Garden of Hope: Ecoinertia, Nature Awareness, and Garden-Based Learning Among University Students in Kyoto, Japan

Abstract

  Garden-based learning has seen a resurgence in early childhood and primary education in much of the world. This study examines the impact of garden-based learning on a population where it is rarely practiced: Japanese university students. Specifically, it looks at how gardening shapes student awareness of nature and explores the potential role of garden-based learning in addressing ecoinertia, the condition of being unable or unwilling to take action in response to the environmental crisis despite having all the needed information and access to all the required tools. Based on extensive observations, garden journals, and a questionnaire survey of 17 student gardeners and 137 students not involved in gardening, the study concludes that despite similarities in their perceptions of nature, gardening students were significantly more likely than non-gardening students to spend time in nature and make lifestyle changes to address the ongoing crisis. While these characteristics were evident from early in students’ involvement with the garden, journal entries indicate a deepening of nature-centered values over the course of the gardening year. Further studies are merited.