenway. Facilities to support user comfort include seating, natural and built shade structures, water fountains, toilets and picnic tables. These are frequently situated at points of interest where walkers and cyclists can pause, rest and socially interact with others. Further, heritage items, interpretive Aboriginal sites, public art installations and performance opportunities can serve to connect people and enhance social cohesion. A range of open space sporting facilities, passive green parkland, dog parks, cafés, community food gardens and public transport infrastructure are variously found along urban greenways.

Sydney’s Inner West GreenWay comprises many of the typical features detailed above. It is situated along a public transport corridor for light rail and a heritage canal [34] (Figure 3).

The GreenWay supports active and healthy living in an inner-city location subject to increasing high-density urban growth. There is a network of well-shaded walking paths (Figure 4), cycleways, green open space for rest, relaxation and picnics (Figure 5), sporting fields, tennis and basketball courts (Figure 6) and outdoor gym equipment (Figure 7).

Community facilities including public toilets (Figure 8) and seating, dog parks, cafés and a bicycle repair hub (Figure 9) are provided.

Environmental interventions for pollution management (Figure 10) and bushcare site regeneration (Figure 11) to enhance biodiversity are there too.

Some Aboriginal interpretive sites and public art installations (Figure 12) enrich the experience of GreenWay users.

A community food garden can be found nearby (Figure 13).

The GreenWay is some 5.8 km in length and connects two of Sydney’s most important waterways—the Cooks River and Parramatta River (Figure 14). Each brings its own extensive network of open space and pathways—the upper reaches of the iconic Sydney Harbour and the Cooks River, draining to Botany Bay.

3.2. Historical Evolution of the GreenWay

As well as the GreenWay physical features being central to our learning activities, so too is the historical evolution of the place. This is a powerful demonstration of a long-term and hard-fought community and local council-driven project. Here we describe the main elements.

The initial idea for the GreenWay began in the late 1990s with local community recognition of the potential of connecting two existing publicly owned, but often inaccessible corridors. One was a creek line which was converted into a concrete drainage channel more than a century ago; the other, land occupied by a goods railway line. The creek corridor was bordered for much of its length by public open spaces, while the rail corridor was not publicly accessible. By the early 21st century it was becoming redundant as the port activities and industries which it served were replaced by residential land uses [34]. Local community groups interested in environmental preservation, the regeneration of native vegetation (known in Australia as ‘bushcare’), and cycling for transport then started to articulate a new environmentally focused vision for these lands. In the words of the Cooks River to Iron Cove Master Plan and Coordination Strategy 2009, a ‘recognisable environmental, cultural and non-motorised transport corridor linking the sub-catchments of two of Sydney’s most important waterways’ (The Cooks River to Iron Cove Master Plan and Coordination Strategy 2009 is no longer available on the Inner West Council’s website. Upon request, the authors can provide an archived copy).

Ultimately, the goods railway line was retained by the New South Wales (NSW) Government and converted to the Inner West light rail. Opened in 2014, its principal objective was to service new population growth along the corridor resulting from replacing redundant industrial premises with high-density residential development (Figure 15). [Note: New South Wales is abbreviated to ‘NSW’. This is the most populous state of Australia. It adjoins the states of Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south, and South Australia to the west. To the east of NSW is the Pacific Ocean].

The redevelopment of the historic Mungo Scott Flour Mill in Summer Hill for 360 residential apartments and commercial spaces is one such example [35,36]. More broadly, the planned introduction of 8000 to 12,000 new residents along the corridor over 30 years (2005–2035) has, to an extent, motivated local and state government authorities to pay more attention to the need to provide quality open spaces, active travel infrastructure and other community facilities along the GreenWay to cater to this increased population (Figure 16).

Despite political and governance challenges, especially involving the four separate local councils which had jurisdiction over the GreenWay until 2016 when three of those councils were amalgamated, the local community’s long-term commitment enabled the corridor to endure and evolve. A pivotal achievement was the development by community volunteers of the first GreenWay Masterplan and Coordination Strategy, which was adopted by the four responsible councils in 2009. The plan provided the strategic framework and impetus to commence multiple stakeholder engagements across government agencies and the private sector. Eventually, the necessary commitments and funding were secured to complete the southern sections of GreenWay (2.8 km from Parramatta Road to the Cooks River).

There has been a raft of key milestones which have contributed to the evolution of the GreenWay (Figure 17). Generated from both those involved with the GreenWay and outside forces, these milestones range from winning significant funding for various initiatives to staff appointments, with the most significant being the GreenWay Place Manager. Strategic recognition of the GreenWay at the NSW state level was also important. Most notable was the inclusion of the GreenWay as the first priority project in Sydney’s Green Grid as part of the city’s Eastern District Plan [37]. Jurisdictional changes in governance are noted as milestones, with the most influential being the council amalgamation. The GreenWay has also been the recipient of eight prestigious planning and design awards.

At times progress has stalled. Politics has played a part as state government switched from Labor to Liberal majorities and priorities shifted and funding commitments rescinded. A further complication has been the reluctance of the different land and infrastructure state agencies along the GreenWay to contemplate shared use of their assets. This has largely been due to perceived increases in associated risks and costs (as detailed in Box 1).

All add to an understanding of the complex nature of the GreenWay, its evolution, unwavering community support and advocacy, together with politically inconsistent and administratively difficult governance. This is important content for our student learning, as are the key milestones in the development of the GreenWay over 25 years (Figure 17).

From its beginnings, the master planning and implementation of the GreenWay have comprised four interwoven community priorities which have provided the foundation for our educational work. These are:

• Protection and extension of a local urban environment to support open space and community health outcomes
• A range of education activities around valuing local ecology and broader sustainability imperatives
• Development of physical, political and organisational processes to overcome barriers and achieve a more integrated approach to development and management of the GreenWay as one continuous, multi-purpose urban green corridor
• Creation of an integrated GreenWay Place Management programme [38] with five ongoing and fundamental elements:

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  Place making initiatives

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  Building extensive infrastructure for connected active travel

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  Bushcare sites and activities

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  Educational programmes using the GreenWay as an outdoor classroom

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  A broad range of arts and cultural activities.

