Chela Rossi, our 2023/24 Sustainability Officer, is campaigning for a rewilding site on the UWE Frenchay Campus. As part of her campaign, she gathered student and staff feedback on her idea via a survey. Here she guides you through her results.

The aim of the survey was to gather student and staff feedback regarding my campaign to get University of the West of England to implement a rewilding space for wildlife, research and wellbeing on land currently earmarked for development.

I wanted to know if a rewilding space would be utilised and in what ways. How others feel about it and what impact it might have on the UWE student experience.

At the top of the survey, a brief overview of its purpose and a short definition of rewilding informed participants. Students could enter a prize draw to win £50, by leaving their email address at the end of the survey.

Two surveys, one for students and one for staff, ran from February 1st - 30th May 2024. 415 students and 107 staff responded to the surveys. Here are the results!

                                                 

 

This poster was slapped about campus to encourage student participation. I used illustrations lovingly designed by the talented @Ellen Naumann-Edwards

---

So, What Does the Data Say?

The data presented here does not entirely match the order of the survey questions, so if you suddenly find yourself back at Q2, don't worry. This is done to maintain a better flow of information. A general summary is given at the end of this blog.

Q1. [Students and staff] Do you like the idea of having a rewilding site on campus?

                           

                                                                 Student and Staff responses combined

The general consensus among both students and staff is that they like the idea of having a specified space reserved for rewilding, wellbeing and research, on Frenchay campus.

In other words, the initiative would be positively accepted by the large majority of stakeholders. None of the staff answered ‘No’ to this question.

Q2. [Students only] Would having a space like this on campus improve your university experience?

87% of students feel that a rewilding space, would actually improve their university experience, an overwhelming majority. This improved experience would be reflected in university feedback surveys, making UWE Bristol a more attractive university.

Q3. [Students only] Tell us how a space like this on campus would affect your university experience - if you want to

I generalised the feedback into six response categories as follows:

• Human-nature connectedness or a desire to be closer to nature
• Mental or physical health benefits
• Environmental issues or responsibilities
• Education or research
• Negative responses
• Other topics non-categorised or ambiguous (such as socialising, events, aesthetics etc.)

Of the 288 students who responded to the question…

18% spoke about connectedness and a desire to be closer to nature

58% spoke about mental health benefits

10% spoke about environmental issues or responsibilities

10% spoke about education or research

2% provided negative responses

28% mentioned other topics

(Comments could be assigned multiple categories and so percentages will not round to 100)

                           

A large number of comments referred to the beneficial impact of nature on student mental health and wellbeing, particularly in connection to the stressful university environment.

To quote an example: “Having a rewilding space on campus would improve students mental health during stressful deadline periods. I do long hours at uni during the weekdays and weekends and having somewhere to take healthy breaks is extremely important.”

Students are therefore more aware of mental health issues and ways to mitigate them than is perhaps expected. Though fewer students spoke about nature connectedness, there is a general understanding that being in and amongst nature positively affects their state of being. This highlights a real need and desire for high-quality nature on campus.

Some Student Quotes in Response to Q3:

"It will help us know about ourselves more"

“It would help to connect with nature, I believe it would foster sense of pride amongst student by contributing to the unique identity of the university, it would serve as a relaxation spot: walking, de stressing, bird watching and perhaps socialization. Also, it would be an opportunity to learn new things outside my program like name of birds, plants, flowers that are native here. It is also a good opportunity to volunteer and collaborate maybe for habitat restoration projects, environmental education programs/events.”

“Unless the rewilding site is maintained it may raise issues to people who are dendrophobia and also give rise to untamed animals”

“It would provide me with a space to relax in in a calm environment and de stress after exam periods. It would make me proud to attend a uni that fosters such environments.”

“I’m pretty worried about insects and being stung by bees”

                              

                                                                     Image Credit: Andreas Kretschmer

Q2. [Staff only] Would you use this space as part of your teaching or education?

Of 107 respondents, 18% were lecturers. Unfortunately, this is fewer lecturer voices than anticipated and not a great representation of lecturer viewpoints.

However of these, only 3 lectured in environmental subjects yet 53% of all lecturers said they would utilise this space in their teaching or education.

16% of lecturers were not sure.

With over half of lecturers willing to use the rewilding space in their teaching, integrating sustainability and interdisciplinary education becomes easier. Additionally, opportunities for alternative learning, for example outdoor classrooms, could diversify education and present further research potential.

 

       |      UWE Bristol Goal Alignment - An Intermission

 

Below, in bold, are some of UWE Bristol's 2030 goals. I've gone ahead and demonstrated how a rewilding space would contribute towards them. There are more, but I won't bore you too much with all the ways UWE benefits from this, I'm sure you get the picture.

A rewilding space would provide opportunities to “Devise new ways of delivering sustainable teaching, research and estates operations”, by creating a new space in which to conduct research and learning.

