Belcher, Richard N. and Knight, Sarah and Gallou, Eirini and Schoen, Victoria and Hardman, Michael and Giedych, Renata and Hedblom, Marcus and Åshage, Anna and Pálsdóttir, Anna María and Xu, Shaojuan and Otsuka, Noriko and Roscoe, Charlie and Domènech-Panicello, Carola and de Prado-Bert, Paula and Torrens-Flores, Clàudia and Zeiger, Zachary and Gawryszewska, Beata and Cieszewska, Agata and Adamczyk, Joanna and Długozima, Anna and Maksymiuk, Gabriela and Sosnowska, Agnieszka and Olszewska-Guizzo, Agnieszka and Gutjahr, Moritz and Iodice-Kraft, Chiara and Michael, Bastian and Moonga, Lizzy and Neuberger, Konrad and Cioncoloni, Virginia and Cerioni, Ilaria and D'Ostuni, Michele and Pennisi, Giuseppina and Pizii, Connor and McFarlane, Sydney and Pope, Anne-Marie and Dale, Jasmine and Fox, Tracy and Bragg, Rachel and O'Neill, Ella and Crichigno, Antonella and Bas, Gauthier and Cook, Penny A. and Triguero-Mas, Margarita and Cole, Helen V. S. and Caputo, Silvio
(2026)
Identifying the strongest predictors of nature engagement and informing equitable action.
[Preprint]
(doi:10.5281/zenodo.23419135)
(The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided)
(KAR id:117558)
Abstract
Nature engagement can address sustainability challenges, but evidence guiding equitable action remains fragmented. Using newly collected survey data from 6,511 adults across seven European and North American countries, mapped 14-day visits and secondary spatial data, we compared 19 a priori justified factors across three forms of nature engagement. For 2,051 respondents, independent field audits characterised 449 spaces covering at least 90% of each person’s reported time on Informal nature visits. Association strengths and marginalised groups’ engagement deficits varied across engagement types. Nature connection, dog walking and park visits with children predicted visit time more strongly than residential green cover. People spent more time in higher-quality spaces and those better matching their needs. Marginalised populations’ median predicted deficit was 114 minutes. In policy scenarios, increasing nature connection reduced it most. Quality upgrades and, less strongly, greening partly offset it. Further greening and upgrades eventually widened gaps as non-marginalised neighbours gained more.
University of Kent Author Information
Belcher, Richard N..
Gallou, Eirini.
Schoen, Victoria.
O'Neill, Ella.
Caputo, Silvio.
- Depositors only (login required):
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6695-1747
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