Exploring barriers to engagement with the environment for ethnic minority communities

About the study

Research has shown the wide-ranging benefits of spending time in nature. However, access to the environment is not equal. Those from ethnic minority groups are less likely to visit National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty than those from White backgrounds. This research aimed to understand the barriers to engagement for three ethnic minority groups: Black British groups, Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups, and Central and Eastern European groups. The project consisted of a rapid evidence assessment and in-depth qualitative research (focus groups and depth interviews) with people from ethnic minority backgrounds. The research used a behavioural change lens to see to understand the barriers and enablers to engagement.

Findings

The existing evidence base pointed to a lack of diversity in visitors to the countryside. Findings from both the evidence review and the online qualitative research indicated that barriers to engagement occur at different points across the visitor journey: before visiting, while travelling to landscapes and during visits. Barriers were both structural and individual in nature and many of the identified barriers were interlinked and reinforced one another. ‘Visible’ minorities had unique experiences relating to anticipated or actual experiences of discrimination. Visitors from Muslim backgrounds also had specific needs related to their faith and could face additional barriers, such as a lack of spaces for prayer.

Barriers were mapped using the COM-B model seeks to explain behaviour in terms of three key mechanisms:

• Capability to visit landscapes was affected by a lack of awareness about protected landscapes, along with misconceptions about them. This was driven by a lack of clear and accessible information about how to access landscapes, what to do there, and how to navigate them. 
• Motivation was affected by perceptions about what protected landscapes had to offer, who they were for, and how safe and welcoming they were. These perceptions were in some instances informed by negative first-hand experiences, including experiences of racism. 
• Opportunities to visit protected landscapes were determined by how much time and money people had available, as well as whether they had people to go with. Features of infrastructure and the landscapes themselves could also limit opportunities, where transport options or facilities were not affordable or accessible

Stakeholders and research participants suggested a range of potential interventions to address the barriers identified including: better promotion to diverse audiences; providing more accessible information; improving transport services; offering supported community visits; offering discounts; improving facilities and activities; addressing underrepresentation in the environment sector; and wider cross-cutting solutions to address systemic racism.

Methodology

The study adopted a mixed methods approach to answering the research questions:

• An initial scoping workshop with key stakeholders; 
• A rapid evidence assessment of existing literature; 
• In depth qualitative research with people from three ethnic minority backgrounds, and
• A final co-production workshop with stakeholder and participants to develop solutions.