“As an Environmental management student, I'd want to try use that space as a way to integrate my studies with the environment on the campus. Allowing me to conduct studies on what is on campus and provide future benefits once the site has been established.”

It would contribute to SDG programme mapping and facilitate “Working with our students to explicitly address climate change and environmental challenges through our teaching, learning and curricula”. This can be achieved through physically utilising the space in teaching and by encouraging interdisciplinary learning.

“Nature has proven to reduce cortisol levels and for many studying in FET departments would inspire sustainability”

Furthermore, the space would contribute towards “[providing] an accessible, comfortable and healthy environment conducive to learning and working”. Literature demonstrates the numerous benefits of living, working and studying in proximity to high quality green space in a way that is now common knowledge.

“Nice place to spend time and relax away from screens in nature. And nice to be a part of a uni that values the importance of rewilding and nature integration within our lives”

 

       |      Back to Survey Responses

 

Q6/7. [Student and Staff] Do you personally benefit by being in nature?

Over 95% of all respondents (96% of students and 98% of staff) agreed they benefit from being in nature.

“Green spaces are great to get away from technology to improve mental health, and therefore better grades”

Q4/5. [Student and Staff] How often would you yourself make use of a space like this?

Returning to the topic of usage:

50% of students said they would use the proposed space often to very often and 47% said sometimes, while 10% said they would never make use of it.

This means 90% of students would make use of the space while at UWE.

Of the staff, 38% said they would use the space often to very often and 62% said sometimes.

In other words, 100% of staff said they would make use of this space at some point.

                           

                                                                 Student and staff responses combined

Because a large portion of time at university is spent working, most people would find time to visit the space ‘sometimes’.

Since 2020, the Office for National Statistics have reported a decline in visits to nature by people living in the UK. The value of those lost health benefits was estimated at around £390 million, equivalent to £356 per person on average. That is how much it is thought the NHS would be willing to spend if it used treatments to achieve equivalent health benefits to those gained from time spent in nature. This drop in health benefits was also equivalent to more than 22,000 years of life in perfect health lost across people in the UK.

Here, UWE has the choice to meaningfully increase visits to nature for its staff and students, who have stated a desire to spend more time in high-quality nature, given the opportunity. A five minute walk from the Student's Union, the proposed site would also mitigate the ‘triple jeopardy’ of social, health and environmental inequalities connected to access to nature.

                                

                                                                         Image Credit: Benigno Hoyuela

Q5/6. [Student and Staff] In what ways might you yourself engage with this space?

This question was mandatory, but respondents could select multiple answers.

                      

Almost a quarter (24%) of students would utilise the site as a space to socialise and 22% would utilise the space to get access to nature.

There are numerous areas around Frenchay campus in which students can socialise, yet students evidently feel a nature-rich space is needed.

Socialising is unsurprisingly higher on the agenda for students than staff, with 26% of staff stating they would use the site for access to nature and 19% would use it to see wildlife.

Q3. [Staff only] Do you think student learning and education would benefit with access to a rewilding space?

                             

Of 107 staff responses, the majority (77%) firmly believe that student learning and education would benefit with access to a rewilding space.

Student: “It would give me hope and joy to see a rewilding area on campus. I would find it a relaxing place in between my studies and a place to connect with other students so it would improve my ability to study.”

Q4. [Staff only] If you answered yes to the above question, feel free to tell us how:

Again, seven response categories were assigned to comments to generalise the feedback:

• Human-nature connectedness
• Mental or physical health benefits
• Opportunities to teach environmental issues
• Hands-on or practical skills building
• Research potential
• Negative responses
• Other topics non-categorised or ambiguous (such as institutional responsibility, equality etc.)

Of the 57 staff who responded to the question…

23% spoke about the importance of connecting students to nature

61% spoke about mental health benefits and consequential improvements to learning

16% spoke about opportunities to teach environmental issues

12%, spoke about hands-on or practical skills building

30% spoke about research potential

0% provided negative responses

12% mentioned other topics

(Comments could be assigned multiple categories and so percentages will not round to 100)

                         

The majority of staff also recognise the educational benefits a rewilding space provides, particularly of nature’s ability to improve mental health and wellbeing. Scientific literature has demonstrated how access to high-quality nature within educational settings contributes towards cognitive functioning, memory and creativity to name a few.

UWE Bristol has the potential to demonstrate its dedication to optimum educational outcomes for all its students, by delivering a space which is proven to increase focus, learning potential and ultimately, results.

Staff: "Being in nature is good for emotional health so having a space like this on campus would be valuable from that perspective (even though it's unrelated to my teaching)."

Some Staff Quotes in Response to Q4:

“I'm not sure if university student learning & education would benefit directly, but it would probably improve overall staff and student wellbeing having an area of nature to access at lunch/during breaks etc.”

