Richard Louv
on the Nature-Deficit Disorder
Do you think you (or your children) suffer from “Nature-Deficit Disorder”?
No, it is not a medical diagnosis. It is a metaphor that translates the “human costs of alienation from Nature: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses, child and adult obesity, Vitamin D deficiency, and other maladies.”
Richard Louv is a wisdom jukebox.
A journalist and author of 10 books, such as The Nature Principle, Vitamin N or Our Wild Calling: How Connecting With Animals Can Transform Our Lives - and Save Theirs, he has been preaching about the imbalances of modern life for years, shaping an international movement to connect families and communities to Nature.
His books have inspired many to incorporate Nature experiences into children’s lives. He also redefined the future of human-animal coexistence, underlining the empathy required to preserve life on Earth.
Richard was awarded the Audubon Medal, prior recipients including Rachel Carson (who also stated that a child’s positive connection to nature depends on two things: special places and special people).
As the co-founder of Children & Nature Network, he teaches parents and children how to become Nature stewards, making sure the latter will not “carry nature in their briefcases, but in their hearts.”
In Last Child in the Woods, he defines the alienation of children from the natural world as “being less alive - and what parent wants his or her child to be less alive?”
The quality of the nature experience depends on how direct this experience is:
“Are kids getting their hands wet and their feet muddy? These activities can teach them confidence in themselves and the power to make independent decisions. Children develop executive function through make-believe play. This function, as it turns out, is a better predictor of success in school than IQ.”
In the digital age, we have been blocking out our sense of amazement: “all spiritual life begins with a sense of wonder – the more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.”
Don’t push too hard, because “nature time should never be seen as a punishment for spending too much time in the digital world.” Lead by example. Rediscover your own sense of wonder, and the kids will follow, because “you don’t look back on your childhood and recall the best day you ever spent watching TV.”
Transformative and inspiring, Richard’s approach guides us towards the “biophilia hypothesis”: the proximity of natural landscapes as a panacea.
Try something different this weekend: go on a technology fast after reading Richard Louv's awe-inspiring answers for #inspirators!
Thank you, Richard, for being Nature-Rich!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Richard Louv
Company / Institution: Children & Nature Network
Title: Author & Co-Founder
Website: www.richardlouv.com
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-louv-83b18917/
Country of origin: U.S.
Country you currently live in: U.S.
Your personal definition of Regeneration: The revival and nurturance of life.
Main business challenge you face: Time.
Main driver that keeps you going: Responsibility.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: Love.
The trait you most value in others: Love.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: Being in nature, our cats, and most of all, my family.
The #inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:
The natural world itself.
A hint or starting point for companies or professionals that are taking the first steps in the regeneration journey: Spend time alone, or with your coworkers, silent in nature.
Most used and abused clichés about sustainability that bother you:
The word itself is overused and suggests “sustaining” – which many people interpret as maintenance; preventing things from getting worse, rather than the generation of new life.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: There’s no practical alternative to hope. Also, you don’t necessarily have to be an optimist. You can be, as Ray Bradbury called himself, an “optimalist.”
Books that had a major impact on you:
Travels with Charley and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
On the Road by Jack Kerouac (and too many more to list!)
Must-reads for any Regenerative professional:
The works of:
E.O Wilson
Tim Beatley
Doug Tallamy
Thich Nhat Hanh.
Without modesty, Last Child in the Woods, The Nature Principle, Vitamin N and Our Wild Calling.
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again:
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Lonely Are the Brave
Any Marx Brothers movie
And yes, The Big Lebowski
Blogs / Websites / Podcasts etc. you visit frequently:
The Children & Nature Network (childrenandnature.org)
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: Bob Dylan, John Prine, The Beatles, Neil Young, Bach.
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Guatemala, Nicaragua, China, Brazil, the UK, the Netherlands, Canada… and many other places.
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow:
E.O Wilson
Tim Beatley
Doug Tallamy
Thich Nhat Hanh
Bill McKibben
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on:
Children and nature movement
Biophilic architecture
Critical anthropomorphism
Green schoolyards and nature-based schools
Best places for business networking (online or offline): Walking outside, coffee houses, Zoom.
Events we should attend: Annual international conference of the Children & Nature Network.
Associations, business clubs, tribes you belong to – and why: I help a few organizations but I am a member of none, and I avoid – or, rather, visit but don’t stay in - tribes.
Sustainable Development or Regeneration courses, trainings, or certifications that really teach us how to have an impact: degrees in Education that focus on outdoor learning, wildlife biology, and environmental journalism.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030:
Imaginative hope: painting a picture of a world that people will want to live in.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030:
Lack of imaginative hope: the dominant post-apocalyptic, post-nature visions of the future accepted by culture.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: What I’ve called imaginative hope.
Your own quote that will inspire us:
