the mission for GFN Wild Thing, July 6-8, industrial estate Kings Cross

1. THE BRIEF
FIRST THE PROBLEM -> WHAT IS THE CRISIS?
Children are increasingly obese, depressed and out of control
In the UK, we have the unhappiest kids in the western world
Children spend much less time outdoors - we think there is a link
1. 80,000 children have severe clinical depression and 1/10 have mental health problems (3 in every classroom)
2. 11 year olds’ common sense appreciation of the world and how it works has declined significantly over the last 20
years. 11-years-olds are scoring 3 years behind their counterparts in 1990. Modern 11-year-olds understand the
world like 8-years-olds from 20 years ago.
3. Screen-based entertainment at home means children are deprived of the first-hand experience necessary to get
this proper understanding of the world.
4. An increasingly unstable family life adds to their unhappiness. A recent advert from JP Morgan portrayed missing
children’s bed times as a status symbol – a sign that you are ‘investing in the future’.
5. The World Health Organisation expects that by 2020, neuropsychiatric disorders in children will swell by 50%
compared to other health issues.
st
6. A recent UNICEF report concludes that out of 25 countries in the EU, the UK scores 21 in a survey of childhood
well-being. Only the ex-Soviet states score lower. That means unhappy kids.
7. And look at what’s happening to teenagers. You can see the massive increases in drug and substance abuse,
along with binge drinking, eating disorders, self-harm and suicide.
THE SOLUTION
There is no simple cause of this epidemic of childhood woes. But one change is really noticeable.
The time children spend outdoors has significantly decreased in that time. It is incredibly difficult for modern
children to develop a connection to the natural world. We think there is a link.
Less than 10% of children play in natural places today compared to 40% 20 years ago. According to brain scientists,
child-development experts, play gurus and some of our personal experiences as dads, children are calmest, most
focused and stimulated when outdoors. Research clearly shows that undirected play is best for healthy development,
and that is most likely to happen outdoors.
So all the scientific evidence points to the conclusion that time spent in outdoor, undirected play is hugely beneficial to
development. And time spent on the screen or playing indoors – in other words time spent or playing in a highly
directed (and mediated) way leads to an ossification of thought patterns.
There is a huge and growing body of research showing multiple physical and psychological benefits to children, and
adults, from time spent in nature. Plus, affinity to nature has wider social benefits. Individuals are calmer, happier and
better behaved, value and so take steps to protect nature and are healthier, so creating less burden on others.
So why is nature off the menu? Why isn’t nature selling?
Because we’ve put some pretty serious barriers in place between kids and nature.
Generation by generation, children have become increasingly dislocated from nature and the outdoors by these
barriers:

2. THE BARRIERS
BARRIER 1: PARENTS AND WHAT THEY DO TO THEIR CHILDREN
Parents are more risk-averse in many ways:
We worry about stranger danger – and the media is obsessed with paedophiles
We worry about their physical safety on roads from cars and from crime
We are more indoor-oriented ourselves
We’re much less knowledgeable about nature – many of us know only a fraction of what our parents know about the
natural world
BARRIER 2: THERE ARE MANY ALTERNATIVE THINGS FOR CHILDREN TO DO
There’s been a huge increase in the availability, the marketing and the uptake of the killer modern attention grabbers –
TV, the internet, gaming, mobiles
Online social networking has replaced face-to-face connection with peers
BARRIER 3: THE AVAILABLE SPACE
Green space is shrinking – empty spaces and playing fields are sold off, there are increasing restrictions on what
children are allowed to do in parks and on the streets
Young people are seen as a danger, a threat. Their space is restricted and so they play at home, on screens
BARRIER 4: COMMERCE
Material values permeate society
Focus has shifted from activity in nature to acquiring stuff and being seen online
Health and safety and litigious culture permeates schools, play schemes and communities
There has been a massive increase in the advertising that invades children’s lives
We have to bust through these barriers and get children outside.
THE MISSION
Our mission is to sell the outdoors to children and their parents. We sell children every product under the sun. Now
let’s sell the sun itself.
We need to get more children outdoors – they need to increase the time they spend under the sky versus under a
roof. And, while they are out there, we need to try to make their experiences as rich and satisfying as possible.
Let’s get kids and their parents curious, excited and engaged with outdoor and wild play, discovery, learning, hanging
out, doing, making, inventing and re-connecting with nature, wild spaces and places in cities and beyond.
Our focus to start with is 8 to 12 yr olds and their parents
First we need to brand nature – to make it as shiny, dangerous, fun, illicit, must-have and cool as crisps, telly, games
and toys. But like yogurt, it needs to have added Vitamin D, so parents like it as well.
Second, we need to communicate the benefits of brand nature to UK kids, starting with 8 – 12-year-olds and their
parents.

3. Here are some questions for you to ponder as you crack into this awesome challenge….
What can we make and develop - communications and ideas - that can help nature compete with endless consumer
novelty, shiny gadgets and advertising and marketing messages?
How do we encourage wild play, discovery, experimentation and curiosity with nature even on an urban doorstep?
How do we re-engage kids and their parents in the inventiveness of the outdoors? The 'making’ potential of being
outside e.g how might we encourage a new culture of tree house building, camp and den-making?
How could we encourage parents to give their kids some time and space alone in natural spaces and wildness, to feel
safe with play that isn’t controlled and organised, where kids could wander out of sight...?
How can technology and other tools help parents and kids overcome some of both the real and perceived threats to
safety when heading outdoors including the big thorny issues like roads and stranger danger?
How might we nudge kids to become active advocates, appreciators, learners and nurturers of all things living versus
passive consumers of endless material-based experiences?
How can we make all of this as relevant to urban kids and communities as much as those living in more rural places?
WHAT WE NEED TO CREATE
A set of brand assets and a new way to express nature – things for David to explore with kids and parents
A brand identity for nature - design, language, behaviour, tone of voice, look and feel, experience
A compelling manifesto and web film stings for the brand
A portfolio of amazing products and services that nature offers – to help kids and their parents reconnect with nature
Communication ideas that can build awareness, excitement and encourage behaviour change
A web platform/digital space for the brand
Tactics and toolkit for building community and encouraging action – both on and offline
Social web presence and tactics
Media - outdoor/press ads
Hacks, stunts, experiential, activations etc
PR
How all the above builds a communication strategy, seeding and launch plan
Partnerships and funding to build a movement
Brand partnerships and sponsorships
Corporate and schools programs
Funding pitch for additional founding partners
Crowdfunding pitch for people to get behind the campaign
Technology and digital engagement to encourage a high nature/high tech way of living
How can we hack and visualise data creatively including biodiversity/wildlife/natural history/biology/climate and
beyond to prototype ideas that engage a wired generation to get out, explore, engage and ultimately love nature?
e.g. digital products and services – games and apps – that encourage high tech/high nature living –getting outside
e.g. opening up and hacking nature data sets to create apps that engage kids and parents – overcoming barriers
e.g. how can kids/parents start tracking nature in interesting ways to create citizen science opportunities

4. Appendix: SKYTIME IDEA
One initial app concept idea has a working title “Skytime”.
The idea is to build a brand for nature around time spent accessing and engaging with it, which necessitates spending
time out of doors, under the sky rather than under a roof/ceiling etc.
We could make ‘Skytime’ a social object: the thing around which conversations can take place, the MacGuffin the
story, the grit in the oyster, the foundation of offers and asks in a campaign.
Skytime starts from where our audience is. Children are fixated on using screen technology and on screen
applications. Let’s use that to interface their access to nature. We could engage both parents and children, by using
an app. The SKYTIME app.
•The app measures, facilitates and incentivises
- time spent outdoors
- and the nature-quality of time spent outdoors
So for example a visit to a Formula One race-track would be outdoors but the Nature content of the surroundings
would be low, and the engagement with nature low. A visit to a field of wheat would be ranked higher, but not as
highly as a game of hide and seek in some ancient woodland.