Rewilding Research

In 2021 we were awarded an Ideas Fund grant from the British Science Association funded by Wellcome which was aimed at enabling the UK public to develop and try out ideas that addressed problems related to mental wellbeing by working with researchers.

We worked with our researcher (Dr Charlotte Dean) to develop an idea we had of tackling some of the mental health and social anxiety problems we could see in young people around us who were just coming out of the Covid-19 enforced enclosure through inviting them into some of the wild spaces in and around Hull. It was really quite simple, we built a fire, we cooked simple plant-based food and we played outside!

We learnt how to use the natural resources around to build and create the things that we needed, shelter, warmth and community.

Our research showed that the young people we spent time with reported a lot of positive benefits and behaviour changes from being outside but often found spending time outdoors difficult.

We then applied for further funding to explore some of the barriers to young people engaging with the natural world. If you'd like to read more about the work we are doing keep checking this page and follow us @RewildingYouth on Instagram, X and Facebook.

Our research...

In December 2023, funding from the Ideas fund enabled Rewilding Youth to recruit two Youth Researchers and a Youth Environment Education Worker to explore and identify any barriers that may be restricting young people’s access to outdoor spaces in Hull.

Using participatory research methods designed by the young people in the research team, we are aiming to address the following questions with groups of young people living in Hull:

Where are they currently engaging with outdoor spaces in their localities?
How often do they already engage with outdoor spaces?
What are they doing in the outdoor spaces they do engage with?
How much do they prioritise this time?
Which outdoor spaces in their locality do they NOT engage in?
Why do they not engage with these spaces?
What are the barriers to young people living in Hull engaging with outdoor spaces?

Watch our information video to find out more...

What is the purpose of the study?

The barriers we hope to identify will be from a wide variety of young people living in different areas and with different circumstances across Hull.

The aim of the research will be to successfully identify the barriers in order to more deeply understand any separation between young people and nature. Once identified, we will seek to work together with young people to seek solutions to these barriers, aiming to expand the opportunities for young people to engage with nature and natural spaces across Hull. We also hope that what we discover will shape the opportunities and activities that Rewilding Youth and other organisations can offer to young people across Hull in the future.

Who will be invited to participate in our study?

Our research wants to involve young people living in a range of different areas across the city of Hull, to explore their views, ideas and personal relationship with the natural world and the time they spend there.

We also want young people to think more consciously about their relationship with the outdoors and inspire social action in young people, in terms of how they can protect their local green spaces.

It’s really important that we collect information from a broad spectrum of young people across Hull, from all different genders, ethnicities, cultures and areas. Therefore, we will be involving young people from many different spaces and settings ie. schools, alternative education provisions, youth centres and community groups.

We are also interested in working with local adults who can provide insight into the barriers between young people and the outdoors and what they have observed in this sphere. We are really keen to hear stories from local adults about how they used to play and spend time outdoors in Hull and explore how this may have changed over time.

More information for participants in the study can be found in the Information Letter below: