Child-Nature-Ooru: Exploring children's relationships with nature in Bengaluru, India

Narratives of children in urban spaces as suffering from ‘nature-deficit disorder’ are prevalent in the child and nature discourse. These narratives are built on dichotomous framings of nature/culture, childhood/adulthood, rural/urban — where the urban is conceptualised to be outside of nature, urban children are perceived to be removed from nature, and nature is seen as an ever-benevolent entity to be (re)connected with. This paper attempts to re-examine these binaries through the experiences of 8-12 year old children in the city of Bengaluru, India. Involving various methods in the research process (such as questionnaire surveys (n=160), in-depth interviews (n=15), informal interviews, group discussions (n=5), photovoice (n=5), journalling (n=5) and observation), the study looked to provide avenues for children to construct their narratives of nature, and articulate the relationships that they share with the nonhuman world. This is a project report that delves into the findings from these research activities, exploring how children in Bengaluru relate to the various urban natures around them such as mud, birds, snakes, dogs, cows, weeds and trees — in forms indifferent, awkward, imaginative, compassionate and violent. The paper suggests that the nonhuman world does not constitute a passive backdrop to the lives of these children. Instead, these urban natures are deeply entangled with the social lives of children and are active participants who shape how children think, feel, move and play; troubling our understandings of what it means for children to (re)connect with and relate to ‘nature’ in the city.