Bharati, Anjali and Binoy, VV (2025) Sharing the Joy of Observing Nature: A Study of Nature Walks in India. SocArXiv.
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2025-Nature walk paper_Anjali.pdf - Published Version Download (1MB) |
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| Abstract: | Nature Walks (NW) - a group of people exploring sites of ecological importance with an experienced guide and involved in informal discussions about various topics is a recognized method to improve environmental awareness and responsible behaviours of the non-experts. In the last decade, themed and non-themed NW got much popularity in India. The present study explored various dimensions of NW conducted in India following newspaper analysis, internet and social media studies, and the examination of academic publications. A participatory study of the 15 NW organised in the city of Bangalore was also conducted. Our results revealed a growing public and media interest in NW in India. However, very few websites and social media handles dedicated to this informal social activity were observed. Furthermore, the majority of academic publications containing the words nature walk used it in the context of tourism, and not even a single study focusing only on these events conducted in India was available in the literature. The organizers aimed to share knowledge about nature, raise conservation awareness, engage in scientific inquiry, and promote citizen science projects by conducting NW. Curiosity, science learning, conservation, enjoyment, opportunity for socialization and network formation, well-being and photography attracted participants to these events. The need for conducting integrated research on NW in India and formulating guidelines and policies to sustain the contributions from such events to the areas of health and wellbeing, environmental awareness and conservation and promotion of tourism without losing its essence - the informality- is discussed under the light of the results obtained. |
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| Item Type: | Journal Paper |
| Subjects: | School of Natural and Engineering Sciences > Science, Technology, Society School of Natural and Engineering Sciences > Conservation Biology |
| Divisions: | Schools > Natural Sciences and Engineering |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Feb 2025 11:06 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Feb 2025 11:06 |
| Official URL: | https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/73yv5_v1 |
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| Funders: | * |
| Projects: | * |
| DOI: | |
| URI: | http://eprints.nias.res.in/id/eprint/2864 |
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