National statistics

The Children’s People and Nature Survey for England: 2023 update

Published 29 November 2023

Applies to England

1. Summary

The ‘Children’s People and Nature Survey’ (C-PANS) provides information on how children and young people experience and think about the natural environment. It is run twice each year, once in term time and once in holiday time. Here we present some key findings collected in 2023. More detailed analysis of the data is due to be completed following this release.

Responses were collected from 2000 children and young people (aged 8 to 15) between 16 and 23 August 2023 in the school holidays (Wave 5), and from 2001 children and young people between 18 and 26 September 2023 during term time (Wave 6). Unless otherwise stated, findings presented in this report include combined term time and holiday time data collected in 2023. Some key headline findings are summarised here.

• Most children and young people are spending time outside at school. 87% of children and young people said they had spent time outside at school most days or every day in the past week (1% said they never did this). When asked about how often they had done activities or lessons outside that were not PE, 33% said most days or every day, which is an increase from 23% in 2022 and 30% in 2021.
• Children and young people reported visiting a variety of green and natural places in the last week. The most common types of places visited by children and young people were gardens (67%), parks/playing fields/playgrounds (64%) and grassy areas in the streets nearby (43%). Children and young people living in urban areas were more likely to report no visits in the past week.
• Most children and young people can easily walk from their home to green and natural spaces. 74% of children and young people said that they could easily walk (by themselves or with someone else) to a park/playing field/playground, 73% a garden and 56% grassy areas in the streets nearby.
• Children and young people are concerned about the environment and reported taking actions to try and look after it. 84% of children and young people in this survey agreed that looking after the environment was important to them and 87% said that they wanted to do more to look after the environment. Over half of children reported recycling (65%), turning off taps (56%), picking up litter (56%) and turning lights off (55%) to look after the environment.
• Children and young people tend to show high connection to and enjoyment of nature. Over half of children and young people surveyed reported feeling highly connected to nature (52%), which is a slight increase from 2021 (44%) and 2022 (47%). Most of those surveyed also agreed that being in nature made them very happy (88%).
• Children and young people generally perceive the quality of their local outdoor spaces to be high. When asked about their local outdoor spaces, over 70% of children and young people agreed with positive statements relating to the natural environment, spaces to do the things they want, how they feel in these spaces, and how accessible they are. Slightly fewer (60%) agreed with a positive statement relating to the human/built environment.
• Having a playground and good weather would encourage children and young people to go outside more. In a new child-led question developed by the C-PANS young advisory group, children and young people were asked what would encourage them to go out into natural spaces more. The question listed seven options for respondents to rank. The options most commonly ranked at number one (most important) were playground (30%) and good weather (25%). The ranked importance of options differed between age groups, with playground more important amongst younger age groups (8 to 11 years) and good weather more important for older age groups (12 to 15 years).

2. Other Pages in this Release

The People and Nature Surveys for England (PANS), led by Natural England, are one of the main sources of data and statistics on how people experience and think about the environment. The project began in April 2020 with an adults’ survey (adults aged 16 years and older) collecting data via an online panel, and has been run continuously since then.

The adults’ survey includes questions about children in the household, with adults reporting on children’s time in and experiences of nature. To build on this and ensure the views of children and young people themselves are represented, the ‘Children’s People and Nature Survey’ (C-PANS) was first completed as a pilot between 6 and 18 August 2020 with children and young people aged 8 to 15. The pilot offered valuable insights which contributed to understanding experiences of nature during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following this successful pilot, the survey has been adapted for use on an ongoing basis, both in school holidays and term time, to allow attitudes and behaviours to be looked at over time. Reporting from previous survey years can be found in the 2021 update and 2022 update. The Wave 1 release from 2021 provides a summary of the policy and research context for the survey.

The accredited official statistics in this publication include C-PANS responses for 2023, including those collected during the school holidays (Wave 5, 16 to 23 August 2023) from 2000 children and young people and those collected during term time (Wave 6, 18 to 26 September 2023) from 2001 children and young people.

Detailed analysis of the data for specific research questions was not within the scope of this data release. Natural England will be using the data going forward to address priority questions in more detail, such as those relating to differences between groups in access to and engagement with the outdoors, comparing engagement with nature in term-time and school holidays, and looking at the role of nature in children and young people’s well-being. Some differences between groups and survey years have been included in the report to provide an example of the types of insight that the data can support.