Having explained the complex nature of the GreenWay, its evolution and governance, the discussion now moves to how we use this special place within the context of its rich history, as an outdoor classroom for school students and those studying at the tertiary level.

Box 1. Battle Bridge—a case study of urban governance complexity.

Battle Bridge exemplifies the problems faced by urban stakeholders in the many situations where an integrated, multidisciplinary and multi-agency approach to the use of public assets of land is essential to achieve desired community outcomes. This is a key learning outcome for tertiary students entering built environment professions.

The GreenWay crosses a major state highway (Parramatta Road), which carries thousands of vehicles per day (Figure 18). A sandstone wall delineates this point. Called ‘Battle Bridge’, it is associated with the city’s early colonial settlement and unverified stories of violence involving the local Aboriginal people. Today, the heritage significance is subsumed under graffiti on the bridge’s sandstone walls and the high volumes of traffic roaring past. This is a noisy and highly unpleasant pedestrian environment and makes easy movement along the GreenWay difficult. A steep, narrow pedestrian ramp is available, but with two very tight bends, access for bicycles is particularly awkward. An elevated crossing built in association with the light rail in 2014 gives better access with both an elevator and, alternatively, a long flight of stairs.

For over a century Battle Bridge marked the boundaries of three metropolitan councils and three state agencies. They all had a role in managing the area, with each agency responsible for different assets—the canal, pedestrian footpaths, highways, and light rail (illustrated in Figure 19). No one agency was willing to take responsibility for an integrated approach to achieve a much needed pedestrian and cycle connection over or under the highway. The individual agencies baulked at sharing use of their assets for an additional user-friendly walking and cycling crossing due to perceived increases in risks and costs.

It is only in the last few years, prompted by the coordinated approach developed under the GreenWay Place Management Program, that the agencies finally agreed to work together. In 2017 the NSW Government Architect was commissioned to develop a concept design for a Parramatta Road crossing which was refined further in the Cooks to Cove Master Plan (2018). This has been further aided by the funding allocation from the state government to complete the GreenWay, as has the decision to amalgamate the three councils into the Inner West Council in 2016.

Figure 18. Vehicles on the busy Parramatta Road. Source: Authors.

Figure 18. Vehicles on the busy Parramatta Road. Source: Authors.

Figure 19. Urban governance complexities. Note: TfNSW is the NSW Transport Agency. Source: Authors.

Figure 19. Urban governance complexities. Note: TfNSW is the NSW Transport Agency. Source: Authors.

4. The GreenWay as an Outdoor Classroom

4.1. The Schools Educational Program: History, Development and Overview

The inclusion of a specific education function in the 2009 GreenWay Coordination Strategy and Master Plan, coupled with its geographic location in a densely populated urban neighbourhood with 30 schools (22 primary and eight secondary) within a one-kilometre walk of the corridor, has augured well for the blossoming of an award-winning schools programme using the GreenWay as an outdoor classroom. At the initiation of Chapman (Author 2), who also worked as the GreenWay Place Manager for seven years, the extensive environmental and sustainability educational programme was developed by GreenWay staff in collaboration with local primary school teachers and the regional Observatory Hill Environmental Education Centre. This is one of 25 such organisations operated by the NSW State Department of Education to assist in integrating environmental education across the school curriculum (from the first year of school—kindergarten, to the last—year 12).

Called the GreenWay Primary Schools Sustainability Program, it was further developed and extended via a grant from the NSW Environmental Education Trust (part of the NSW State Department of Environment and Heritage) in 2015. This included preparation of a 130-page Teachers’ Workbook [39], which details specific GreenWay-based learning activities. The workbook also provides key connections with other subjects in the school curriculum. Further, the GreenWay Program’s authentic and experiential learning opportunities are well matched to the sustainability cross-curricular priority subject area in the national Australian Curriculum and its equivalent at the NSW State level—‘Human Society and its Environment’ [40].

So, what are the main components of the programme? First, in-school preparatory activities, such as ‘where in the world is the GreenWay?’, using Google Maps functions, and ‘weeds, why worry?’, which involves getting the students outdoors into the playground identifying common weeds.

Second, there is an all-day local history and environment adventure along the GreenWay. Walking from their school and led by GreenWay staff and teachers, children are introduced to a variety of historical, environmental and sustainability learning topics (Figure 20). They include the water cycle, city transport, urban bush-care, Aboriginal stories, industrial heritage and local history, and, where appropriate for the level of the students, the urban development process. The walk is punctuated by direct observations and knowledge-building activities, including insect (‘bug’) hunts (Figure 21) and drawing houses of different ages and styles.

The final segment of the programme comprises follow-up in-school activities drawing on the students’ field trip experiences and relating to other curriculum areas such as mathematics, science, art and history. See Box 2 for examples of specific educational activities.

Ongoing development of the programme includes adaptation of activities for those at preschool, kindergarten and high school levels. A key objective is that the programme becomes self-supporting and teacher-led and is flexible, low-cost and adaptable to individual class needs. Further, a broader and substantial development has been the establishment of the GreenWay Primary Schools Active Travel Pilot Project. The impetus came from the transport learning units in the GreenWay Teachers’ Handbook [39]. Students draw on their local knowledge to identify and map ‘active travel’ paths to school using existing pathways and street crossings. The identified routes are reviewed by school staff and parents, audited for safety by the local council, and any required capital works noted for construction. Once confirmed by council traffic engineers, the route is waymarked with decals and promoted throughout the school community to encourage walking, cycling or scooter riding to school. As well as an authentic learning experience, the Active Travel programme aims to reduce traffic congestion at peak drop-off and pick-up times and improve pedestrian safety around the school. Students gain both mental and physical health benefits as a result of increased activity, improved social connections and confidence. Further development of the pilot project has seen the NSW state transport agency ‘Transport for NSW’ (TfNSW) adopt the methodology as best practice. Under its ‘Get Kids Active’ programme, funding is now available for ten schools and councils across Sydney and regional NSW [41].

