Effective landscape management can be used to completely transform a commercial space, whether that’s through an efficient handling of natural resources or via the hosting of lucrative outdoor activities. All these factors can be negotiated with an eye on sustainability, where effective landscape design also relies on a promotion of local biodiversity.
Landscape management is especially important in and around universities, where these campus spaces provide homes for thousands of students every year. In addition to offering a place of learning, universities must also support the wellbeing of their cohort, where working on an appealing outdoor space can contribute to this.
In this way, university landscapes can be harnessed to achieve multiple goals, where land can be utilised to support local wildlife populations whilst also creating space for essential outdoor activities.
Read on to find out more about the impact good landscape management can have on both university students and the local environment.
What Does Good Landscape Management Look Like?
When considering the benefits of landscape management on a student population, it is important to consider what success might look like in this context. There are numerous signs that a campus is looking after its grounds in an effective way, where these include:
● Regular maintenance - a well maintained outdoor space is likely to be safer and more attractive, helping to encourage students to immerse themselves in nature.
● Flourishing wildlife populations - an abundance of birds and insects shows that the grounds have been planted with the right mix of greenery to support local populations.
● Natural planting - grounds planted with native species and rewilded areas are ideal for boosting biodiversity in the area, where these also help to reduce maintenance costs.
● Sustainable energy investment - campuses should demonstrate a commitment to generating renewables or using low energy solutions to be truly environmentally friendly.
● Well used spaces - successful campuses will feature multi-use spaces that are consistently in use, showing that landscape design efforts have been successful.
● Effective waste management - sustainable grounds will also have strong waste management and recycling systems in place to keep the area clean.
● A happy cohort - when students are showing high satisfaction rates with the campus, this is a clear indication that the landscape has been well designed and managed.
Direct Benefits For Students
When all these factors have been implemented, students will be able to benefit in a direct and tangible way. Some examples of this may include:
Improved Mental Wellbeing
Numerous studies have shown that time spent in nature can have a positive impact on common mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. For instance, the Wellcome Trust commissioned a range of studies in Summer 2020 to look for active ways to tackle the surge in mental illness in young people living in urban areas aged 14 to 24.
One key result from this research indicated that young people experienced a 14-19% reduction in anxiety from just 15 minutes walking in an urban park, compared to walking along a busy street. Even more notably, participants described a 23-31% reduction in anxiety from 15 minutes walking in a forest instead of a busy street.