Natural[ment]
Rewilding a schoolyard
Natural[ment]
Location: Ballester Fandos Primary School (Valencia)
Date: 2023/24
Team: Fent Estudi Coop. V.+ Sandra Molines (Florida Universitària) + Vladimir Martínez (UV) + Gema Piñero, Pau Arce (ITEAM, UPV) + J.M. Felisi (Mesura) + J.Lancero, V.Ordaz (Tres Patis) + K-Veloce I+D+i
With the support of: Valencia City Council.
Video: Cristina Centeno.
Publications: elperiòdic, La Vanguardia, elDiario, Cadena Ser
The climate emergency is making itself felt in the schoolyard too. These play areas are increasingly subjected to extreme temperatures, making them uninhabitable for children. Rewilding school playgrounds turns them into climate-refuge spaces that generate well-being and promote health, as seen in cities like Paris and Barcelona.
Natural[ment] is a socio-urban innovation project selected under Valencia City Council’s “Valencia 2030 Climate Mission” call. Its goal is to develop a pilot project for the rewilding of a schoolyard as a catalyst for eco-social change. The project is based at the Ballester Fandos primary school in Valencia, although other schools in the city whose playgrounds are integrated into diverse building typologies are also analysed so as to observe how different spaces behave in high temperatures.
Based on the analysis of measurements and observations from the schoolyards (temperature, student interactions and movements), a socio-spatial diagnosis is made. This diagnosis serves as the basis for the new design of the playground, which is then collaboratively constructed.
By incorporating shaded areas, greenery, and water features, it is possible to decrease the outdoor temperature of the playground by around 10ºC, creating more comfortable spaces.
However, the process of transforming the playground not only contributes to the overall adaptation of urban spaces to the effects of heat; it also serves to re-educate participants on themes such as environmental awareness, coeducation, equity, social justice and community, involving as it does a consideration of the dynamics of inequality and imbalanced access to play that can give rise to conflict and poor coexistence.
Rewilding all the schools in Valencia would mean an increase of about 6000 m2 in the green space distributed throughout the city and available to the neighbourhood.
The schoolyard as a space…
- for well-being and environmental comfort
- for coeducation and positive coexistence
- for free play
- which boosts health
- that guarantees contact with nature
- for outdoor learning
- that is connected with the environment, the neighbourhood and the community