Alongside this publication, readers can access:

• This year’s questionnaire (‘CS_QXX’ below the tables refer to question labels found here).
• Data tables containing summary statistics, including a comparison of responses to each question based on: age, gender, ethnicity, level of disability, region, income and rural/urban location.
• The technical report for both PANS and C-PANS.
• The PANS mailing list – sign-up via the PANS Hub.

The raw data (including instructions for weighting data when using and change log) and the data dictionary will be available early January 2024.

3. Time Spent Outdoors

Children and young people were asked about which kinds of green and natural places they had visited in the last week. Most had visited gardens (67%), park/playing field/playground (64%) and grassy areas in nearby streets (43%) (Figure 1). Children and young people living in rural areas were more likely than those living in urban areas to have visited some types of green and natural places (e.g., gardens, grassy areas you pay to go to, woods/forests, fields/farmland/countryside, rivers/lakes/canals), whilst ‘no visits’ were more often reported by children and young people living in urban areas (4%) than rural areas (1%).

Figure 1: Green and natural places children and young people said they had visited in the last week (weighted percentage).

Figure notes:

• Source: CS_Q3 Have you spent time in any of these places in the last week? Please choose one or more options.
• The sample for this question is taken from the full 2023 base sample = 4001 (combined holiday time and term time response data).
• Figure 1 presents the percentage of children and young people who reported visiting each of the different types of natural spaces listed: ‘Garden (own or someone else’s)’ 67%; ‘Park/playing field/playground’ 64%; ‘Grassy areas in nearby streets’ 43%; ‘Woods/forest’ 26%; ‘Beach or seaside’ 26%; ‘Grassy areas you pay to go to’ 20%; ‘Rivers/lakes/canals’ 17%; ‘Fields/farmland/countryside’ 16%; ‘Hills/mountains/moorland’ 11%; ‘Other’ 3%; and, ‘No visits’ 3%. ‘Don’t know’/‘Prefer not to say’ responses are not included in this figure.

Children and young people also reported on how frequently in the past week they had spent time outside and time looking at, listening to or engaging with (noticing) nature (Figure 2). During holiday time (Wave 5), more than half of children and young people reported that in the past week they had spent time every day or most days in their garden (65%) and other outside places (51%), 37% had spent time noticing nature every day or most days.

During term time (Wave 6), most children and young people had spent time outside every day or most days at school (87%) in the past week and one third (33%) had lessons outside (other than PE) every day or most days, which is higher than in 2022 (23%) and 2021 (30%). One third of children and young people also reported spending time noticing nature every day or most days (34%) at school, which is an increase from 2022 (26%) but similar to 2021 (33%). When not at school during term time, just over half of children and young people (55%) had spent time in their garden every day or most days in the past week, 42% spent time in other outside spaces every day or most days and 38% spent time noticing nature every day or most days.

There were disparities in the time spent outside in the past week by children and young people from households in different income groups (combined holiday time and term time data). For example, children and young people from households with incomes over £50,000 were most likely to report spending time outside in their garden every day or most days (65%), followed by those from households with incomes between £15,000 - £49,999 (59%), with children and young people from households with incomes below £15,000 least likely (47%) to have spent time in their garden every day or most days in the past week. The percentage of children and young people without access to a garden also differed between income groups (1% of >£50,000, 3% of £15,000 - £49,999, 7% <£15,000).

Figure 2: How often children and young people said they spent time outside and time looking at, listening to or engaging with (noticing) nature in the past week during holiday time (Wave 5) and during term time (Wave 6) when they were at school and not at school (weighted percentage).

Figure notes:

