I have been back from my travels for a week now, the dust settling on so many inspiring experiences in remarkable countries.  I have spent two months travelling through the Netherlands and the southern half of Norway as part of a Churchill Fellowship to understand how to enable nature connections for older people, particularly those with care needs.  The long journey home via ferry and train gave me chance to reflect on what I had observed about people’s relationship with nature, in a country where nature is a huge presence in every sense.

The scale of the landscape itself was left a mark on me.  I took time out from my Churchill Fellowship studies to visit the fjords in the west of the country (well, I couldn’t go to Norway and not see them!), and reporting back afterwards, one of my Norwegian contacts laughed when I described them as  ‘like the Yorkshire Dales on steroids’!  Everything was just so much bigger; the dark mountains still with deep snow on top, the waterfalls cascaded down from hundreds of meters above, even the dry stone walls looked like they must have been built by giants. The words awe-inspiring don’t do it justice.  And although Norway’s fjords are renowned across the world, I found stunning scenery wherever I went in Norway.  Even in busy cities like Oslo and Kristiansand, I was never more than a few minutes from a pristine woodland or a beautiful seaside vista.  The country is rich in natural beauty so is it any wonder that people feel a strong sense of their connection to nature that they have a word for it; Friluftsliv*.

I was struck by how this connection is enabled through the infrastructure of green spaces.  Wherever I walked, even in remote areas, there were marked paths, benches, shelters, even toilets, meaning that access was more inclusive for all, including those with physical needs as a result of disabilities or old age. Much of this infrastructure is put in place and maintained by Den Norge Turistforening, (the Norwegian Trekking Association), a national organisation that exists to help everyone enjoy the outdoor life – I can’t think of an equivilent organisaiton in the UK.  Knowing how challenging it can be to get permission to have a campfire on our projects in the UK, it became a habit in Norway to spot outdoor fire pits in public spaces while I was out and about, and I found them wherever I went; in children’s playgrounds, in nursing homes and in woodlands seemingly miles from anywhere.  They were well used, well maintained with no signs of abuse or vandalism, which made me sorry that we aren’t trusted to have these facilities more extensively in the UK.

But perhaps it is unfair to make comparisons with the UK when there are stark contrasts in geography, demographics and economics.  Norway is a bigger country with a smaller population; With approximately 5.3 million citizens that’s roughly the population of Yorkshire spread across a landmass over 50% bigger than the whole of the UK.  With only 5% of the country used for agriculture and urbanisation, there is a lot more nature space per person than we can ever dream of.  Then add into the picture the comparative wealth.  While the UK spent the money it gained from the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970’s on government spending and tax cuts, Norway wisely invested theirs for the nation and has a staggering large sovereign wealth fund, making it one of the richest counties in the world.  Knowing this, is it realistic to imagine we can implement Norwegian ideas into our own society?

I think so, because for all our differences in landscape, infrastructure and wealth, we have so much in common and so much to learn from each other.  Both countries sit at the edge of Europe facing the windy North Sea, we share some Viking ancestry and a long history of maritime trade, leaving a legacy of many shared values, a resilience to variable weather and a self-depreciating sense of humour.  In both countries there are many people who are passionate about nature, who advocate for greater access for all and are concerned for its fragility in a developing world.  The question of engaging people from different backgrounds with nature was a concern for many of the organisations I met in Norway, who were as keen to learn from Get Out More as I was to learn from them.   I was surprised to hear frustrations about lack of funding from  many voluntary and care sector contacts, and the big question about how to manage to care for an aging population was as topical there as here, but I did witness a support system that was more joined up, more organised and more optimistic.

Through my Fellowship journey I was lucky enough to visit many organisations in Norway and observing some really good examples of nature-based activities that supported wellbeing and quality of life older people.   I have since reflected on what made them successful and what the initiatives have in common.   Drawing on the subject of my previous blogs in this series, the themes that have stood out that underpin good practice are a person-centred approach, respectful co-production, meaningful activities, safe welcoming settings and a connection to the wider community.  Now I am back in the UK, I will be developing these ideas through my report to the Churchill Fellowship.  This will be the start of a process to inform and transform future activities within Get Out More and to develop services which can inspire organisations beyond our own to adopt good practice too.

I am immensely grateful to the Churchill Fellowship , and would encourage others who would like to seek inspiration from abroad to create change in the UK, to apply for this amazing opportunity (applications open again in September). I am also very grateful for all the contacts in the Netherlands and Norway who generously let me pick their brians and see inside their organisations; Hartelijk dank and Tusen takk to all of them.  I have a rich supply of material to work with and am filtering through them to develop some practical ideas to improve wellbeing and quality of life for older people, particularly those with care needs, to access nature.  There were many meaningful moments on my travels which have stayed with me and I hope that the Churchill Fellowship opportunity will lead to being able to share these invaluable lessons with others, leading to more transformative experiences.