{"id":157,"date":"2024-07-03T13:19:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T12:19:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/?p=157"},"modified":"2024-07-03T13:19:57","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T12:19:57","slug":"life-talk-to-me-about-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/changing-ourselves\/2024\/07\/03\/life-talk-to-me-about-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Life? Talk to me about life."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cDid you know you can plant your name badge?\u201d said the sign on the registration desk. You can tear it into little bits, plant it in damp compost, and lovely flowers will grow. I was at the Nature Connections Conference, hosted in the world\u2019s earliest factory at Derby\u2019s Silk Mill, so the connections were already clear and spiralling.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNature Connectedness\u201d is a <\/span>measurable psychological construct that moves beyond contact with nature to an individual's sense of their relationship with the natural world. <\/span><\/p>\n

I was learning this for the first time, but for the other 199 delegates, none of whom I\u2019d ever met, it was bread and butter stuff. They came with stories and studies that aimed to increase people\u2019s nature connectedness (measured on one or more of the well-established indices), for reasons ranging from therapy and social deprivation, to international strategy and policy. You see, the more nature connectedness people have, the more likely they are to have good wellbeing and sense of purpose, and to take up pro-environmental behaviours. Ultimately the hope is that this influences global action on climate and biodiversity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The University is, of course, totally signed up to improved wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviours. But why would I, a guy from organisational development, be in Derby, feeling terribly anxious about meeting those 199 strangers who are experts in a field I know little about? In a previous blog, I mentioned that I was experimenting with doing our own bread-and-butter work \u2013 team events, group coaching etc - outdoors. There\u2019s ample evidence that being under the sky, out in nature, changes the way we think and relate to each other, allowing different kinds of innovation and clarity.\u00a0 Yet it wasn\u2019t until the very last minute of the conference that I came across anyone from the (business) coaching world. We agreed that there are loads of outdoor coaches these days, but when I noted that \u201cthey aren\u2019t here\u201d he said: \u201cThey\u2019re not nature-connected.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ouch. What did that say about my modest aspirations, to work with a few people outdoors in pursuit of organisational change? Coaching <\/span>alongside <\/span><\/i>nature isn\u2019t the same as being in, with and of nature. Perhaps connectedness itself isn\u2019t our goal, but the opportunity to work more deeply seems silly to refuse. Sustainable organisational change is greatly supported by people having a deep and coherent sense of who they are. It\u2019s surely worth helping them enrich this through their connection to the more-than-human world, and being intentional about that in the design of outdoor work.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many paths of possibility from this point, which can be terrifying, so I will take it a step at a time. It may be bread and butter after all, but it\u2019s at the edge of the slice.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Simon Inger<\/p>\n

Organisational Development Consultant, Workforce Development Team, Department of Human Resources<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References & further reading<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/findingnature.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/the-nature-connection-handbook.pdf<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Feel like using technology to enhance your nature connectedness? Try the rather brilliant Wylder app -\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.getwylder.co.uk\/<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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