• Source: CS_Q5A Thinking about the last week at school, how often have you spent time outside? Please select one answer only; CS_Q5B Thinking about the last week at school, how often have you had activities or lessons outside that were not PE? Please select one answer only; CS_Q5C Thinking about the last week at school, how often have you looked at, listened to or engaged with nature? Please select one answer only; CS_Q6A Now thinking about when you were not at school in the last week, how often have you spent any time in your own garden (if you have one)? This includes any garden that you share with your neighbours? Please select one answer only; CS_Q6B Now thinking about when you were not at school in the last week, how often have you spent time outside in places that are not your garden? Please select one answer only; CS_Q6C Now thinking about when you were not at school in the last week, how often have you looked at, listened to, or engaged with nature? Please select one answer only
• Samples for questions CS_5A, CS_5B and CS_5C are taken from term-time response data only = 2001. Samples for questions CS_6A, CS_6B and CS_6C are taken from the full 2023 base sample = 4001 (combined holiday time and term time response data).
• Figure 2 presents how frequently children and young people reported spending time outside or noticing nature in the past week during holiday time and term time. During holiday time: CS_Q6A 65% ‘Every day or most days’, 26% ‘Once or twice’, 5% ‘Never’ and 3% ‘No garden’; CS_Q6B 51% ‘Every day or most days’, 45% ‘Once or twice’, and 3% ‘Never; CS_Q6C 37% ‘Every day or most days’, 45% ‘Once or twice’, and 11% ‘Never’. During term time: CS_Q5A 87% ‘Every day or most days’, 11% ‘Once or twice’, and 1% ‘Never’; CS_Q5B 33% ‘Every day or most days’, 33% ‘Once or twice’, and 32% ‘Never; CS_Q5C 34% ‘Every day or most days’, 36% ‘Once or twice’, and 24% ‘Never’; CS_Q6A 55% ‘Every day or most days’, 35% ‘Once or twice’, 7% ‘Never’ and 2% ‘No garden’; CS_Q6B 42% ‘Every day or most days’, 50% ‘Once or twice’, and 7% ‘Never; CS_Q6C 38% ‘Every day or most days’, 44% ‘Once or twice’, and 13% ‘Never’.

Other related questions you may be interested in:

• See the questionnaire and summary tables for more information.

4. Access to green and natural places

Children and young people were asked about the types of green and natural places they can walk to easily from their home, either by themselves or with someone else (Figure 3). Around three quarters said that from their home they could easily walk to a park/playing field/playground (74%) and garden (73%), just over half said grassy areas in the streets nearby (56%) and one third said woods/forest (34%). Of children and young people surveyed, 1% said that there were no green and natural places within easy walking distance of their home.

There were several differences between groups in the percentage of children and young people who reported being able to walk to green and natural places from their home. For example, woods/forest were more commonly reported as being in easy walking distance by children and young people from white (39%) or mixed/multiple (33%) ethnicities than those from Asian/Asian British (18%) or Black/Black British (15%) ethnicities.

Figure 3: Green and natural places children and young people can walk to easily from their home (weighted percentage).

Figure notes:

• Source: CS_Q3 Have you spent time in any of these places in the last week? Please choose one or more options.
• The sample for this question is taken from the full 2023 base sample = 4001 (combined holiday time and term time response data).
• Figure 3 presents the percentage of children and young people who reported that they could easily walk to (on their own or with someone else) the different types of natural spaces listed: ‘Park/playing field/playground’ 74%; ‘Garden (own or someone else’s)’ 73%; ‘Grassy areas in nearby streets’ 56%; ‘Woods forest’ 34%; ‘Fields farmland / countryside’ 24%; ‘Rivers/lakes/canals’ 22%;‘Grassy areas you pay to go to’ 14%; Hills/mountains/moorland’ 11%; ‘Beach or seaside’ 9%; ‘Other’ 1%; and, ‘None’ 1%. ‘Don’t know’/‘Prefer not to say’ responses are not included in this figure.

Other questions you may be interested in:

• Access to garden/outdoor space [CS_S_Q3].
• See the questionnaire and summary tables for more information.

5. Environmental Concern and Action

Most children and young people surveyed agreed that looking after the environment was important to them (84%). Many reported already doing a range of things to look after the environment (Figure 4), including most commonly waste recycling (65%), turning off taps (56%), picking up litter (56%) and turning lights off (55%). However, the percentage of children and young people that reported doing some activities was lower than in previous years, for example waste recycling (71% in 2021, 75% in 2022) and turning off taps (63% in 2021, 65% in 2022). Most children and young people said that they would like to do more to look after the environment (87%). Level of environmental concern differed between age groups, with younger respondents (aged 8 to 11) more likely than older respondents (aged 12 to 15) to agree that looking after the environment was important to them (87% vs 81%) and that they would like to do more to look after the environment (90% vs 84%).