Box 2. Teaching materials for the GreenWay Schools Program.

The Teachers’ Handbook [39] includes detailed activities for instructors to both prepare students for their day-long walk along the GreenWay and to embed their experiences further in subsequent class lessons. The latter is particularly important for reinforcing cross-curricular outcomes. In this box are examples of activities for the classroom and when out and about along the GreenWay.

Preparatory class activities

▪

‘Where in the world’—a range of activities to help students geographically situate the GreenWay and to identify key features such as the Cooks River, Hawthorne canal and Iron Cove; learning activities embrace mapping protocols (legends and standard map notations), the concept of a mud map, which students draw; and detailed instructions on the use of Google Earth to find the GreenWay [39] (pp. 50–53).

▪

‘The drain is just for rain’—this set of activities focuses on a range of rubbish types that emanate from households just like the students (this is immediately relatable to children’s experience and knowledge)—dirt and leaves swept into the gutter; animal waste left on the grass verge; oils and detergents from on-road or driveway car-washing; household garbage such as plastic bags that are easily blown away [39] (pp. 83–85).

▪

‘Rubbish’—this activity focuses on the main types of rubbish collected from the Hawthorne canal (which the children explore during their GreenWay walk). Differences between natural and manufactured waste are presented. Rubbish capture via a pollutant trap in the Hawthorne canal (Figure 10) emphasises the enormity of the problem in their own backyard. Children are encouraged to take actions to reduce rubbish, make sure they clean up after their dog, and join in community clean-ups [39] (pp. 86–98).

▪

‘Art on the GreenWay’—children are introduced to some of the artworks along the GreenWay. Importantly, this includes a large mural and mosaic installation which several local schools played a major part in creating with community artists and activists (Figure 12). This artwork made a previously dark and uninviting underpass safe, light and engaging for walkers and cyclists [39] (pp. 116–127).

▪

‘Let’s go’—in this module the notion of a transport corridor is introduced. This is a key feature of the GreenWay and likely to be used by many of the children. Their task is to design a light rail stop that is safe and easy to use with features such as toilets, seating, clear signs, and a place to buy tickets [39] (pp. 181–183).

In the outdoor classroom—the GreenWay walk hands-on activities

These four activities are conducted with the students at various points on the GreenWay walk:

▪

Collecting six objects from a section of parkland on the GreenWay and storing them in an egg box: (i) a natural object (ii) an artificial object (iii) a black object (iv) a prickly object (v) a shiny object (vi) a smooth object.

▪

Drawing the GreenWay environment—for example, the canal (Figure 3) and GreenWay foreshore, where there is a public art installation and a gross pollutant trap (Figure 10).

▪

‘Bug’ hunting involving digging in topsoil/mulch for bugs and identifying the type of bug with a magnifying glass (Figure 21).

▪

Making bracelets using Lomandra leaves (particularly a favourite with young girls).

Post GreenWay walk cross-curricular activities

Children undertaking ‘Streamwatch’: this is a Sydney-wide citizen science programme under the auspices of Landcare. The aim is to monitor the water quality of local water-ways https://greatersydneylandcare.org/streamwatch/ (accessed on 1 February 2025). For schoolchildren along the GreenWay, this involves testing the water from the Hawthorne canal and then reporting on the results. This activity is an example of a cross-curricular outcome of the GreenWay programme involving science, art and geography subjects. Streamwatch is depicted in public art on the GreenWay (Figure 12).

Evaluating the School’s Educational Program

Over a six-year period, approximately 1650 school students from 12 local primary schools took part in the GreenWay Sustainability Program. As part of the delivery of the programme, school students, teachers and educational professionals were asked for feedback on their experiences, which are reported below. It should be noted that once the GreenWay place management programme was disbanded by the Inner West Council in 2020, the school student walks ceased.

Teachers: Teachers gave feedback about programme topics including required preparation for the full-day GreenWay walk reactions to the activity, and use of the programme for cross-curricular teaching. The feedback was universally positive. Features which particularly appealed were the experiential nature of the learning tasks, the cross-curricular aspects, with a majority using their participation for lessons in other curriculum areas, and the value of the local environment to engage students with sustainability issues in their neighbourhood. All teachers said they were keen to repeat the programme and would recommend it to other schools. Specific comments included:

▪

It was fabulous; it gave us the building blocks to link our teaching programme and tailor it to our needs.

▪

Very engaging and informative. I learnt heaps myself.

▪

Students benefitted from making discoveries in their own backyard.

▪

Amazing fun and interesting facts; reinforced our history topic of inquiry.

▪

Great initiative in eco-literacy; it should be compulsory for all local schools.

There were suggestions for improvements, with most related to the time taken to get students to the GreenWay site and the extent of the day-long walk. The latter proved overly tiring, especially for some of the younger participants. In terms of learning activities, certain teachers felt that more specific links were required between various activities in the Teachers’ Workbook and what students observed during the GreenWay walk. There were no concerns expressed about overarching principles, specific educational activities, nor the use of the GreenWay as an outdoor classroom.

Students: As part of their learning activities, fifty students from two of the participating schools geographically closest to the GreenWay gave feedback about their experiences. Students were asked to describe what they did and saw on their walk, the things they learnt, attitudes to the GreenWay, and any particular likes and dislikes about their involvement. This was completed informally in the school playground by Chapman (Author 2) with teachers observing.

From the discussions, it was clear that the day spent in the GreenWay outdoor classroom was a worthwhile learning opportunity. Despite their young age (eight to ten years), there was an appreciation and deep concern about the state of their local environment and what this might mean for the future. The children revealed a sense of caring for their local neighbourhood, the desire to learn more, and the desire to discover ways to protect the environment for the community, as well as making individual contributions by minimising their environmental footprint.

The ‘bug hunt’ was by far the most popular of the four ‘hands-on’ activities (see Box 2 and Figure 21). Many children wanted to repeat this activity on the GreenWay and within their school grounds, garden at home, and neighbourhood park.

Other highlights of the outdoor classroom were ‘being in nature’ and ‘lots of old and interesting features’, with a majority of students rating the GreenWay as ‘very important’ as a local place. Reasons given included:

▪

Because nature is a part of life.

