Dataset Rigenera

This study examined the effectiveness of a two-year nature-based intervention program based on immersive activities in the local environment, in fostering adolescent students’ place attachment, connection with nature, and optimism in a rural area facing depopulation. Eighty-four students attending grades 10th to 12th in two high schools were involved in a two-school-year nature-based intervention consisting in a wide range of activities and excursions in the local areas plus creative re-elaboration, following a format that integrates classroom lessons, direct contact with nature, and the production of artistic and multimedia outputs. At the beginning and the end of the project, participants filled in questionnaires to assess place attachment, connection with nature, and optimism. After excursions they also completed measures of positive and negative affect and vitality. The results confirmed an increase in place attachment, connection with nature, and optimism at the end of the two school years and showed that the excursions raised positive affect and vitality, while decreasing negative affect. The findings emphasize the value of nature-based interventions in strengthening students’ connection to place and nature, especially in contexts at risk of depopulation.