Restorative environments on the university campus: a study on the person-environment relationship at the University of Brasilia
Environmental Education; Stress; Subjective Well-Being; Continuing Teacher Training; Restorative Environments.
Stress is a psychophysiological response to a stimulus that requires personal resources in the face of specific daily demands. At high levels it leads to physical and mental exhaustion, with consequences such as the decrease in the quality of life and the subjective well-being of individuals. These personal resources need to be reestablished, so that the perception of subjective well-being at the affective, cognitive, behavioral and physiological levels is maintained. This could be through the aesthetic appreciation of certain environments, especially those configured with natural elements. In this sense, it is expected that the experience of connection with nature can reestablish the well-being of subjects who self-report high levels of stress and consequently interference in their quality of life. This study aims to provide restorative experiences of stress and subjective well-being for teachers of basic education in continuing education at the University of Brasilia, using the natural space of the university campus as a restorative environment. To this end, the exploratory sequential mixed method, structured in three phases, will be used: the first will apply a survey composed of stress perception scales-10 and subscale 2 of subjective well-being followed by sociodemographic data. In the second phase will be developed experiential workshops in the Darcy Ribeiro campus, space used as a restorative environment. In the third and last phase, survey will be reapplied for participants who complete the second phase, in order to verify that there was a significant change regarding the variables stress and quality of life. It is expected to contribute to the restoration of subjective wellbeing and the reduction of stress levels, favoring the participants' academic path, as well as their professional performance. Finally, it is expected to emphasize the potential of the university campus as a restorative environment and to foster the use of outdoor spaces by campus goers, especially university students, whether undergraduate or graduate.