Urban environmental resilience + People well being + Creativity
- Clara Choi
- Apr 20
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 21
With a strong interest in how design can help people solve various social problems, including complex issues in education and urbanization, as well as human creativity, the objective of my recent design project is to examine and design a system (and products) allowing urban children and their families to connect with nature environment in their daily lives. I am especially interested in environmentally related problems, and I would like to motivate people to interact with their environment. I see this as particularly important because the environment is closely related to people’s quality of life. Particularly, as places become more urbanized in bigger cities such as NYC, Paris, London, Shanghai, Seoul and etc, an eco-friendly environment significantly influences people’s lifestyles and improves their quality of life. With this in mind, I believe that, while being exposed to nature and developing a love for and knowledge of it, children can learn ways of creative thinking and can learn to understand it better. Moreover, they can learn how to protect the earth for future generations and how best to secure family cohesiveness.
Story:
My childhood in South Korea was filled with nature.
I can still recall how fragrant trees in the backyard mingled with the smells of delicious food in the kitchen, such as my favorite vegetable pancake that my grandmother prepared with vegetables grown in her garden. Many Korean mothers like me remain fascinated by playing with nature. When we were growing up we didn’t have many toys so we had to use our imagination and find toys in nature. Then it was only natural that children, thought creatively and would play with solely their imagination.
Plan for Nature Kids Cafe: "plant to eat" vegetables
Today, many urban children including my own, do not have opportunities to play outdoors away from modern distractions like TV, videos, smart phones, and computers. Children spend more time with their electronic media than they do playing outside–experiencing a new world with nature and mingling with friends to learn social skills. Screen time has replaced play time in nature. Being disconnected from nature and absorbed in electronic media is killing our children’s creative ability.
In this creative project, I use design methods to create products, experiences, processes, and systems that explore ways to promote children’s interaction with nature and ways families can live in a nature-friendly environment. Taking inspiration from camping and the outdoors, the resulting nature kids café “Play and Learn with Nature” creates a sense of camping that provides an environment where parents and children can be connected and interact with each other through preparing and eating food in a natural environment.
Key Features:
Seed to Food: seed to food package: seed pack, activity book, recipes. and soil + biodegradable garden pot + biodegradable produce bag
Blossom: biodegradable food container + utensils
Cafe in a City Park: preparing and eating food = cafe / safe play space for children + parents in nature = nature family space in urban environment
The project “play and learn with nature (pln)” is an initiative to build relationship between children and nature so that children have an opportunity to enhance creative thinking and respect for nature. Also this can promote families to live in a nature-friendly environment. Living in nature is a powerful way to nurture quality of life and secure family cohesiveness. “pln” creates a sense of camping that provides an environment where parents and children can be connected and interact with each other through preparing and eating food in a natural environment.
Based on my research, activities related to preparing, cooking and eating food give special connection between parents and children and these give valuable memories to children.
I made a system for experience preparing and eating food in a natural environment. Taking inspiration from camping and the outdoors, the resulting nature kids café “play and learn with nature” creates a sense of camping that called garden camping.
Garden camping means that people can enjoy camping in their garden or a city park near their home instead of going afar to camping site. Design products are listed below.
The nature kids cafe pln
Overall, this creative project is meant to suggest solutions for children and parents whose lives lack nature–friendliness, improve people’s lives, and families’ respect for nature.
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