Over the past 20 years the term outdoor learning (OL) has evolved and gained pace, showing positive effects on school children’s development with participation on a weekly basis, writes Joe Bogumsky for Outlearn.
In 2016 Plymouth University delivered The Natural Connections Demonstration project, the UK’s largest OL project, and found new evidence showing benefits of OL for schools relating to health, wellbeing and development for students – with additional positive impacts for teachers and the wider school community.
To support schools and teachers to set up and run effective, sustained OL programs, the authors provide guides for getting started, policy and curriculum planning.
A green transformation for the ‘world’s most beautiful avenue’
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has green-lit plans for a $305 million ‘extraordinary garden’ by architects PCA-Stream, running along the Champs Elysées and roughly halving the space allotted to cars, with planted ‘living rooms’ and more small-scale shops.
The project, ‘Re-Enchanting the Champs Elysées,’ due for completion by 2030, is arguably overdue says Feargus O’Sullivan, writing for Bloomberg CityLab.
According to designers PCA-Stream, the Champs Elysées has an image problem among Parisians – who think of it as touristy and an assembly point for large international chain stores, akin to an airport.
PCA-Stream says it aims to bring back a promenade experience, with flâneurs strolling along the historic boulevard in greater comfort thanks to a reduction in motor traffic.
They also have plans for green spaces – “planted ‘living rooms’ will offer spaces to take breaks.”
“The gardens and the port of the Champs-Élysées, which are nowadays all but forgotten by Parisians, have extraordinary potential for new green spaces and to offer a place of experience and contemplation,” the architects say.
“In the gardens, now newly accessible and freed from the nuisances brought about by car traffic, an exciting program is rolled out based around fine cuisine, sports, well-being, arts and sciences, with playgrounds to accommodate families and children. A varied range of plants augments the biodiversity using species that are adapted to climate warming and which provide shade and freshness to pedestrians.”
The Street Furniture Australia factory, in Regents Park, Western Sydney, is both a manufacturing hub and R&D studio for our Australian-designed and made street furniture products. We run fun and informative group events for customers throughout the year, to share how products are designed, tested and built, and the latest products and projects. Director of Tract Julie Lee said: “It was a great opportunity for our team to look behind the scenes and understand the innovation, research and climate positive outcomes Street Furniture Australia is focusing on. Thank you for having us!” Place Design Group Associate, Liam Isaksen, said: “The factory tour is a fun experience to learn about the design and manufacturing process of public furniture we use in landscape architecture design. Seeing the work behind the scenes and …
Did you catch these most-read case studies, furnishing tips, new product announcements and special industry events in your StreetChat updates in 2023? Each month our StreetChat enewsletter publishes new projects, products and trends from the public domain; subscribe to receive it in your inbox. 10. Which design firm can see Longhorn Cattle from their office window? 2 countries. 9 cities. 300 landscape architects. Street Furniture Australia and USA partner Spruce & Gander visited offices in Australia and Texas. There were key similarities and some notable standouts. 9. Jazz at The Mint: Product and Book Launch Sydney landscape architects gathered at the iconic Mint Courtyard to launch a design book by our founding directors Darrel Conybeare and Bill Morrison, and expansions to the Linea collection. 8. 2023 Good Cause Giveaway goes to …
Street Furniture Australia has designed and built prototype charging stands as part of a Transport for NSW program to deliver free phone chargers at 15 Sydney train stations. Developed by Street Furniture Australia’s inhouse industrial designers in collaboration with Transport for NSW, the prototypes offer wireless, USB-A and USB-C charging, and can power 7 devices at once. They were built at the Street Furniture Australia factory in Western Sydney. Two Power Spots are now installed at Liverpool and Campbelltown stations. The $1 million Power Spots Project rollout to 15 transport hubs including Bankstown, Hurstville, Lidcombe, Penrith, Wynyard, Central, Town Hall and Bondi Junction will be completed by late 2024. NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the Power Spots provide peace of mind: “In the modern world, our phones are our …
The rise of functional art: Public art can blend both form and function, blurring boundaries between the street object and the outcome people get from their engagement with it. Making art an everyday experience is integral to some of the best public spaces and cities around the world. The right mix of permanent or temporary installations can reflect identity and create vibrancy in an area. The artsy bus shelter pictured above (left) offers a playful and engaging option for those seeking transportation. And the water droplet shape – pictured above right – first appears to be a sculpture, but on closer inspection reveals itself to be a water fountain for refilling drink bottles. The design of the fountain – called the O fountain – is courtesy of Melbourne based ‘O …
Google allowing employees to hold some meetings outdoors: Google has begun holding in-person meetings outdoors on company campuses as it prepares for employees to return to offices next year, according to CNBC. The company said it is trialing socially-distanced meeting formats called “onsite off-sites” as it tries to find ways to hold more employee collaboration amid the pandemic, and to bring aboard new hires. Google was the first major tech company to ask employees to stay home when the pandemic started, and is now experimenting with ways to gather people on campuses slowly and safely. It gave workers the option to work from home until summer of 2021. In September, after finding that most employees wanted to return in a part-time capacity, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company would …
Seoul is Planning ‘Wind Path Forests’ to Direct Fresh Air to the CBD: Seoul has announced plans to bring a concept called ‘wind path forests’ to life, to direct clean air into the city, absorb particles and lessen the urban heat island effect. Trees will be placed close together along rivers and roads to create wind paths so clean and cool air generated at night from Gwanaksan Mountain and Bukhansan Mountain can flow into the centre of Seoul. Three kinds of forests will direct and purify air, according to Cities Today. Wind-generating forests, including species such as pine trees and maple trees, will be cultivated so that they direct the fresh air from the forest to flow towards the city. Connecting forests will feature air-purifying plants, such as wild cherry …
