We live in a time where the health of ‘the environment’ has become a central concern and the importance of human connections to ‘nature’ are increasingly seen as critical for personal well-being and for the future health of society as a whole. This reawakening of interest in the environment and the natural world is now impacting on mainstream education, particularly as questions relating to sustainability are given greater prominence. Educators urgently need a new way of thinking that will allow them to apply contemporary pedagogical research, particularly that occurring in the fields of outdoor environmental physical and health education, within broader educational and school contexts.
(Wattchow, Burke & Cutter-Mackenzie, 2008)