High Environmental Value Spaces as Outdoor Classrooms

• In Event: Rethinking Childhood in Public Space: Comparative Strategies of Care, Play, and Community Across Latin America and Oceania

Abstract

High Environmental Value Spaces (HEVS) in urban contexts have the potential to become privileged settings for meaningful learning, especially in cities where contact with nature is increasingly scarce. This work adopts an expanded vision of HEVS, which goes beyond protected areas or ecological reserves to include bodies of water, urban parks, and other local ecosystems with ecological, social, and educational functions. From a territorial perspective, these spaces are seen not only as reservoirs of biodiversity but also as opportunities to foster cognitive, emotional, and physical development—particularly in childhood.

The methodological approach combines theoretical frameworks from environmental pedagogy, urban ecology, and child-sensitive urbanism to demonstrate how HEVS can function as outdoor classrooms. Based on research conducted in the city of Puebla, Mexico, this study presents a case focused on the Laguna de San Baltazar, an HEVS located in a densely urbanized area that has been reconfigured as a learning space through environmental awareness strategies, children's workshops, and non-formal education tools.

The paper argues for the integration of these spaces into educational and territorial policies, emphasizing their role in building affective bonds with the environment, promoting community ownership of space, and strengthening a culture of sustainability. This reflection becomes especially relevant in light of the shared challenges of accelerated urbanization, biodiversity loss, and the growing disconnection between society and nature.

Author

• Leticia Villanueva, BUAP