�鶹ӰԺ

Louise Chawla, environmental psychologist and CEDaR fellow, recently completed a review that brings two bodies of research together: one on connecting children and adolescents with nature, and the second on supporting healthy coping when they realize they are part of a planet in peril. The review shows that when children and adolescents feel connected to nature, they are more likely to report good health and a sense of well-being, more likely to get high scores for creative thinking, and more inclined to show cooperative, helping behaviors. On the flip side, city families stuck indoors during COVID-19 reported mounting stress and deteriorating behavior in their children.

GUB Director Mara Mintzer presented to the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative, which supports schools and districts nationwide to develop outdoor spaces as cost-effective tools for keeping schools open during a pandemic.

Early-childhood experts often like to say that a child’s environment is one of their most important teachers. But what can our built environments learn from children? In this "Raising Curious Learners" episode of "Britannica for Parents," Mara Mintzer, co-founder and director of Growing Up �鶹ӰԺ, discusses the importance of involving young people in the city planning process.

"Her words, love of cats and endless memes, brings humor and light to the studio space."

Doctoral student Stefi Mitova successfully defended her dissertation, “Integrating Electric Vehicles and Solar Photovoltaics into Smart Cities with Smart Charging and Storage: Energy, Economic, and Environmental Impact Analysis Using Systems Engineering Methods.”

Whether they’re dealing with smoke from wildfires, living through severe storms, or staying inside because of COVID-19, children are being forced to see the world differently in 2020. How they are learning and what they are learning about the world is quickly changing as many environmental and health threats occur simultaneously. Chawla was recently asked to write a comprehensive literature review for the British Ecological Society journal People and Nature, about how children connect with nature these days. CU �鶹ӰԺ Today caught up with Chawla to discuss her findings in the context of a year with many environmental challenges.

A literature review by Louise Chawla, professor emerita at the �鶹ӰԺ and CEDaR fellow, finds that children are happier and more likely to protect the natural world when they have a greater connection to it, but this connection is complex and can also generate negative emotions linked to issues like climate change. The review was published in the British Ecological Society Journal People and Nature.

Louise Chawla, professor emerita in the Program in Environmental Design and CEDaR fellow, received a 2020 SHIFT (Shaping How We Invest for Tomorrow) Award for Research for her investigations of connections between access to nature, children’s health and wellbeing, and childhood sources of lifelong care for the natural world.

In a university-city partnership organized by CEDaR, the Longmont Downtown Development Authority plans to use designs created by CU �鶹ӰԺ ENVD students to help transform St. Stephen's Plaza on Main Street from a little-used space to a creative hub and gathering place.

CU �鶹ӰԺ's Community Engagement, Design and Research Center (CEDaR) recently unveiled a website providing essential information that supports residents of Colorado mobile/manufactured home (MH) owners, including information useful during the COVID-19 pandemic.