Wellbeing in School Gardens: The case of the Gardens for Bellies food and environmental education program

The article explores the role of the outdoor environment in the Gardens for Bellies school garden program in relation to students’ wellbeing. It is based on explorative multiple case study research using an inductive research approach. The study indicates that the school garden program promotes students' wellbeing through their positive emotions about being outside in the outdoor environment. Garden activities and relations to peers, garden educators and teachers seemed to positively affect their self-esteem. Apart from the positive social environment, students’ relations to the natural environment seem to also affect their wellbeing: developing empathy for animals, insects and plants. However, whether this influences their wellbeing, interpersonal relations and planetary care in the long run after the program is not documented. Not all students thrive in the open, free and sometime chaotic space of the garden. However, the majority of students in the program seem to experience a sense of wellbeing.