Conference Agenda
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WR3_1_2: Symposium: Outdoor Environments, Inclusion, and Culture: Understanding and Learning from Physical Activity in Norway Location: White room 3 Session Chair: Solfrid Bratland-Sanda | |
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Outdoor Environments, Inclusion, and Culture: Understanding and Learning from Physical Activity in Norway Background and Aim of the Symposium: Green and blue spaces are increasingly recognised as cost-effective ways to support climate and public health goals. They offer appealing settings for physical activity and provide psychological, social, and environmental benefits. However, inclusion and accessibility challenges persist, particularly for vulnerable groups who may face barriers such as adverse weather, limited access, and concerns about medical safety. Norway, where outdoor culture is strong but unevenly experienced, serve as a nice case to meet the need to understand how nature-based environments can promote inclusive physical activity. This symposium addresses these gaps by examining benefits and barriers to outdoor physical activity across different settings and population groups. Summary of Contributions: The first presentation investigates Drammen, a city undergoing extensive nature-based regeneration, to examine how improved green and blue spaces support physical activity and contribute to wider individual, social, and environmental outcomes. The second presentation uses national Ungdata survey data to compare outdoor activity participation among children with and without disabilities, highlighting key inclusion issues. The third contribution focuses on physically active learning in Norwegian schools, exploring teachers’ perceptions of weather as a barrier to delivering outdoor learning activities. The fourth presentation draws on a large population survey to compare perceived nature access and subjective well-being among immigrants and non‑immigrants, illustrating differences in engagement with outdoor environments. The final talk examines how Norwegian cultural norms shape researchers’, clinicians’, and service users’ attitudes towards physical activity in the treatment of eating disorders. Added Value: By presenting new empirical data and diverse perspectives, this symposium strengthens understanding of how green and blue spaces function as arenas for physical activity in a country where outdoor practices are embedded in both culture and policy. Conclusion and Key Take-Home Messages: The contributions collectively highlight opportunities and challenges in using natural environments to support inclusive, accessible, and sustainable physical activity. Expected insights include: (1) improved understanding of health and environmental gains linked to nature-based urban regeneration; (2) insights into access and participation among vulnerable groups; and (3) evidence on weather as a barrier to physically active learning, informing more resilient educational practices. Presentations of the Symposium Moved by Nature: Exploring Pathways Linking Physical Activity in Urban Green and Blue Spaces to Individual, Social, and Environmental Outcomes Background. Physical activity (PA) is a key pathway linking green and blue spaces (GBS) to multiple health outcomes. However, less is known about how PA in GBS contributes to broader social and environmental benefits beyond individual health. This study therefore explored the case of Drammen, a city that has developed an extensive network of PA-supportive GBS. Methods. Data were collected through multistakeholder interviews (total n = 21), a focus groups (n = 5), field observations, and contextual document analysis, and analysed using the Gioia methodology. Results. Four aggregate categories were identified: (i) PA as an outcome of GBS, (ii) PA as a facilitator of health-enhancing experiences, (iii) PA as an integral component of prosocial behaviours, and (iv) barriers. GBS supported varied PA, including both land- and water-based activities, with structural and psychological factors helping to sustain participation over time. In turn, PA facilitated health-enhancing interactions with nature and among people, while also functioning as an integral component of nature-positive behaviours and acculturation processes. Barriers related to maintenance and limited spatial extent shaped both the use and perceptions of GBS. Conclusions. Through multidirectional and interrelated pathways, PA links GBS not only to individual, but also to social and environmental benefits, contributing to Planetary Health outcomes. Policymakers are encouraged to invest in PA-supportive GBS while accounting for context-specific barriers to maximise their broader societal and environmental value. Funding. NetZeroCities – Pilot Cities, funded by the European Union’s H2020 Research and Innovation programme (grant no. 101036519). Keywords. Health promotion, Healthy Cities, Planetary Health Exercise and Nature-Based Outdoor Activities among Children with and without Disabilities: Results from the Norwegian Ungdata Plus Survey Background. Children with disabilities (CWD) face greater difficulties than their peers in participating in physical activities and are at higher risk of health problems related to physical inactivity. However, there is limited knowledge about differences in participation in physical activities, including exercise and nature-based outdoor activities, between children with and without disabilities in large population-based samples. This study explores these differences. Methods. Cross-sectional self-reported survey data from 6,049 Norwegian children aged 10–13 years in the Ungdata Plus project were analysed. The prevalence of CWD was 8.2% (n=476). Group differences in participation in exercise, as well as nature-based summer and winter activities, were analysed using Pearson’s chi-square tests and linear regression models controlling for sex, ethnicity, urbanity, and socioeconomic status. Results. CWD exercised less frequently (e.g., 2–3 times per week or more = 64% vs. 85%, p<.01) and participated less often in nature-based summer activities (e.g., at least “often” = 54% vs. 60%, p<.01) compared to their peers without disabilities. These