The survey also asked children and young people about their awareness of the Countryside Code. Over one third of those surveyed had heard of the Countryside Code (39%), 46% had not and 15% were not sure. Of those that had heard of the Countryside Code, 53% heard of it through their family and 49% at school. The percentage of children and young people who had heard of the Countryside Code varied between groups, for example awareness was higher amongst 12 to 15 year olds (44%) than 8 to 11 year olds (35%), male respondents (41%) than female respondents (37%), children and young people from white ethnicities (41%) compared to other ethnicities (34% mixed/multiple, 33% Asian/Asian British, 32% Black/Black British), children and young people who reported having disabilities (54%) than those who did not (37%), and children and young people from households with an income over £50,000 (47%) than those from lower income households (35% £15,000 to £49,999, 34% <£15,000).

Figure 4: Behaviours and social actions reported by children and young people to look after the environment (weighted percentage).

Figure notes:

• Source: CS_Q10 Which of the following things do you do to look after the environment? Please choose one or more options.
• The sample for this question is taken from the full 2023 base sample = 4001 (combined holiday time and term time response data).
• Figure 4 presents the percentage of children and young people who reported doing each of the actions listed: ‘Waste recycling’ 65%; ‘Turning off taps’ 56%; ‘Picking up litter’ 56%; ‘Turning lights off’ 55%; ‘Better transport choices’ 42%; ‘Gardening for wildlife’ 38%; ‘Talking to friends/family’ 28%; ‘Reading/watching about the environment’ 21%; ‘Thoughtful buying’ 19%; ‘Reduced meat consumption’ 17%; ‘Volunteering’ 13%; ‘Raising awareness online’ 9%; ‘Influencing leaders’ 8%; ‘Other’ 1%; and, ‘None’ 0%. ‘Don’t know’ / ‘Prefer not to say’ responses are not included in this figure.
• Also reported in the text are CS_Q9 How important is looking after the environment to you? CS_Q12C How much do you agree or disagree with the following: I would like to do more to look after the environment? and CS_Q18 There is something called the Countryside Code, which tells us how we should behave when we visit outdoor spaces. Have you heard about this before? the samples for which are taken from the full 2023 base sample = 4001 (combined holiday time and term time), as well as CS_Q19 Where have you heard about the Countryside Code? Please choose one or more option, which was asked only of respondents who answered ‘Yes’ to CS_Q18, sample = 1563.

Other related questions you may be interested in:

• Whether children and young people think adults are doing enough to look after the environment [CS_Q12_b].
• Whether children and young people know what they can do to look after the environment [CS_Q12_e].
• What children and young people think is okay to do in outdoor spaces [CS_Q16.5].
• See the questionnaire and summary tables for more information.

6. Nature Connection and Enjoyment

The survey asked children and young people how connected to nature they feel using the illustrated ‘Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale’. The illustrated scale contains seven diagrams each containing two circles, one with the outline of a person and saying ‘me’ and the other with a nature-filled scene. In each diagram, the closeness of the two circles increases, until they fully overlapped. Children and young people were asked to choose the diagram which best showed how connected they felt to nature. For the purposes of reporting, nature connectedness has been categorised into low (A,B, C), moderate (D) and high (E, F, G).

Of children and young people surveyed, 27% reported low nature connectedness, 21% moderate connectedness, and over half (52%) reported high nature connectedness (Figure 5). This shows an increase in the percentage of children and young people who feel highly connected to nature compared to findings in 2021 (44%) and 2022 (47%). There were also differences in nature connectedness between groups, for example children and young people surveyed from Black/Black British ethnicities (60%) were more likely to report feeling highly connected than those from white (52%), mixed/multiple (46%) or Asian/Asian British (52%) ethnicities.

Figure 5: Nature connectedness of children and young people (weighted percentage).

Figure notes:

• Source: CS_Q11 How connected do you feel to nature? Please choose the picture that best describes your relationship to nature.
• The sample for this question is taken from the full 2023 base sample = 4001 (combined holiday time and term time response data).

In total 88% of children and young people surveyed agreed with the statement ‘being in nature makes me very happy’, including 32% who completely agreed and 28% who strongly agreed (Figure 6). Few children and young people disagreed (2%) and 10% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.

Figure 6: Children and young people’s level of agreement with the statement ‘Being in nature makes me very happy’ (weighted percentage).

