Edward Zigler Center Child Development & Social Policy / Spring 2013 Lecture Series: "Nature Nurtures Nature: Biophilic Design Elements in Childcare Centers and the Developmental Outcomes of Children 34 to 38 Months of Age"

Does contact with nature make young children smarter, healthier, and more well-adjusted and creative? By integrating concepts and methods from the fields of early child development (ECD) and social ecology, Adrian will present empirical evidence demonstrating the associations between the biophilic design features (the non-human natural elements of the built environment) of child care centers and ECD outcomes. Implications for program design, architectural design, and policymaking will be discussed. 

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Early childhood development (ECD) and Social Ecology theories share the views that: 1) humans are integral parts of a complex dynamic system, and that;  2)rich, healthy ecological and social systems are fundamental for human development. The two fields also share complementary gaps in terms of empirical research. On one hand, ECD gives limited attention to the ecologic system, on the other; social ecology gives limited attention to very young children. This study had the aim of exploring what new insights can be gained from empirical research that includes the ecological system in ECD research. In order to pursue this goal, the study examined the relation between the biophilic design elements in a sample of childcare centers in a New England city, and the developmental outcomes of 34 to 38 month old children in these centers.

A suite of quantitative and qualitative tools used to examine this question and to develop a comprehensive, multidimensional description of the social ecology of childcare in the study site. One of these tools was a new observational instrument, the BDFS (Biophilic Design Features Survey) developed to measure non-human natural elements in the context of childcare centers. The BDFS instrument proposes several methodological innovations. Particularly the use of digital photography to collect, code and analyze the data. The process of design, development, administration and analysis of the instrument is described. The process of validation determined that the BDFS is an adequate instrument to measure biophilic elements in the childcare center setting.

In terms of the conceptual questions, the two key findings of the study are that: 1) there is a significant correlation between the biophilic quality of a center and ECD outcomes; and that; 2)there are strong contradictions between the value accorded by study participants to nature in ECD, and the significantly low environmental performance of the centers and the site.  

This study concludes that there are valuable insights to be gained by integrating the ecological system and ECD in empirical research. The implications of this integration for future research are discussed. 

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For twenty years Adrián Cerezo has explored environmental education and conservation from multiple perspectives as student, researcher, teacher, trainer, evaluator of programs, curriculum designer, education materials developer, writer of children’s books, participant in international forums, developer and designer of out-if-school programs, museum design consultant; and education program manager. His work is guided by one question: Can humans learn to live more sustainably?

For the last four years, his Ph.D. research at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies has focused on the fundamental importance of early child care and development in the process of human development, particularly, the complex interrelations between the quality of early childhood and the environment (a network composed by individual, primary caregivers, community and ecosystem) in which children develop.

Adrián holds a B.A. in Psychology, a M.E.Sc. in Social Ecology and a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies. He has been an Education Fellow at the Conservation Research Center of the Smithsonian Institution; has consulted for governments as well as multiple environmental and educational organizations; is a member of the Communication and Education Committee of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature; serves on the board of A World for my Baby (a non-profit focused on early child care and development in San Juan, Puerto Rico) and the Puerto Rico Conservation Foundation; is a Fellow at Yale’s Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy - Knowledge Center for the South-East Asia Region; provides technical advice on early child care and development  to the Children and Nature Network.

He was recently appointed by the Saint Louis Zoo to develop a new Department of Conservation Education Research, as well as to join the faculty at Washington University and University of Missouri, Saint Louis. 

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The Edward Zigler Center on Child Development and Social Policy is a platform for speakers from academia, levels of government, community organizations, service agencies, the business world and the media to discuss their work and its policy implications.