Gathering Grove: Designing for Mindful Outdoor Recreation

Abstract

As park visitation records increase each year, so does the negative impact of our outdoor activities on the environment. In partnership with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Gathering Grove emerged as a design intervention to promote a balance between outdoor recreation and conservation efforts. The resulting concept employs mindfulness practices to address harmful attitudes and behaviors exhibited by park visitors that result in littering, trail degradation, the disturbance of wildlife, and depletion of our parks’ natural resources. Informed by generative and evaluative research methods investigating the effectiveness of mindfulness activities in promoting positive behavior and attitudes, the Grove features nature-based stretching posts inviting visitors to engage in mindful movement—outdoor physical activity that is gentle on the body and the environment alike. The Grove draws further inspiration from the Newark Earthworks built by the Hopewell, an ancient Native American culture that inhabited Ohio land and constructed these geometric landmarks as critical sites for spiritual gathering. This concept echoes the nature of earthworks as an outdoor gathering space, encouraging park visitors to connect with the outdoors and with one another, with opportunities for parks to use the space to host events or simply serve as a nature-based casual “hangout”. Its forms and visuals employ similar geometric motifs, referencing the physical attributes of the earthworks, a sense of attunement with nature and environmental stewardship that the Grove aims to promote in park visitors.