Figure notes:

• Source: CS_Q12A How much do you agree or disagree with the following: Being in nature makes me very happy. Please select one answer only.
• The sample for this question is taken from the full 2023 base sample = 4001 (combined holiday time and term time response data).

Other related questions you may be interested in:

• Well-being (happiness, anxiety [CS_Wellbeing_happy, CS_Wellbeing_anxious]and loneliness [CS_Wellbeing_lonely] were measured using ONS recommended measures).
• See the questionnaire and summary tables for more information.

7. Quality of Local Natural Spaces

Children and young people were asked to rate the quality of the natural outdoor spaces near them by indicating their level of agreement with five statements. The five statements had been co-developed with children and young people as measures of different aspects of quality in a separate research project (further details can be found in the project report).

Children and young people perceived the quality of their local outdoor spaces positively. Over 70% agreed or strongly agreed with positive statements relating to the natural environment, having space to do the things they want, their feelings and the accessibility of their local natural outdoor spaces (Figure 7). A slightly lower 60% agreed or strongly agreed with the positive statement about the quality of the human/built environment.

Figure 7: Children and young people’s level of agreement with five statements relating to different aspects of quality (shown in parentheses) of the natural outdoor spaces near them (weighted percentage).

Figure notes:

• Source: CS_Q13 Thinking about the natural outdoor spaces near you. How much do you agree or disagree that (Aspect of quality in parentheses after statement)… A) There are lots of places for animals and birds to make their homes (Natural environment); B) There are good spaces for playing (Space to do the things you want); C) They are clean and well looked after (Human/Built Environment); D) I feel welcome there (Feelings); E) They are easy to get to by walking (Accessibility).
• The sample for this question is taken from the full 2023 base sample = 4001 (combined holiday time and term time response data).
• Figure 7 presents the percentage of children and young people who ‘Strongly agree’, ‘Agree’, ‘Neither agree nor disagree’ or ‘Disagree’ (includes strongly disagree and disagree) with the statements relating to different aspects of quality. The findings are as follows: A) 39% strongly agree, 35% agree; 17% neither agree nor disagree; 8% disagree; B) 37% strongly agree, 36% agree; 18% neither agree nor disagree; 8% disagree ; C) 24% strongly agree, 36% agree; 24% neither agree nor disagree; 15% disagree ; D) 41% strongly agree, 36% agree; 16% neither agree nor disagree; 5% disagree ; E) 51% strongly agree, 33% agree; 11% neither agree nor disagree; 4% disagree.

Other questions you may be interested in:

• See the questionnaire and summary tables for more information.

8. Child-led question

For the first time in 2023, a young advisory group was formed to provide input and feedback on C-PANS. The young advisors developed their own question to include in the survey, which asked children and young people to rank in order of importance seven things that would encourage them to go into natural spaces more.

Playground (30%) and good weather (25%) were the response options most often ranked as number one by children and young people (i.e., most important to encourage them to go into natural spaces more, Figure 8). The importance of response options differed between age groups. Younger respondents (aged 8 to 11) more commonly ranked playground as number one (40%) than older respondents (aged 12 to 15, 19%). Whereas good weather was more likely to be ranked as most important by older age groups (29% vs 22%), along with places to play sports (17% vs 12%), clean air (7% vs 4%) and people around (7% vs 4%).

Figure 8: Percentage of children and young people that ranked each item as most important to encourage them to go in natural spaces more (weighted percentage).

Figure notes:

• Source: CS_Q20 What would encourage you to go out into natural spaces more? Please put them in order from 1 as the most important to 7 as the least important.
• The sample for this question is taken from the full 2023 base sample = 4001 (combined holiday time and term time response data).
• Figure 8 presents the percentage of children and young people who ranked each of the seven items at number 1 (most important): ‘Playground’ 30%; ‘Good weather’ 25%; Places to play sports’ 14%; Toilets nearby’ 12%; ‘Safe spaces to cycle’ 7%; ‘Clean air’ 6%; and, ‘People around (peers)’ 5%.

Other questions you may be interested in:

• See the questionnaire and summary tables for more information.

