Proposed New PPN Seeks Show of Interest from Potential Members

A new Professional Practice Network, Children’s Outdoor Environments, is currently being proposed and seeks individuals interested in membership.

The design of children’s outdoor environments, reconnection with nature, health-related concerns, and other surrounding issues are increasingly gaining attention on a national and global level. Most recently, Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, speaks to the value of spontaneous outdoor play, the connection with nature during childhood, and concerns with raising today’s “plugged-in” youth. Landscape architects play a critical role in the process of advocating and providing a variety of places for children to play, learn, and develop a relationship with the natural environment. The Children’s Outdoor Environments PPN is intended to focus on topics such as nature-based play and learning environments; safety considerations; educational settings; urban environments; health care trends (including obesity, ADHD, and autism); plant selection; networking with other professionals; and sharing literature, project examples, and experiences.