THE IMPORTANCE OF BIOPHILIC CLASSROOMS
To improve learning and empathy in children, conventional classrooms need to be made similar to natural environments.
Text taken from Giuseppe Barbiero and Rita Berto’s article “The School that listens to the Mountain,” contained in the catalog of the Exhibition “The Mountain Touch,” National Mountain Museum-Turin, 04/11/2022-02/04/2023
“Biophilia is our innate predisposition to establish an emotional connection with the living world. It comprises a set of attitudes, emotions and values that, taken together, constitute our relationship with Nature.
Biophilia is present in all children, but is often neither stimulated nor supported because children live indoors in totally artificial urban settings where Nature is invisible or even absent.
Conventional classrooms are artificial spaces that do not stimulate biophilia; on the contrary, they interrupt Nature’s fascination with children and, in the long run, inhibit their biophilia.
In order for children to enjoy continuous contact with Nature, even when confined indoors, a biophilic redesign of the environments is first necessary to make them as similar as possible to learning environments in Nature.
The greatest regenerative effects and the increased involvement of pupils in biophilic designed learning environments are likely to be attributed to the fascination that Nature, real and/or reproduced, exerts on pupils.
Biophilic designed learning environments ensure continuity in contact with Nature.
Continuous and long-lasting contact with Nature enables a deeper affiliation with Nature, not only in mountainous environments, but also in urbanised environments, and lays the foundation for pro-environmental behaviour as adults. “
