Act with Nature: Promoting Planetary Well-being (AWN)

Act with Nature (AWN): Promoting Well-being and Pro-environmental Behaviour Among Working-age Adults During the Era of Environmental Crises

The research investigates the effects of nature-based programme (Act with Nature; AWN) in promoting psychological well-being and pro-environmental behaviour among working age participants in Finland. Our research deepens understanding of how coping with environment-related emotions and nature connectedness are connected to human wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour. The psychological wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour are investigated with self-report measures and analysed with quantitative and qualitative methods. The project will provide a new programme (AWN) for combining individual well-being and behaviour change. The results can provide a theoretical framework and working model for health professionals to intervene and support people in adapting to environmental crises and coping with stress.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Well-Being, Psychological
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Act with Nature Programme

Detailed Description

An intervention study with a randomised control trial design will be conducted among a sample of 158 working age participants in various locations in Finland. After receiving information about the research and signing the study consent, participants are randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. The participants in the intervention group will be offered a 12-week, nature-based, Act with Nature (AWN) programme. The programme will be carried out online with individual coaching and independent tasks for each week. Participants share experiences during workshops that are facilitated in nature environment, either in-person or online.

Throughout the AWN programme, nature-based exercises are facilitated in which participants are encouraged to recognise the significance of physical environment and social support in coping with environment-related emotions, nature connectedness and wellbeing. AWN programme is facilitated by a trained health care professional.

The AWN has three separate stages (4 weeks each): Stage 1: nature connectedness, environmental self-regulation and confidence in the group; Stage 2: environmental-related emotions, psychological flexibility and coping strategies; Stage 3: experimenting with change alternatives and affirming positive change in environmental behaviour.

Participants respond to online surveys at five measurement points: a pre-measurement at the start of the programme, two measurements during the programme (at 4 and 8 weeks of the programme), a post-measurement at the end of the programme, and a follow-up measurement three months after the end of the programme. The participants in the intervention group (nature-based AWN programme) are compared to the participants in the control group who continue life as usual and only respond to online surveys at three measurement points (pre-, post- and follow-up measurements). Coping with environment-related emotions, comprehensive nature experience, nature connectedness, environmental emotions and personal environmental goals are investigated as mediators to explain changes in well-being and pro-environmental behaviour.

This research is funded by the Research Council of Finland (Project Numbers: 350971 and 350964).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 158
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Finland
  • Jyväskylä, Finland, 40100
    • Institute of Rehabilitation, JAMK University of Applied Sciences
  • Tampere, Finland, 33100
    • Tampere University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Working age adults
• Able to communicate adequately in Finnish in order to participate
• Willingness to commit to a 12-week intervention programme

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Act with Nature Programme; A nature-based programme to promote well-being and pro-environmental behaviour. The programme is facilitated by a trained health care professional.	Behavioral: Act with Nature Programme; The participants in the intervention group are offered a 12-week nature-based programme, which includes independent exercises and information on an online learning environment, as well as online or in-person group meetings.
No Intervention: Control group; The participants in the control group continue life as usual.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Emotional wellbeing	Health related quality of life (RAND): emotional wellbeing dimension, the scores range from 1 to 6 and some items are recoded. Higher total score refers to better emotional wellbeing.	6 months
Mental wellbeing	Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS), the scores range from 1 to 5, a higher scores refers to better mental wellbeing.	6 months
Pro-environmental behaviour	Self-report scale of the frequency of pro-environmental actions. Items refering to pro-environmental actions during one month are responded on a scale ranging from 1 to 5. Items refering to pro-environmental actions during the past year are responded on a scale 1 (yes) and 2 (no). Some items are recoded and all items include an option for "doesn't apply to me". A higher total score refers to more self-reported pro-environmental behaviour.	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Behavioural Willingness	Willingness to act pro-environmentally, the scores range from 1 to 4. A higher score refers to more willingness to act pro-environmentally.	6 months
Affect regulation	Measure of Affect Regulation Styles (MARS), the scores range from 1 to 6 and all items include an option for "doesn't apply to me". A higher score refers to a higher efficiency in affect regulation styles.	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: JAMK University Of Applied Sciences
• Collaborators: Tampere University; University of Surrey
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Katriina Hyvönen, PhD, JAMK University Of Applied Sciences

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Korpela, K., Hyvönen, K., Ratcliffe, E., Salonen, K., & Paakkolanvaara, J.-V. (2023, Jan 30). Act with Nature (AWN): Promoting well-being and pro-environmental behaviour among working-age adults during the era of environmental crises. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/69QVW

Helpful Links

• Project website
• Project website
• OSF Preregistration of the research

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 31, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 7, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 7, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): August 12, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 1, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 26, 2025
• Last Verified: August 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Nature connectedness; Pro-environmental behaviour; Nature-based programme; Environmental emotions
• Other Study ID Numbers: JAMKUAS_AWN

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Data from surveys will be anonymised after the research and will be archived to the research data storage service (IDA). Anonymised data will open for reuse after the research finishes in 2026. The reuse of interview data will be restricted to suitable parts.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No