This study adapts an existing action competence framework to the climate domain to examine whether the dimensions of competence relate differently to different forms of climate action. Survey data from 705 university students in Sweden were used to assess four dimensions: effectiveness knowledge, willingness to act, capacity expectations, and outcome expectations across climate-relevant actions. Overall engagement was limited: 41% reported engaging in climate action, most in one activity, while more demanding or publicly visible forms of actions were rare. The dimensions showed differentiated relationships with engagement. For the more commonly performed actions, effectiveness knowledge, willingness, and capacity expectations were independently associated with engagement. For the less common and more demanding forms of engagement, willingness was the only dimension significantly associated with action, although this finding should be interpreted cautiously given their low prevalence. Outcome expectations were not independently associated with engagement. Understanding climate engagement therefore requires moving beyond overall competence to ask which dimensions of competence matter for which forms of action.

This article reports how Swedish teachers' aims and practices were modified by an ecosystem services development project that introduced insect hotels, bird boxes and planting to ten preschool yards. Teachers' understanding of ecosystem services, human-nature relationships and the impact of these on nature connectedness showed that their conceptualisations of human-nature relationships were shifting and complex, reflecting overlapping ideas about what schoolyard ecosystem services might mean to/for young children and how children's connection with nature might best be supported. The findings suggest creating pockets of urban nature in schoolyards is a useful strategy to unpack some of this complexity through direct experience of ecosystems encouraging interest in, concern for and understanding of our mutuality with nature.

The way a young child uses language has an impact on their future life. Early language acquisition is a determinant in adult employment, mental health and relationships with others. At the same time there is a broad evidence base that play and learning in the natural environment is beneficial for young children's physical, emotional, social and cognitive development. However, literature about how these two contributions to children's early development intersect and combine, in particular whether and how early language learning in children aged between 3 and 7 years might be enhanced in nature, is harder to find. For this paper, we undertook a systematic literature review to explore and report on research within this important area. Based on an in-depth study of 181 articles, we found that scant literature exists about how children's language is developed within natural environments. Although this appears to be a topic that is discussed in practice-oriented publications, it was found that very few researchers are focusing on and reporting within this area. Twelve papers were thoroughly analysed and three themes identified and discussed; desire to communicate, communication skills and literacy skills. This paper concludes by suggesting areas for future research.

This theoretical handbook draws together the theory and evidence underpinning the practical outputs of the project: the training programme and the practical handbook.

It comprises four main parts:

• The first provides a review of relevant literature on early language development and a rationale for why language development in nature may be beneficial for young children. It summarises existing literature that looks at early language development in nature.
• In Part 2, our integrated formative evaluation process and its results are reported and discussed. In the final part of this section, we bring together some key points from our examination of theory and research to support the value of early language development in nature, summarising the new learning that has been achieved through the ELaDiNa project.
• The third part sets out a generic model that has been developed from what is currently known about this field, (Part 1), what we learnt from the ElaDiNa Project and its evaluation (Part 2) and from previous experience of a pilot project conducted in Marburg, Germany that formed the initial seed from which our ElaDiNa project grew.
• In concluding this theoretical handbook in Part 4, we summarise the successes and challenges of the project, its main learning points and suggest some implications for policy, practice and further research.

In Part 2, we report on the evaluative research which was conducted by the ELaDiNa team to explore the success of the project and refine our understanding of some of the links between early language development aspects and natural environment features.

This Swedish study investigates how primary school children’s perspectives on a “good schoolyard” can be illuminated through envisioning workshops using model-making. In addition to advocating for the qualities and affordances of the standard schoolyard equipment, children also suggested and constructed new features affording playing with domestic animals, being in peace and quiet in tree houses, picking fruit, and using digital playgrounds.For the children to go beyond reproducing the features, environmental qualities, and affordances of their current schoolyards, they needed plenty of time for communication and hands-on activities, opportunities to relax, imagine, and receive input and inspiration from others’ experiences.

This study was carried out within a project to promote health and ecosystem services, ?the benefits people obtain from ecosystems?, in preschools in Sweden. The paper applies the concept ?affordance? to capture the functional meaning that children assign to different material aspects of their schoolyards before and after the installation of additional environmental features. The findings from walk-and-talks with 23 preschool children highlight what features children preferred in their yards and why. Few children showed spontaneous attention to the installed features, e.g. insect hotels. This might be more because children were not enough involved within the schoolyard development and experienced little guided exploration of environmental affordances, rather than a lack of interest per se. Given this, we suggest that development projects to upgrade schoolyards for improved ecosystem services should involve children in the design of the ecosystem services promoting features throughout the development work, and thereby, integrally, promote ecological literacy.