differences remained significant after adjusting for socio-demographic factors in the linear regressions (Exercise: b=-.170, p=.01, scale 0–5; Nature-based summer activities: b=-.109, p=.03, scale 0–4). No significant differences were found between groups in nature-based winter activities. Conclusions. The findings highlight lower levels of exercise and participation in nature-based summer activities among CWD compared to their peers without disabilities. Health promotion efforts targeting CWD should prioritise inclusive strategies that facilitate participation in exercise and nature-based summer activities. Funding. none. Keywords. Disability, children, exercise, nature-based outdoor activity “Blame it on the Rain”: Wheater as a Barrier for Conducting Physically Active Learning in Norway Background. The combination of PA and academic content, most often termed physically active learning (PAL), is promising for increasing children’s PA levels as well as academic outcomes. In Norwegian schools, PAL is most often conducted outdoors, making the Nordic climate a significant factor for how and when PAL can be conducted. This study examined secondary school teachers’ motivational regulations for using PAL, and explored how weather constrained the conduct of PAL outdoors. Methods. A total of 148 secondary school teachers completed a survey comprising the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ; α = 0.79–0.92) and a scale assessing the extent to which weather affected the use of outdoor PAL (α = 0.82–0.93). Results. There were positive correlations between teachers’ self-determined regulations for applying PAL and their willingness to adapt a PAL session to be held indoors if the weather conditions did outdoor PAL impossible. In contrast, more controlled forms of motivation to use PAL were positively associated with perceiving unfavorable weather as a reason to forgo PAL altogether, whether outdoors or indoors. Conclusion. Weather conditions represent an important barrier to conducting PAL outdoors. However, teachers who have internalized and personally identified with the value of using PAL and view PAL as worthwhile and important, appear more capable of adjusting and sustaining PAL despite poor weather. Practical implications include the need for empowering teachers to find alternative solutions to conduct PAL regardless of weather conditions and across seasonal variations. Funding. Grant from Saving Bank Foundation Sparebanken Sor. Keywords. school, teachers, motivation. Direct and Mediated Pathways between Perceived Access to Nature and Subjective Well-Being among Norwegian Adults: Assessing the moderating role of Immigrant Background. Background. Access to nature has been linked to mental health benefits through increased exposure to natural environments, physical and social activity. This study examines whether direct and indirect (through physical and social activity) associations between perceived access to nature (PAtN) and subjective well-being (SWB) are moderated by immigrant background. Methods. We analysed cross-sectional survey data from Norwegian adults (n = 32,894, age ≥ 18 years). A parallel mediation analysis was conducted, using SWB as the dependent variable, PAtN as the independent variable, and physical and social activity as mediators. Immigrant background (non-immigrant, "Western" immigrant, "non-Western" immigrant) was tested as a moderator of all paths. Analyses controlled for gender, age, socio-economic status, and health problems. Results. PAtN was positively associated with SWB (Total effect: β = .20, p < .001). A small proportion of this association was mediated through the included mediators (β = .021, 95% CI = .019;.024), but primarily through social activity (β = .017, 95% CI = .015;.020). A small moderation effect was found only for the direct PAtN–SWB path, showing a slightly weaker association for "Western" immigrants compared to non-immigrants (Interaction effect: β = -.086, p < .01). Conclusions. Perceiving good access to nature appears to benefit the mental health of both non-immigrant and immigrant Norwegian adults, with no differences in tested pathways. To address inequality in health between majority and immigrant populations, public health policies should prioritise the preservation and development of natural environments in local communities. Funding. none. Keywords. inclusion, epidemiology, exercise Friluftsliv, Welfare, and Sport: Norwegian Cultural Contexts Shaping Physical Activity in Eating Disorders Background. Maladaptive movement is a core symptom among many individuals with eating disorders. This study aimed to explore perceived sociocultural influences within Norwegian movement culture that shape understandings of, and attitudes towards, physical activity in the context of eating disorders. Methods. Four focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 11 informants, including experienced researchers, clinicians, and user representatives working in the field of eating disorders and exercise. Each interview lasted 60–90 minutes and generated a total of 148 pages of verbatim transcripts. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) The sporty, hiking nation, (2) The Nordic Welfare Model, and (3) The Nordic Sport Model. Norwegian cultural heritage was seen as strongly formative for views on physical activity and exercise in the context of eating disorders. Informants highlighted the traditions of friluftsliv, including its historical links to asceticism and its status as a core element of national identity. They also emphasised how the egalitarian welfare state—with predictable working hours, economic security, and publicly accessible natural environments—facilitates wide participation in leisure-time sport and outdoor activities. The Nordic Sport Model, characterised by volunteerism and a limited presence of professional coaches in youth sport, was viewed as influencing the lack of exercise specialists within treatment teams for eating disorders. Discussion. These findings underscore the importance of considering national cultural contexts when translating and adapting international guidelines for safe and therapeutic exercise in eating disorder treatment. Funding. None. Keywords. exercise, psychiatry, medicine. | |