9. Accredited Official Statistics

Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. An explanation can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in January 2023. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards (see contact details below). Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

Since the latest review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made the following improvements:

• Published a development plan with timetables for future work, which will be updated annually
• Ensured that users have opportunities to contribute to development planning through our biannual Research User Group
• Enabled wider access to the data by publishing raw data sets through the UK Data Service
• Provided users with guidance on how statistics from our products can be compared with those produced in the devolved nations
• Published guidance on the differences between PaNS and MENE
• Improved estimates of the percentage of people visiting nature in the previous 14 days by reducing the amount of respondents answering ‘don’t know’

10. Methodological Note

This survey was conducted using an online panel. Consent for participation was obtained from both parent and child. Information about the survey’s methodology can be found on the methodology and technical details page, including links to the Technical Report, full details of weighting procedures, and further information about the strengths and limitations of an online panel survey.

All questions summarised in this report are detailed below:

[CS_Q3] Have you spent time in any of these places in the last week? You can include visits of any length of time (including short trips to the park, dog walking etc.). Please do not include any trips made abroad. You can include visits of any length of time (including short trips to the park, dog walking etc). Please choose one or more options

Response options:

• Park / playing field / playground
• Grassy areas in the streets near me (e.g., by the roadside, a green or pathway)
• Garden (mine or someone else’s)
• Grassy areas you pay to go to (e.g., gardens of a big house, the zoo, or city farm)
• Beach or seaside
• Woods / forest
• Fields / farmland / countryside
• Rivers / lakes / canals
• Hills/ mountains/ moorland
• No visits in the last week
• Don’t know [EXCLUSIVE]
• Prefer not to say [EXCLUSIVE]
• Somewhere else outside…(please write in below)

[CS_Q4] Which of these places can you walk to easily from your home (either by yourself or with someone else)? Please choose one or more options

Response options:

• Park / playing field / playground
• Grassy areas in the streets near me (e.g., by the roadside, a green or pathway)
• Garden (mine or someone else’s)
• Grassy areas you pay to go to (e.g., gardens of a big house, the zoo, or city farm)
• Beach or seaside
• Woods / forest
• Fields / farmland / countryside
• Rivers / lakes / canals
• Hills/ mountains/ moorland
• None of the above
• Don’t know [EXCLUSIVE]
• Prefer not to say [EXCLUSIVE]
• Somewhere else outside…(please write in below)

[CS_Q5A] We would now like you to think about what you have done at school in the last week. Please answer the next questions thinking about when you were at school. Thinking about the last week at school, how often have you spent time outside?

Response options:

• Every day
• Most days
• Once or twice
• Never
• Don’t know
• Prefer not to say

[CS_Q5B] Thinking about the last week at school, how often have you had activities or lessons outside that were not PE? (Do not count: PE lessons, breaks and lunch times, before and after school)

Response options:

• Every day
• Most days
• Once or twice
• Never
• Don’t know
• Prefer not to say

[CS_Q5C] Thinking about the last week at school, how often have you looked at, listened to, or engaged with nature?

Response options:

• Every day
• Most days
• Once or twice
• Never
• Don’t know
• Prefer not to say

[CS_Q6A] We would now like you to think about what you have done when you were not at school in the last week. This includes before or after school and at the weekend. If it is the school holidays, this would be most of the time. Please answer the next few questions thinking about when you were not at school.Now thinking about when you were not at school in the last week, how often have you spent any time in your own garden (if you have one)? This includes any garden that you share with your neighbours

Response options:

• Every day
• Most days
• Once or twice
• Never
• I don’t have a garden
• Don’t know
• Prefer not to say

[CS_Q6B] Now thinking about when you were not at school in the last week, how often have you spent time outside in places that are not your garden?

Response options:

• Every day
• Most days
• Once or twice
• Never
• Don’t know
• Prefer not to say

[CS_Q6C] Now thinking about when you were not at school in the last week, how often have you looked at, listened to, or engaged with nature?

Response options:

• Every day
• Most days
• Once or twice
• Never
• Don’t know
• Prefer not to say

[CS_Q20] What would encourage you to go out into natural spaces more? Please put them in order from 1 as the most important to 7 as the least important.

• Toilets nearby
• Playground
• Places to play sports
• Safe spaces to cycle
• Good weather
• Clean air
• People around (peers)

If it is not listed above, what else is important for you? Please write it in the text box. …(open text box- allow answers between 0-300 characters)

[CS_Q9] How important is looking after the environment to you?

