Informal Education

The global environmental crisis and urbanization have led to a growing disconnect between humans and nature. In academic literature, this is known as the ‘Extinction of Experience’ (EoE), a process in which reduced interaction with nature undermines health and well-being while fostering negative attitudes toward the environment. This cycle reinforces itself: as our connection to nature weakens, we become indifferent to its degradation, which in turn deepens the disconnect. Children are especially vulnerable, as childhood is a critical stage for forming a lasting bond with nature.

Despite its severe implications, the global planning discourse has not yet fully integrated these ideas. Even within the sustainable planning conversation, the concepts of “nature experience” and the human-nature connection are often absent from leading official green regulations. To promote a planning approach that centers nature experiences in cities, I focused on Tirat Carmel as a case study. The city is rich in natural assets (the Carmel Forest reserve, the sea, and six streams that flow through it), yet shaped by conventional car-oriented planning and lacking a distinct local natural identity.

This project proposes a model for enhancing the experience of nature, with an emphasis on youth, within the Israeli urban landscape. Unlike most sustainable projects, which treat nature as a separate unit within the city, this project seeks to weave nature into the fabric of the city, creating for the first time a system that allows for a daily nature experience as an integral part of urban life. This system consists of a network of the city’s streams, which are exposed and rehabilitated in the project, and a network of ‘educational paths’ designed to provide a nature experience. Intertwined, the streams and paths connect educational institutions and urban centers to the natural environment, while also functioning as natural public spaces that encourage play, curiosity, and hands-on engagement. This approach is also manifested in the new educational-natural center proposed alongside the Tira stream. Through these interventions, the project makes nature accessible and present in the city’s daily routine, particularly for its youth.