Meaningful Encounters with the Built Environment as the Basis for Urban Environmental Education
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- What aspects of the built environment do university students find meaningful?
- In which ways could these findings be taken into consideration when developing urban environmental education?
2. Theoretical Background
2.1. Aspects of Urban Environmental Education
2.2. The Built Environment in Finnish Formal Curricula
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Finnish University Students’ Essays
3.2. Inductive Content Analysis
4. Results
4.1. Urban Nature
“When it becomes quiet, the animals set off. During the day you can mainly see rats, crows, and seagulls, as well as squirrels, living in the churchyard, but in the mornings nature comes close. Rabbits and brown hares bounce along deserted streets and attentive foxes run across the yards. Hedgehogs, owls, bats, and many other animals are also a familiar sight at night. During the day these are not seen anywhere, and few people know about their nocturnal existence, but I am a night person and I tend to observe what is happening around me.”
“Alppipuisto is like a secret oasis in the middle of paved Helsinki. It is sheltered and people clearly take good care of it. It feels safe even when you are in the middle of an otherwise restless neighborhood [Kallio].”
“While the city is my daily environment and enables my work, hobbies, and leisure activities, I want to keep it at arm’s length, a little far away.”
4.2. Architecture, Aesthetics, and Soundscape
“I am watching passing boats, rumbling trains and trams, and the park opposite the beach. From this location, Helsinki can be seen in many ways: there is a serene peaceful city park, the historical Pitkäsilta [Long Bridge] with its bullet holes [from the Continuation War during the Second World War], the academic Botanical Garden, the sea, the city’s landmarks from Finlandia Hall to Uspenski Cathedral, the National Theatre, the Museum and Opera, the Parliament House, and public transport carrying people both on and underground.”
“From the very beginning, I had fallen in love with the aging, alternative, and creative atmosphere of the place. I have always been interested in old and abandoned buildings. Therefore, it is not that surprising that I find the old industrial area fascinating with its sense of space and romance.”
“The soundscape is also an important part of the place’s charm: the clatter of the trams can be heard in the background as children play, and the screaming of the seagulls reveals that the sea is closer than one might think.”
“I chose this environment because every time I walk there or pass it on public transport, I feel good. The place is vivid as the trams clatter and the children’s voices can be heard as they play in the schoolyard.”
4.3. Social Environment
“That environment is also important to me as a social environment. Since many of my friends live in the same area, Mustikkamaa is also a place where I spend time with my friends.”
“I have broadened my mind in many directions. In an environment meaningful to me, I am with people who are not like me: we do not think the same way, we do not believe in the same things, we do not study the same discipline, we do not support the same political parties. Yet, I always return to this environment because here I am happy. I get to disagree. I rejoice a lot. I am in the heart of the city, but still with my own people. I am safe and loved.”
“In a sense, such a symbiosis of the built environment and unusual human behavior is beautiful in its own way.”
4.4. Place Attachment
“Helsinki has not yet enchanted me and that is why it does not feel like home. Here, only a few places are special for me—most of the places have no history or stories for me.”
“My original image of Helsinki as an ugly, busy, and grey landscape has gradually softened over the 4 years I have studied here. The distances feel shorter now and the city is no longer as intrusive as it was when I started studying.”
“Even though the birds sing differently here, and it is not even dark at night, I feel the rhythm of the city has replaced the rhythm of nature that previously surrounded me. The immediate surroundings evoke feelings of inclusion and meaningfulness in me.”
“I chose the urban environment as the meaningful place for me because that is where I feel at home. It is yards that bring social and communal content to my life, not nature and plants per se.”
5. Discussion
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
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Education Level and Curriculum | Contexts in Which the Built Environment is Mentioned |
---|---|
Early childhood education and care (2018) | Learning environment, observation skills, to conduct experiments, to act, to make field trips |
Preschool (2014) | Learning environment, observation skills |
Primary school (2014) | Learning environment, observation skills, to conduct experiments, (learning) content, to act, to move, to make field trips, to explore, to know and understand the built environment, the basis of design processes |
Lower secondary school (2014) | Learning environment, observation skills, to conduct experiments, (learning) content, to analyze, to apply knowledge, to preserve |
Upper secondary school (2015) | Observation skills, to conduct experiments, to think creatively, to evaluate and analyze changes, to examine cultural diversity and sustainable development, the basis of visual production, to understand the significance of visual arts |
Upper secondary school (2019) | Learning environment, observation skills, to conduct experiments, (learning) content, to examine the values and meanings of the built environment, to explore and interpret the built environment |
Year | Total Number of Essays | Number of Essays Covering the Built Environment in Helsinki | Pseudonyms | Generic Categories of the Essays |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 19 | 3 | Student 1 | Urban nature |
Student 2 | Urban nature, social environment | |||
Student 3 | Environmental art | |||
2015 | 20 | 3 | Student 4 | Architecture, buildings |
Student 5 | Soundscapes, social environment, place attachment | |||
Student 6 | Built environment and urban nature equally important | |||
2017 | 39 | 7 | Student 7 | Urban nature, observation of the environment |
Student 8 | Buildings | |||
Student 9 | Aesthetics, place attachment | |||
Student 10 | Lack of place attachment | |||
Student 11 | Urban nature as a place for hanging out | |||
Student 12 | Place attachment | |||
Student 13 | Participation | |||
2018 | 31 | 3 | Student 14 | Soundscape |
Student 15 | Suburban built environment, social acceptance | |||
Student 16 | Historical traces in the urban nature | |||
2019 | 23 | 4 | Student 17 | Urban nature, feeling of security |
Student 18 | Soundscape, peace, and temporality | |||
Student 19 | Social environment, acceptance of difference | |||
Student 20 | Architecture, creativity, feeling of free space, roughness | |||
2020 | 21 | 4 | Student 21 | Urban nature, social environment |
Student 22 | Aesthetics | |||
Student 23 | Architecture, aesthetics | |||
Student 24 | Urban agriculture | |||
2021 | 29 | 1 | Student 25 | Ecological lifestyle |
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Hilander, M.; Tani, S. Meaningful Encounters with the Built Environment as the Basis for Urban Environmental Education. Educ. Sci. 2022, 12, 203. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12030203
Hilander M, Tani S. Meaningful Encounters with the Built Environment as the Basis for Urban Environmental Education. Education Sciences. 2022; 12(3):203. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12030203
Chicago/Turabian StyleHilander, Markus, and Sirpa Tani. 2022. "Meaningful Encounters with the Built Environment as the Basis for Urban Environmental Education" Education Sciences 12, no. 3: 203. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12030203