For three years the Wilderness Foundation UK has been conducting research into the effect of wilderness experience on all the young people who take part in wilderness trail experiences in Scotland, Wales and South Africa.

As a result of the research, we know that the closer one feels to nature, the higher the increase in self esteem. This is a crucial finding in terms of understanding ‘wilderness effect’ and, linking to one of the major crises facing British youth as identified recently in a Europe wide report, British youth have the lowest self esteem in Europe. This has a knock on effect on their social habits in terms of mixing potentially with peers who have a bad influence on them, believing in themselves enough to make positive choices and to feel that they are good enough to take responsibility for life in their own hands.

The University of Essex School of Biological and Social Sciences, under Professor Jules Pretty and Doctor Jo Barton is following TurnAround for three years. Through this long term research, we aim to monitor the outcomes of each stage of the project, keep a close evaluation of each stage we go through, monitor the experiences of the coaches and coaching relationships, and to see how nature and wilderness experience effect the entire process.

Results to date

Many changes reported over the course of the study, both in terms of trends for the whole group and for individuals. In general there were fluctuations in all of the measures over the time period, but net improvements from levels at the start of the project were seen across the majority of measurements.

Participating in the  programme contributed to an improved self-esteem (Figure 1), enhanced mood and a greater connectedness to nature.  Participating in challenging activities in the wilderness allowed the opportunity for personal reflection and all members of the group experienced a real sense of achievement. The young people successfully engaged in a personal growth journey and learnt how to manage their behaviour and express their emotions constructively. Major differences in their behaviour were observed and comparisons were extreme between the beginning and end of the programme. Thus, the Turnaround experience contributed significantly to a range of important outcomes for the young people involved.