The great outdoors - how the pandemic has changed our relationship with nature video transcript

Title shows on screen: 'The great outdoors - how the pandemic has changed our relationship with nature.' 

Liz Hunt, Environment and Sustainability Manager at the University of Derby: We all know that a lot of people have really struggled over the last year due to the pandemic.

Jim Robinson, Building Services Manager, University of Derby: Obviously I mean I do feel for a lot of people that have been effectively housebound through the pandemic.

Liz:  I think that connecting with nature can be hugely beneficial for people's mental wellbeing.

Dom Higgins, Head of Health and Education – the Wildlife Trusts: People rely on nature, there's evidence about the value of nature that has been people's solace, people's kind of go-to place for comfort.

(Clip of a graveyard and a waterlogged park). 

Miles Richardson, Professor of Human Factors and Nature Connectedness at the University of Derby: Whether you're in the countryside or in a town there's still aspects of nature that you can tune into.

Liz: It provides that escape that you need from day-to-day worries and that for that period of time that you're enjoying nature you can completely forget about the stresses of that day.

(Clip of a church spire, a tree and a wooded path). 

Miles: The human body responds physiologically to being out in the natural world, having that close relationship with nature is known in quite a lot of studies to be associated with higher levels of happiness and also feeling like you're living a worthwhile life.

Dom: What we want in terms of behaviour change we ultimately want one in four people to take action for nature. 

Liz: The pandemic has made the impact of humans or nature much more real for many many of us.

(Clip of a dog in a stream).

Miles: We're looking for a new relationship with the natural world not only for our own wellbeing but for nature's wellbeing as well.

Dom: I think there's an opportunity for a different way of being, of living and working and learning and delivering health.

Liz: A lot more people have been engaging with their local environments and learning more about nature and I would hope that that translates into people also caring more for the environment as well.

Miles: So there are circumstances where we'll travel less, I think people have proved they can work from home and I think people are starting to consider their own role in climate change, their own kind of anxieties about it and linking the fact that you can act for nature is a good way of tackling your anxiety.

(We see a clip of a man and dog walking through a field.) 

Miles: We need a new relationship with the natural world and if that could come out of this difficult year that would be good.

The great outdoors - how the pandemic has changed our relationship with nature video

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