▪

Because there are living things like us.

▪

Nice to look at [and] a home to animals.

▪

A reliable track for active people.

▪

Has a lot of ‘environment’ which helps us breathe.

When asked why it might be important to look after the GreenWay, feedback ranged from suggestions such as ‘it’s a safe’ish way to get to places’ and ‘if we don’t, it will get blocked by roads’. Many students reported telling family members about the walk, with several promising to take parents and siblings along the GreenWay. The few negative comments extended from feeling tired to there not being enough drinking fountains along the route.

Education professionals: Reactions to the programme demonstrate recognition of its value within the broader education profession. The Australian Association of Environmental Education [42] recommended the GreenWay programme as a best practice example of genuine, local learning within an outdoor classroom. This is part of the cross-curricular teachers’ resource for the Stage 2 geography curriculum published by the NSW State Department of Education [43]. The Sydney-based Observatory Hill Environmental Education Centre has used the GreenWay outdoor classroom approach to develop a new ‘humans shape places’ geography fieldwork programme for Stage 3 students. This is now available to primary schools across Sydney [44]. In 2012 the GreenWay Primary Schools Sustainability programme won a commendation from the NSW Planning Institute of Australia in the award category ‘Commission for Children and Young People’.

The NSW Environmental Education Trust funded the initial implementation of the programme from 2014 to 2017. The Trust evaluated the GreenWay educational programme in exceptionally high terms, especially praising the use of local environments for student learning [45]. It is also of note that in 2017 the programme was nominated as a ‘best practice’ resource for teaching geography and sustainability within the NSW State Department of Education’s ‘Human Society and Environment’ cross-curricular priority area [40].

Taking advantage of the cross-curricular benefits offered under the GreenWay programme, several of the participatory primary schools have developed their own year-long learning projects on site. In one school, this has meant the rehabilitation of three patches of native vegetation within the playgrounds. These sites have now become the focus for a regular, hands-on outdoor learning activity for all students in years 3 and 4, as well as regular working bees with families and staff. Another school is using the GreenWay programme as the basis for a ‘Scientific Inquiry’ project for senior primary grades. This involves partnering a year 6 primary class with a cohort of year 10 students from a local high school, with the older children acting as mentors and facilitators for the younger students’ learning.

4.2. The Tertiary Educational Programme: History, Development and Overview

The GreenWay has played a major role as a case study and field site in two separate Sydney university teaching programmes located in built environment/urban planning faculties. While subject-specific orientations and assignments differ, at the heart of these tertiary educational programmes is the emphasis on place-based transdisciplinary work to establish health-supportive and sustainable urban environments within complex physical, administrative and governance contexts. This section of the paper presents an overview of these two universities programmes within which the GreenWay outdoor classroom is central.

• The University of New South Wales (UNSW)

Working within the university’s Faculty of the Built Environment and at the time leading the town planning degree, Thompson (Author 1) initiated a new educational course for undergraduate students called ‘Healthy Planning’. Motivated by a seminar presentation about the WHO Healthy Cities Movement [46], Thompson was inspired to establish a course for planners to educate them about the opportunities to create health-supportive places for diverse communities. This was a missing component of traditional planning policy and practice at the time. The course was first taught in 2007, following UNSW approval of the curriculum, and created some interest in terms of its timely innovation [26]. Further endorsement of the course came in 2010 with the awarding of a major competitive grant, the Healthy Built Environments Programme (HBEP), for five years by the State Department of Health [47]. Amongst its many achievements, HBEP contributed to the adoption of supporting human health as a central aim of contemporary planning policy and practice, with education a key aspect in achieving this (for both professionals and students).

The ‘Healthy Planning’ course brought students from the built environment disciplines of urban planning, architecture, construction management and landscape design together with those from health degrees. The latter incorporated the disciplines of public health, exercise physiology and clinical medicine. ‘Healthy Planning’ included the rapidly growing theoretical scholarship on health-supportive environments, together with a strong emphasis on fieldwork and professional practice encompassing transdisciplinary approaches (see Section 2 ‘Theoretical Foundations’). This has continued since the beginning, with students working together on projects in the field and communicating across disciplinary boundaries, research traditions and entrenched, historically siloed learning practices of the university.

Teaching in ‘Healthy Planning’ involves lectures by academic researchers and practitioners, experiential class exercises, fieldwork (Figure 22) and student presentations to develop competency in a range of areas. These are:

• ▪ The essential cross-disciplinary nature of the task of planning to create environments that support healthy behaviours especially those that reduce the risk of chronic disease.
• ▪ Transdisciplinary ways of working and interacting to appreciate the different languages and value systems used by both health and built environment policy makers and practitioners.
• ▪ Specific tasks, such as health and wellbeing audits.

The course, an elective offered across UNSW, first ran in 2007 and has continued every year since with Thompson (Author 1) as convenor. Initially, fieldwork projects focused on different aspects of walkability in the university neighbourhood, with students in multidisciplinary cohorts undertaking audits, the results of which were compiled and presented to the full class to enhance everyone’s learning.

In 2014 the GreenWay was introduced as the major group assignment, with built environment and health students researching and collaborating as a team (Box 3). They were required to write a research report, prepare display posters and make a presentation to fellow students and invited practitioners who had contributed to the class. The posters were exhibited at the Annual GreenWay Art Exhibition (Box 3; Figure 23).

Use of the GreenWay as the focus of ‘Healthy Planning’ had to cease in 2020 when all classes were forced online due to the global pandemic. Nevertheless, it was possible to retain a field-based assignment with students required to conduct a detailed audit of the health-supportive nature of their local home environments. This, however, had to be undertaken individually. With the return of in-person classes in 2023, a field trip to the GreenWay was reinstated. This focuses on the key historical, environmental and transport features of the corridor, its governance complexities (Box 1), and how it supports human and planetary health.

