Why nature-based schoolyards?
Isabel Ruiz-Mallén
School grounds are critical spaces for children’s development and well-being. Their design has a lot to do with the type of uses they can provide. Differences in this regard will be huge if the schoolyard has large paved and asphalted areas and the football or basketball courts occupy it all, or if there are trees or shrubs, places to sit, and space to run or hide.
Precisely because having access to vegetation, land or water modifies children’s activity in this space so much, and because many urban schools were built without taking into account their needs, the “renaturalization” of school grounds and environments is embraced as a strategy to mitigate the so-called nature deficit disorder in the urban child population.
Further, naturalizing school yards creates an environment that is more adapted to climate change, and much more diverse, fascinating and experiential than a paved yard. Several studies, including the COOLSCHOOLS project, indicate many other benefits of nature-based schoolyards: increased urban biodiversity, more equitable access to nature, improved well-being and social relations, cognitive development, reduced gender inequalities, and new learning opportunities with nature as co-teacher. The integration of loose elements like branches and trunks can potentiate children’s creativity and social skills, giving the space their own meaning.
Transforming schoolyards into nature-based, climate-adapted environments also offers more equitable and gender-fair play opportunities. In addition, the rise of naturalized school grounds in cities can help reduce inequalities in access to nature, promoting urban environmental justice.
How are these living courtyards being transformed and managed? It is important to highlight the critical role of public investment to start the greening process. The Barcelona City Council’s Transformem els Patis program has naturalized more than 75 schoolyards since 2020, and aims to reach all of the city’s elementary public schools by 2030. In Paris, the Oasis municipal program has created more than 130 green schoolyards and will transform all 680 public schoolyards into climate-resilient, inclusive and multi-functional spaces. Several cities in the Netherlands and Belgium are also making major changes to public schoolyards through programs such as Groenblauwe schoolpleinen in Rotterdam and Operation Recreation in Brussels.
In addition to public investment, our COOLSCHOOLS research indicates that the success of the renaturalization of schoolyards lies in the flexibility of regulations in their design and use and in the quality of participatory processes that guide transformation, beyond the number of elements installed. Different case studies demonstrate that avoiding rushed deadlines fosters continuous feedback from students, teachers and families, leading to better results. It is critical to spend enough time on the design process to integrate different perspectives, needs and responsibilities, and to ensure that minority opinions also count. The design of a living yard should involve interdisciplinary work, with architects, educators and gardeners who are experts in landscape ecology, creative playing and outdoor education. How to orchestrate and organize participation is critical to fair and effective design and governance of schoolyards. Students, for example, participate in the initial design phase, but are often excluded from consultations and discussions of later stages (implementation and management). However, boys and girls often appreciate and take care of the site more if they have been involved in its construction, for example with small manual work.
Nature-based schoolyards should also be understood as ever-evolving spaces that require the involvement and care of the school community in the long term, building a sense of belonging to and with their school. This is possible if we integrate schoolyard transformation into pedagogical strategies and practices and leverage the space created to educate outdoors. In this regard, it is important to support and train teachers to understand and use the school ground as a learning space.
The co-creation of nature-based schoolyards goes beyond finding technical solutions for climate adaptation or pedagogical innovation. It is a process that can redefine the vision of the entire school community toward nature-based learning.
References
Ruiz-Mallén, I., Baró, F., Bentouhami, H. et al. Greening schools for climate-resilient, inclusive and liveable cities. Nat. Clim. Chang. 16, 112–114 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02519-3
Sekulova, F., Ruiz-Mallén. Cuatro claves para crear un patio vivo en la escuela. The Conversation (2025) https://theconversation.com/cuatro-claves-para-crear-un-patio-vivo-en-la-escuela-248710