“It is important for us to walk-the-walk as well as talk-the-talk. UWE needs to set an example as a leader for regenerative futures and instil nature-centric thinking and values to guarantee any hope of our future survival. Such a space would also work towards our net zero goals. All courses could benefit, learning about practical 'fallback skills' as well as gain an appreciation for nature for wellbeing.”

“Unfortunately many students may have never seen wildspaces”

                                                                 

                                                                      Outdoor learning can take many forms

Q7/8. [Student and Staff] Any other comments?

For this question, both student and staff comments have been merged and the following response categories generalise the feedback:

• Human-nature connectedness or a desire to be closer to nature
• Mental or physical health benefits
• Environmental issues or responsibilities
• Education or research
• Support for the proposal
• Negative responses
• Other topics non-categorised or ambiguous

Of the 28 staff and 88 students who responded to the question…

16% mentioned connectedness and a desire to be closer to nature

31% mentioned physical or mental health benefits

7% mentioned environmental issues or responsibilities

3% mentioned education or research

20% used the opportunity to show support for the project

3% provided negative responses

30% mentioned other topics

(Comments could be assigned multiple categories and so percentages will not round to 100)

                           

                                                                   Student and staff responses combined

Most of the ‘Other topics’ were non-categorisable words like “Woooo” and “Good”, which were omitted from other categories due to their ambiguity. Some were general statements like, “It’s more of spending quality time with friends” and commonly a request for further information.

Some Staff and Student Quotes in Response to Q7/8:

Staff: “I think this initiative shows a real concrete step towards achieving the UWE Strategy 2030 and practising what we preach. It is really important for students to see the values of the institution being enacted on campus.”

Staff: “I'm not sure this is the best location and it wouldn't get traction from the Estates and Grounds team due to future redevelopment plans.”

Student: “Nature helps me appreciate life”

Student: “Nature is great. But the problem comes when you involve many a bush or forest. From that many things can come up. e.g. Snakes etc”

Ethnicity and Diversity

It was incredibly important to reach a diverse pool of respondents and ensure a good representation of student and staff voices. Conscious of the ‘nature theme’, I took several actions to mitigate bias. These included:

• Avoided posting the survey flyers in ‘green-specific’ chats or social media, such as The Green Team or environmental course groups.
• Requested the Student’s Union and its presidents share the survey to followers. Staff survey was posted to the online staff notice boards.
• Wording was reviewed by Student Union staff and revised to improve clarity and readability for international or dyslexic students.
• Posters were placed in every Frenchay building, to gather student and staff feedback from a range of subjects.
• Kept poster wording and design as neutral as possible to avoid attracting those more nature-inclined.
• Carried out an outreach stall on two separate days during lunch hour outside the Onezone cafeteria. This allowed me to encourage people of colour or minorities to participate, which I did actively.
• Encouraged varied student participation by offering a chance to win £50 regardless of personal interests.

              

During one of my outreach sessions to encourage all students, particularly those of ethnic minority, to voice their opinions on the idea.

                            

Over half of all survey respondents were of minority race, showing a good diversity of voices. As of 2023 around 20% of UWE Bristol students and 15% of staff identified as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic. The efforts took to increase minority participation within this survey are therefore successful.

Unfortunately, I omitted questions relating to disabilities and gender to keep the survey as short and quick as possible. This is largely because of personal time restraints. However, the environmental sector is the second least diverse profession in the UK, with just 3.1% of environmental workers belonging to minority ethnic groups. Therefore, I was cautious to avoid neglecting these voices in particular. All groups, alongside associated concerns like accessibility and safety, are absolutely addressed in the proposal and will be incorporated into future surveys should this idea move forward.

In addition, I recognise the limitations of interpreting and categorising qualitative comments. If uncertain or unclear, comments were placed into ‘Other’ categories. 'Negative' comments have been presented here and contrasting viewpoints have been taken into account.

---

General Summary

Both UWE students and staff were highly receptive and supportive to the idea of a rewilding space set aside for wildlife, wellbeing and research, with 98% of respondents stating they would use the space at some point during their time at UWE.

The greatest concern for students was unruly wildlife, but one student felt accommodation would make better use of the space. Staff mentioned only one concern, in that they didn't think it was the best location.

Staff and students felt that a rewilding space on Frenchay campus would positively contribute towards mental health and wellbeing, in addition to student experience, student learning and building nature connectedness.

The site would provide many benefits, but its uses are not limited to observing wildlife. Staff have stated ways in which the space could be integrated into education and research. Students would most often use the space to socialise and as a place to clear their heads in between stressful study periods.

So, UWE Bristol, the people want it, the planet needs it! What are you waiting for? Reserve the 9.5 hectare site on Frenchay campus for wildlife, wellbeing and research!!

Huge thank you to all who participated in this survey!

And of course, thank you for reading :)

                         

The site in question, situated 5 minutes walk from the Student's Union on Frenchay campus. Picture taken on a quintessential English day

 

You can view Chela's Blog on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/student-staff-opinions-campus-rewilding-space-chela-rossi-tpsbe/