• University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

Championed and led by Chapman (Author 2) in his senior lecturer role, the GreenWay has been used for a decade as the setting for major student projects at UTS. This has occurred in several undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the Design Architecture and Building Faculty. The Masters of Planning (Sustainable Urban Development subject), Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (Green Infrastructure subject) and the Bachelor of Design (Winter Design School delivered by the Designing Out Crime Research Centre) have all included the GreenWay as a major case study. In every project, students from different disciplines work together to come up with solutions for different aspects of the corridor. Details are as follows:

• ▪ The planners are assigned a light rail station within the GreenWay and tasked with developing a master plan for the surrounding precinct.
• ▪ In small multidisciplinary groups, the landscape class examines the GreenWay as a green infrastructure corridor opportunity and makes recommendations for enhancement.
• ▪ The Winter Design School cohort develops affordable treatments aimed at improving the design quality and pedestrian amenity at the light rail stops and along the GreenWay, both during the day and, most importantly, at night.

Some 500 students have now been involved in transdisciplinary group work through these courses. Of particular benefit have been the formal presentations of student project outcomes delivered to agency and council staff involved in GreenWay asset planning and management. These presentations have covered master planning and public domain improvement works along the GreenWay and around light rail stops. The assignments are an authentic educational experience, with students appreciating that their work could actually be implemented. It prompts practitioners to think in a more collegiate and transdisciplinary way, mirroring what the students have themselves demonstrated. Finally, professionals profit from being exposed to fresh and innovative approaches able to deliver multiple benefits to what are frequently seen as intractable problems (for the GreenWay, as well as elsewhere).

Box 3. GreenWay Group Project for Healthy Planning course at UNSW.

The Healthy Planning course has for many years focused on the GreenWay. A major group assignment is central to this, as are lectures on the site’s history, governance, qualities and challenges (as illustrated in Box 1). There are multiple site visits and engagement with resources such as readings, websites and practitioner guides.

The project’s title ‘A Sustainable Place: Connecting the GreenWay to be inclusive, safe, healthy and walkable’ summarises the key learning components of the assignment. Working in multidisciplinary groups, students are immersed in the GreenWay and its adjacent light rail corridor. Each group is assigned one of the light rail stations and given the following specific tasks to undertake:

• Define the Site—getting to know the site by documenting physical boundaries (such as waterways, walking paths, and roads) and environmental quality.
• Understand the Site—land-use study and detailed observations of the quality and character. For example, residential density, types of housing, extent of commercial development, and other significant built, natural or social features present within the neighbourhood. As well, the general demographic characteristics of the population are researched and described.
• Walkability—an audit of walkability is conducted using prescribed professional tools—students focus on key concepts of sustainability, connectivity, health, inclusivity and pedestrian safety.
• Recommendations—a set of appropriate recommendations to improve walkability and pedestrian safety and comfort around the light rail stop are devised.

Specific questions are posed for the students to consider:

i

What improvements are needed to activate the site and enhance its ‘look and feel’ for all sections of the community?

ii

How might the site relate better to surrounding streets and associated land uses?

iii

What conflicts (e.g., between cyclists, dog walkers and commuter pedestrians; cars and cyclists) are evident, and how might they be managed and reduced?

iv

Are there particular ways to enhance accessibility for different community groups?

v

What about safety for light rail customers and GreenWay users at different times of the day and evening, weekdays and weekends?

vi

What is the future scenario for 20 years hence?

vii

Is there a need for interdisciplinary action across relevant local, state, community and development organisations?

viii

How might these groups work effectively together to deliver value for money and measurable community benefits across your site?

ix

What constraints might impede progress?

x

Consider current council policies, development applications and the likely future impact of resultant development.

Project outputs: A report detailing the results of the group’s research together with an engaging poster. Findings are initially presented to the class and key professionals from the local councils. All assessment outputs are then compiled for the GreenWay Place Manager and relevant council staff. Student posters are displayed at the annual GreenWay Art Exhibition. The findings and recommendations inform efforts by the GreenWay councils and the NSW State Transport Agency (Transport for NSW) to enhance urban amenity, community connections and pedestrian comfort and safety in this important recreational, environmental and sustainable transport corridor in Sydney’s Inner West.

Evaluating the Tertiary Educational Programs

• UNSW

Students undertaking any course at UNSW are invited to evaluate their experience and reflect on their learning at the conclusion of the class. This involves responding voluntarily to a standardised online questionnaire. Given its innovative nature, students in the early years of ‘Healthy Planning’ were also asked to provide reflections on the relevance of their learning for professional practice.

Across the years there has been a strong level of agreement about different aspects of the transdisciplinary nature of the course. Students from both the health and built environment cohorts have expressed enthusiasm for the transdisciplinary focus (described in Section 2.1.2). As well, they considered the collaborations with, and learning from, students undertaking different degrees to themselves one of the best aspects of the course.

The GreenWay project was cited as an avenue for active sharing and learning. ‘The Greenway case study was a great way to bring together the course content with a real world project’. Hearing the opinions of classmates from different degrees was highly valued, and for many, this was the first time that this had occurred. For most students, it was also the first time they had considered in any detailed way how the urban environment significantly influences human health. There was appreciation from all students about the potential the course afforded their future professional lives. This has grown over the years as planning policy and practice have shifted to embrace health as a central concern and opportunity to enhance the environment for people and the planet [6]. For those already engaged in the workforce, there was excitement about informing colleagues about their newly acquired knowledge and ways of working, with several proposing concrete examples of how they would transform healthy planning concepts into reality. ‘[The course] showed me the need to work with a range of people with different expertise so the best possible healthy planning outcome can be achieved’.

It was also interesting and gratifying to see expressions of new knowledge. One of the medical students said, ‘I now realise the environment can limit patients’ abilities to make healthy lifestyle choices. Health professionals can only provide the appropriate behavioural advice if they understand the environment in which the patient lives’. Health students reported a ‘new-found respect for the health outcomes of urban planning’.

Those studying urban planning were enthusiastic about embracing a health and well-being perspective in their everyday practice. There was understanding about the need to reach out to other professionals to get the strongest and most compelling evidence to underpin and substantiate best practice outcomes. As one said, ‘It is clear interdisciplinary interaction is important for good planning outcomes. I won’t hesitate to talk to people from other professions to inform my work’. Connections between human health support and environmental sustainability were also commented upon. ‘This course is FUNDAMENTAL in allowing other students from different disciplines to understand the importance of healthy, well connected and a green urban environment’.

