This document discusses several factors that can influence people's access to and engagement with natural environments, including socioeconomic status, culture, age, gender, physical ability, and media portrayal. It notes that different people have varying levels of access to nature due to these factors, shaping their feelings and values about the natural world. As more people live in cities separated from nature, connection to the natural world declines; increasing access could help reverse this trend.

2.  We have talked about the way different
people think about nature (value,
perspective), and what they do with
nature (experience).
 There is another factor that affects what
people do and how they feel.

3.  What percentage of people living in
Traralgon would have done this?
 What about people who live in
Dandenong?
 Why? What is the issue.
 Location. It is much easier for us because
we don’t have to travel far to go camping.

4.  Why? What is the issue?
 Cost. You don’t have the money to be able
to do this?

5.  Different people have different levels of access
to the natural world.
 This results in different feelings, values and
attitudes towards natural places.
 Our definition of nature that we used at the
beginning of the year represents a Dichotomy. A
dichotomy is when we think of two things as
being completely separate, with no overlap, like
good and evil.
 Today, more and more people live in cities. We
are the only species that has sought to make
ourselves separate from the rest of the natural
world.

6.  The more we retreat into our cities, the
less we feel connected to the natural
world, the less we understand, the less
we care. We cease to feel a ‘sense of
place’ with it.
 By increasing access to natural places,
the hope is that this trend can be
reversed, or at least slowed.

7.  So, what are factors that restrict peoples
access?
 Once we know what they are, we can try
and do something to address the issues.
 Why could this be a good idea?
 As a class, list as many things as you can
that might stop someone from visiting a
natural environments like the Baw Baw
plateau.

8.  Socio-economic status
• If you can’t afford it, you won’t do it.
 Culture
• What country are you from? What activities are
popular there? What do your friends like to do?
What do your parents enjoy?
• These are all cultural influences.
 Age
• Different activities are popular to different
generations.
• Can also affect physical ability.

9.  Gender
• Boys are tough and good at sports and like the
outdoors.
• Girls aren’t tough. They like to do their make up and
gossip. Girls don’t play sport.
• Right?
• What preconceptions to people have about gender?
 Physical Ability
• Most outdoor activities require some level of health
or fitness.
• The more it requires the less people can do them, or
will want to do them

10.  Today, the media (TV, magazines,
internet) has a huge influence over the
things we think, feel and do.
 Think about what a show or ad on TV
where someone is engaging in adventure
activities in the outdoors.
 What does this person look like?

11.  Typically, people portrayed in the media
are
• young,
• strong/fit,
• able-bodied,
• anglo-saxon and
• male.

12.  Boys – what would your mates think if you
told them you weren’t going to footy
training because you had to exfoliate?
 Girls – what does the girl who always trys
really hard in PE and is really competitive
usually get called at school?

13.  Inside, we all feel a need to belong.
 For different people, this need can be for
different things, and in different amounts.
 The more people who already think
something, the stronger our need to
conform to this idea.
 We already have very strong ideas about
what it means to be masculine, or
feminine.

14. A lot of the ideas we get come from the
media.
 When the media shows people who look
similar to what we think about ourselves,
we are more likely to do the things it is
portraying.
 So, how much are we like the people we
see on TV.
 The more similar we are to this model,
the more likely we will be to do these

15.  Lets see if this is true in our case.
 Write a statement describing how much you currently
participate in the outdoors.
 Give yourself a rating out of ten. Discuss with the rest of
the class to give you a bit of a guide.
 Have another look at the characteristics of the
adventure person in the media – how many of these
apply to you.
 Write a statement explaining the relationship between
how much you participate and how well you fit the
media model. Discuss whether or not you think the
statement at the end of slide 14 is true or not.