The governance configurations of green schoolyards

Abstract

In light of the growing interest in naturalizing schoolgrounds this paper explores the governance configurations that enable, produce and sustain their multiple benefits. We scrutinize the existing literature analysing the norms, actors, and processes through which green school grounds are conceptualized, designed, implemented, and sustained. We find that good schoolyard governance is exhibited by: i) the actual use that children make of the naturalized areas, and by its repercussion on their physical and mental well-being, social integration, sense of place, and socio-environmental awareness; ii) the ways outdoor environments intersect with school curriculums; iii) by the availability of public support and funding lines with flexible, anticipatory and adaptive features; and crucially iv) by the ways that architects and gardeners engage with the concepts of ecology, creative play and outdoor education in the acts of schoolyard (re)making. We also find that at times focus on program effectiveness (efficiency, goals) infringes upon justice and inclusion. The way participative processes are interpreted, and eventually inform schoolyard designs and uses is one of the challenges to consider in this respect. Greening schoolyards also requires participation processes that are accessible and inclusive for adults and children from a variety of socio-cultural, ethnic and economic contexts. In a nutshell, naturalizing schoolyards needs to go beyond the search for narrow technical solutions for climate adaptation or pedagogical innovation, being a process of school (re)making. The governance framework suggested here is apt for analysing a range of urban green interventions.