• UTS

While systematic surveys have not been undertaken of the UTS student participants, insights have been gleaned by Chapman’s (Author 2) concurrent oversight of both the educational programme and his role as the GreenWay Place Manager. Ideas first developed by the students have significantly been incorporated into the broader master plan and subsequently implemented within the GreenWay. A key component has been both the engagement of the students in real-world design issues and the quality of the work that has resulted and the presentation of the outcomes to staff members across council and related government agencies.

For several years, posters developed by UNSW and UTS students and explanatory leaflets were exhibited in a dedicated space as part of the annual GreenWay Art Exhibition (Figure 23). In 2012, one of the UTS student groups received a Commendation Award from the Planning Institute of Australia for their proposed masterplan around the Marion light rail stop on the GreenWay. This accolade is a testament to the student’s transdisciplinary learning and enthusiasm for the GreenWay project.

5. Discussion: The GreenWay—Contributing to the Educational Framework for Planetary Health and One Health

Having detailed the foundations upon which our educational practice rests and explained how we use the GreenWay as an outdoor classroom to deliver a holistic and transdisciplinary educational experience to school and university students, we now turn to consider how our approach, especially the use of an urban greenway, relates to the principles of One Health and the Planetary Health Education Framework. Importantly, both frameworks reinforce the core fundamentals of our long-term and evolving educational practice and deeply held commitments for teaching. Navigating the global pandemic has brought One Health into sharper focus, necessitating a reorientation of attention back onto infectious disease, as well as planetary degradation resulting in the loss of habitat facilitating the transfer of disease from wild animals to humans.

Educators are increasingly challenged by the growing complexity of these issues, together with the urgent task of equipping the next generation with transdisciplinary skills, enthusiasm and optimism to confidently address the situation. Our experiences offer a range of insights and practical ideas for the creation of a local outdoor classroom where students can witness firsthand relevant issues to them and their lives. This is set against the backdrop of theoretical frameworks that situate the local in the global context for students to understand and develop the skills to address unprecedented challenges to human and planetary health.

The paper now discusses how the Educational Framework for Planetary Health and One Health relate to the GreenWay outdoor classroom. In dealing with both approaches simultaneously, we acknowledge that they have synergistic alignments and interrelationships [28]. The section concludes with logistical challenges from our lengthy and detailed experiences delivering educational programmes at school and university level. The paper ends with key recommendations for environmental educators, drawing on our practice and the foundation afforded by One Health and the Planetary Health Education Framework. Together, they provide an evidential base to argue for authentic and experiential education, to ensure that it is adequately resourced for delivery today and further developed as the needs of young people grow in the face of the climate crisis, the anxiety it engenders, and the transdisciplinary knowledge and skills it demands.

5.1. What Does Our Practice Offer the Planetary Health Education Framework and One Health?

An overview of the fundamental features of One Health and the Planetary Health Education Framework is provided earlier in the paper (see Section 2.1.3). The framework’s principles embody the importance of education from early age to young adulthood as we enact through the GreenWay outdoor classroom. There are strong parallels too with the framework’s depiction of anthropogenic changes at a planetary scale and their application locally. This goes to the heart of our teaching practice—using the GreenWay outdoor classroom to convey to our students the opportunity to think globally and act locally. As well, we employ understanding planetary environmental threats with positive and achievable local responses as integrative structures. Further, the framework reinforces and aligns with the relevance of clearly articulating our positionality—that is, who we are as educators, researchers, and practitioners (see Section 2.1).

Although other knowledge frameworks [48] and learning resources [49] are available, in discussing the intersection of the GreenWay outdoor classroom with the Planetary Health Education Framework and One Health, the five domains of the framework most usefully serve as appropriate thematic headings. One Health’s four cross-cutting principles {29] (p.21) are interwoven in the assessment to bring both schemas together as a theoretical foundation for transformative educational programmes that respond to the environmental and health crises of the 21st century.

• Anthropocene and Health

The dependence of all life forms on a healthy and ecologically sustainable planet is central to the Planetary Health Education Framework. While One Health has been criticised for not specifically embracing biodiversity, climate change and ecology, taking a broader definition of this schema, it does embody the intersections between human, animal and environmental health [28]. Through their exposure to the physical environment of the GreenWay, students see firsthand how ecological and health impacts manifest in their local neighbourhood. They are exposed to excessive traffic noise, poor air quality, stormwater pollution, weeds, feral animals, litter and sewer overflows. These demonstrate very clearly the link between the Anthropocene and community/environmental health outcomes at the local level.

The GreenWay provides an ideal classroom to showcase the framework’s ‘Local Learning Priorities’. It is a recognised example of the benefits of green infrastructure in an inner-city context. This multi-purpose corridor addresses global health challenges (both mental and physical) via community-level provision of free, convenient and easy-to-access quality green space in the neighbourhood. It helps reduce car dependence, together with associated environmental and health impacts, through improvements to public transport and active transport modes. The GreenWay is a shining example of a health-supporting environment for all members of the community at every stage of life. It reduces key risk factors by supporting behaviours to ward off and help manage chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancers, diabetes, dementia and musculoskeletal conditions. It also facilitates social connections between friends and strangers, thereby reducing loneliness and isolation, which in turn supports mental and physical health.

The GreenWay is a local demonstration of how planetary health can be addressed. The ebb and flow of the canal (and sometimes flooding following heavy rainstorms) relates to broader global concerns of sea level rise. The shady walking and cycling path demonstrates the use of green vegetation to reduce heat at the local level, reflecting the global warming climate and the importance of maintaining tree canopy in planning policy and practice.

Participation in the educational programmes also shows students possibilities in which they can engage (for example, riding bikes to school) for action for positive change. This is about ‘what can I do’ for my planet and is empowering for young people. For the university students, the GreenWay transdisciplinary experience, and especially the group assignment (see Box 3), demonstrate real professional actions that they can carry into their future careers. This aligns with White et al.’s [50] notion of ‘Agency in the Anthropocene’ for lifelong, effective, cooperative, and resilient student learning outcomes.