Response options:

• 1 Not at all important
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5 Very important
• Don’t know
• Prefer not to say

[CS_Q10] Which of the following things do you do to look after the environment? There are lots of options but they may not all apply to you or all make sense. Only pick the ones you understand and do yourself to look after the environment. Please choose one or more options

Response options:

• Recycle my waste
• Turn the tap off while I brush my teeth
• Turn lights off
• Pick up litter
• Walk, cycle, scooter, skateboard or take public transport as much as I can
• Do things in the garden to help the wildlife (e.g. feed birds, grow plants that insects like, make homes for wildlife)
• Talk to friends and family about looking after the environment
• Read about (online or in books) or watch programmes about the environment
• Eat less meat (including vegetarian or vegan)
• Think about the environment when I buy things
• Volunteer my time (e.g. litter pick, planting, raising awareness)
• Raise awareness by posting/sharing information online
• Try and change what our leaders are doing (e.g. sign petitions, demonstrate, or write to them)
• None of the above [EXCLUSIVE]
• Don’t know [EXCLUSIVE]
• Prefer not to say [EXCLUSIVE]
• Something else …(please write in below)

[CS_Q11] How connected do you feel to nature? Please choose the picture that best describes your relationship to nature. [Response options: image A, B, C, D, E, F, or G]

[CS_Q12a] How much do you agree or disagree with the following - Being in nature makes me very happy. Please select one answer only

[CS_Q12c] How much do you agree or disagree with the following - I would like to do more to look after the environment

Response options:

• Completely agree
• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree
• Completely disagree
• Don’t know
• Prefer not to say

[CS_Q13] Thinking about the natural outdoor spaces near you. How much do you agree or disagree that…

A) There are lots of places for animals and birds to make their homes
B) There are good spaces for playing
C) They are clean and well looked after
D) I feel welcome there
E) They are easy to get to by walking

Response options:

• 0 – Disagree a lot
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10 – Agree a lot
• Prefer not to say
• Don’t know

[CS_Q18] There is something called the Countryside Code, which tells us how we should behave when we visit outdoor spaces. Have you heard about this before?

Response options:

• Yes
• No
• Not sure

[CS_Q19] Where have you heard about the Countryside Code?

Please choose one or more options

• From my friends
• From my family
• At school
• At a Girlguiding or Scouts group (e.g. Brownies, Guides, Cubs or Scouts)
• At Cadets (e.g. Army Cadet Force, Air Training Corps, Sea Cadets)
• Through taking part in a Duke of Edinburgh Award programme
• At another group or club I’m part of (please specify) (open text box- allow answers between 0-400 characters)
• On TV
• In a newspaper or magazine
• On social media
• On a website
• On signs or posters
• Shaun the Sheep Campaign
• From somewhere else (please specify) (open text box- allow answers between 0-400 characters)
• Don’t know -EXCLUSIVE HIDE

11. Glossary

Connection to nature has been described as an individual’s subjective sense of their relationship with the natural world, and among children and young people this may be reflected in how they think and feel about nature (e.g. whether they see nature and humanity as one), and how they experience it (e.g. to what extent they enjoy spending time in nature and benefit from it).

Green and natural spaces are defined in this survey as green and blue spaces in towns and cities (e.g. parks, canals); the countryside (e.g. farmland, woodland, hills and rivers); the coast (e.g. beaches, cliffs) and activities in the open sea; visits of any duration (including short trips to the park, dog walking etc.). They do not include: gardens; outside spaces visited as part of someone’s employment; spaces outside the UK. Additional questions are asked about private gardens.

Weighting is used to ensure the sample is representative of the population. C-PANS uses a ‘design weight’ to compensate for just one child per household being interviewed, and a ‘rim weighting’ to ensure the sample margins match the wider population margins for age, gender, region and ethnicity. More on this can be found in the technical report.

12. Contact

Natural England welcomes feedback on C-PANS. Please contact the team by email: people_and_nature@naturalengland.org.uk

If you would like to receive further information on the survey, including data releases, publications and survey changes, then visit our User Hub and sign-up to the mailing list at the bottom of the page (best viewed in Google Chrome). After signing up, if you do not receive a confirmation email please check your ‘Junk’ or ‘Spam’ folder.

13. Pre-release Access

Pre-release access was not sought for this release.

14. Related Links

People and Nature Surveys information: Further information on the People and Nature Surveys for England.

Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment: Further information on the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE) Survey (predecessor to the People and Nature Survey).