• Movement building and systems change

Plugging the GreenWay into the NSW school geography curriculum for stage 2 students significantly increases its impact and reach. It will also help capture the attention of future professionals at this early stage of their education. This is furthered in our university educational practice, exposing older students to the good and the bad of the urban environment. The GreenWay programmes are used to raise awareness and demonstrate how action can be taken to address impacts at the individual and local community level. Showing visible evidence of the existential impacts of climate change and ecological degradation along the GreenWay highlights proactive, positive and optimistic local communities. This occurs in a variety of volunteer roles reinstating bush habitat and lobbying Council and responsible agencies for improved management and longer-term strategic planning. These and other activities are exemplars of systems change which offer hope for the younger generation, yielding an opportunity to address intergenerational equity. Resilience thinking is partly about assigning accountability to an individual for their actions and supporting them to address threats and be more self-reliant. If it is performed well, it can help translate despair into hope about the future. This is critical given young people’s growing alarm about the urgency of responding to climate change impacts in knowledgeable and empowered ways [51].

There are several related cross-cutting principles from One Health. First, fostering advocacy communication and public-private partnerships. The GreenWay is community driven and dependent on garnering political institutional support at the local and state levels. Even the federal government has played a supportive role—in 2025 allocating funding for the construction of an underpass to join up the walking and cycling path [52]. Second, the principle of enhancing governance initiatives and institutional and legal frameworks is demonstrated by the GreenWay in numerous ways, and in particular, the memorandum of understanding and the four councils working together (Figure 17). Battle Bridge (see Box 1) exemplifies inadequate institutional frameworks which stymie shared use of public assets.

• Systems thinking and complexity

The evolution of the GreenWay is an excellent case study of how to use systems thinking to overcome the obstacles, intransigence and opposition that have stifled progress in achieving the community’s vision. The Battle Bridge case study (see Box 1) is an excellent example. Organisational obfuscation, little willingness to collaborate, minimal effort to cooperate, or moving out of siloed ways of thinking and certainly refusal to step back for the greater good. Corridor continuity and active transport challenges have been exacerbated by the need to get across a major state highway, Parramatta Road. The complex infrastructure, boundary and governance issues, especially exemplified in traditional siloed ways of working, serve as valuable lessons for students in understanding the blockages which have stymied the crossing from happening for many years, despite community need and advocacy. The implementation of the GreenWay place management programme was a direct response to this complexity. Its success demonstrates the value of a systems approach to managing a multi-functional urban green corridor.

One Health’s cross-cutting principle ‘Adopting systems thinking’ is directly related, and again, the Greenway has plenty of educational examples here. They include its holistic and integrated place management and the linking of systems along GreenWay, such as ecology, biodiversity, physical movement, and the broader connections between the health of people and that of the planet.

Further, systems thinking is closely aligned to the theoretical foundation of transdisciplinary knowledge which underpins our educational approach articulated earlier. For schools, this is about designing cross-curricular activities; at tertiary level, this involves incorporating theory from multiple disciplines together with strong practice connections that flow into actual roles in future professions. To be sure, there are challenges. The transdisciplinary approach is not necessarily valued by all university faculties, despite the scholarly literature providing ample evidence for these approaches. There may be reluctance, as a new approach involves additional and unfamiliar work such as liaising with professional stakeholders (not just academic colleagues), determining and assessing fieldwork site suitability, and dealing with the accompanying time-consuming administrative protocols. For schools, the incorporation of sustainability concepts into all traditional curriculum areas can pose a challenge, especially for teachers unfamiliar with sustainability concepts, who may baulk at the additional work in an already busy and demanding schedule, as well as feel discomfort in taking on a complex subject of which they know little.

• Equity and social justice

In terms of equity, our goal is to show how the GreenWay facilitates free, equitable and convenient access for everyone to a quality urban environment in their neighbourhood. The community health benefits that it provides are very obvious and well appreciated by both the school and university students across a range of activities and assessment tasks.

Both the Planetary Health Education Framework and One Health’s cross-cutting principles acknowledge and emphasise traditional knowledge of Indigenous people. Aboriginal custodianship of the GreenWay, going back some 60,000 years, is celebrated and recognised in public art installations. One, entitled the Gadigal Wangal Wayfinding Project [53], is a series of works with integrated landscaping, which students see and discuss on site visits. A major mural by Aboriginal artists celebrates and marks the boundary of the Gadigal and Wangal tribes of the Eora Nation (Figure 24). The adverse conditions with which the Aborigines had to contend due to colonisation of Australia and the resulting exploitation, displacement, persecution and genocide can also be told as students encounter different aspects of the GreenWay. Telling of the history of Battle Bridge (Box 1) can make reference to conflict between colonisers and local Aboriginal tribes. More generally, the results of colonial historical abuse of the natural system within the GreenWay corridor [34] (for example, loss of trees and the destruction of the natural Long Cove Creek for the concrete-lined Hawthorne canal; Figure 3) to support Sydney’s development are also immediately evident, providing valuable social justice and associated learning.

Nevertheless, Aboriginal history and the use of traditional Indigenous knowledge need further development. A more sophisticated place-specific approach is demanded, especially in relation to how current management practices can draw on Aboriginal knowledge and heritage. Use of locally based material and protocols around which Indigenous stories may be told, who does the telling from the Aboriginal community, and how this can be supported and resourced are all key practical issues to address. The determinants of planetary health derived from an Indigenous perspective offer inspiration for our evolving practice here [54].

• Interconnection with nature

Without exaggeration, our entire educational practice embodies being interconnected with nature—both embraced by the framework and the underpinnings of One Health. Using the GreenWay as an outdoor classroom makes learning fun and is often a memorable experience for students, as demonstrated in student feedback. This can lay the foundation for an appreciation of the importance of the city environment in supporting people and planetary health and how an individual person can get involved and contribute. Bushcare sites along the GreenWay are an excellent example of this, illustrating the community working together by replanting native vegetation and removing invasive weeds. This results in increased tree canopy, enhanced biodiversity and bringing back bush habitat for birds and small animals such as bush turkeys, possums, and microbats.

We use the GreenWay to introduce city-based students to their local environment, immersing them in nature through different experiences and activities. As we walk along the GreenWay, we encourage them to stop and listen to the birdsong, smell the bush flowers and, on a hot day, enjoy the cooling from the trees. We hope that this will help engender a lifetime commitment to the planet. In the words of the framework, ‘Awareness and practice of interconnection with nature will be a lifelong process unique to every individual and every context. A deep awareness of belonging to Nature may encourage students and professionals to pledge to protect Planetary Health’ [32] (p.18). This sentiment and hope are reinforced within the Australian Government’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2024–2030. It emphasises the cycle of connection, care and knowledge of nature. ‘If people connect, they will increase their care for nature; the more we learn about nature, the more we can care for nature; the more people care for nature, the more we learn about nature’. ‘Nature underpins our economy, climate, First Nations peoples’ connection to culture and identity, and our health and wellbeing’ [55] (p.3).

5.2. Logistical Educational Hurdles

While not specifically related to One Health or the Planetary Health Education Framework, there are logistical and practical challenges in delivering transdisciplinary education in an outdoor classroom. It is critical to acknowledge these hurdles and consider how best to address them to bring about the ongoing development of experiential environmental education.

Resourcing: this concerns funding to ensure continuity of course delivery and student participation. There can be a range of challenges. Staffing—assisting with learning new skills and knowledge; updating resources (for example, the Teachers’ Workbook; reading lists and practice websites for university students); local authorities involvement and commitment to funding assistance (for example, funding staff at a local council or relevant authority—such a position could be integrated with other existing roles in waste management, pollution reduction and resilience strategising). Student costs (such as transport to the outdoor classroom) are also a factor here.

Scheduling Logistics: for schools this is about competing with other subjects, especially those identified as ‘core’ to early learning, all important and all needing to be timetabled. At university—the issue of courses being compulsory for all students rather than an elective offering—if the latter, then many students may miss this vital opportunity.

Student diversity: different knowledge bases and experiences of diverse teaching modes—especially the use of an outdoor classroom, fieldwork, group projects, and engagement with practitioners—in both learning from them and presenting to them. This can be very challenging for some students—teaching strategies need to be mindful of this and contingencies put in place to deal with these disparate levels in knowledge and familiarity, as well as comfort with a range of learning experiences. At university, this is further complicated by professional practice differences and varying disciplinary research traditions—these have to be acknowledged and explored.

6. Conclusions and Recommendations for Educators

Our paper highlights the importance of experiential education in an outdoor classroom to inspire the next generation to care for the future of their planet and knowledgeably, optimistically, and collaboratively work towards this goal. The use of the GreenWay as an outdoor classroom emphasises the value of locally accessible open spaces to support healthy living—especially being physically active and socially connected—to address mental and physical health challenges. It also embodies the global imperatives of environmental sustainability and resilience in local bushcare sites within a densely populated urban locality, heritage preservation, significant Indigenous places and the nurturing of local arts and culture. The longevity and adaptability of the GreenWay vision, coupled with the tenacity of the local community to ensure its implementation, demonstrate its success as a health-supportive local place rich with opportunities and experiences to support holistic and transdisciplinary education for school and university students. It is the ideal outdoor classroom that brings theory and practice together in addressing the complex and urgent health and environmental challenges of the 21st century.

Use of a local outdoor classroom resonates with the global messages embodied in One Health and the Planetary Health Educational Framework. This reinforces the need to think globally and act locally and to better understand how every individual can play their part in protecting the planet and all dependent life forms. Further, and most crucially, One Health and the Education Framework offer an evidential base to argue for this type of educational practice to ensure that it is adequately resourced for delivery today and further developed as the needs of young people grow in the face of the climate crisis and the anxiety it engenders.

Nevertheless, theoretical frameworks can only go so far in informing the future generation about the urgency of climate change and inspiring commitment and care. Accordingly, embedded in our rich experience, we propose practical recommendations for personally and professionally committed environmental educators no matter where their classes are delivered. It is our hope that in sharing the lessons of the GreenWay through these recommendations, we can inspire teaching that respects all human beings and nature, builds hope to reduce anxiety about the future, and enables effective actions now and into the professional and personal lives of the young, enthusiastic and resourceful students in our care.

Recommendations for Caring and Committed Environmental Educators

• Articulate who you are as an environmental educator—communicate this to other educators and environmental advocates to demonstrate commitment.
• Lobby your close colleagues to support and advocate for contemporary, transdisciplinary and authentic environmental education programmes.
• Find a suitable and readily accessible local outdoor classroom—a green place, ideally with community involvement, environmental challenges and complex governance issues.
• Seek out a broad base of support beyond your school or university—if possible, find funds, but if not available, seek in-kind assistance from local agencies and community members and emphasise the urgency of arresting climate change anxiety in the young to empower, skill and inspire.
• Work with like-minded school and university educators in determining the level(s) of your programme(s) and other potential related activities such as active transport to school.
• Put local and authentic experiences at the heart of the educational curriculum—this is critical to inspire hope, care and commitment to the environment.
• Establish a respectful relationship with local Indigenous leaders and work with them so that they can be central to the programme(s).
• Use theoretical frameworks such as One Health, the Planetary Health Education Framework and the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals to justify and underpin the foundations of the educational programme(s).
• Establish committed and ongoing relationships with practitioners to engage them with the delivery of the classroom activities and feedback on student projects.
• Use learning outcomes to showcase to external stakeholders, including communities, the practical relevance and innovation of student ideas to address human and planetary health challenges.
• Prioritise professional development for educators, especially primary school teachers, about using outdoor classroom environments to teach core curriculum subjects in a transdisciplinary way.
• Continue with perseverance—this is long-term and critical education for the next generation—do not give up despite different challenges, political shifts, and funding ebbs and flows.