Abstract Reconnecting young people with nature is increasingly recognized as critical for human and planetary well‐being, yet opportunities for youth to form these connections are shrinking. Emotional affinity for nature (AFN) represents one pathway for strengthening these connections, supporting ongoing nature engagement and pro‐environmental attitudes and behaviours. Within this context, overnight summer camps may play a valuable role in fostering AFN in young people—especially those with limited access to nature in their home communities. Yet little is known about the conditions under which summer camps support the development of AFN. This study combined survey data from 323 youth attending 35 overnight camps across the United States ( M age = 9.6) with national spatial data on community green space. Using ordinary least squares regressions with standard errors clustered within camps, we (1) examined the role of emotionally meaningful experiences —operationalized as a combination of youth‐reported belonging and engagement—in predicting shifts in AFN, and (2) assessed the degree to which youths' everyday access to nature —operationalized as percent green space in youths' home communities—moderated this association, accounting for baseline AFN and demographic covariates. Results show that meaningful camp experiences positively predicted post‐camp AFN and that the relation between meaningful camp experiences and AFN did not depend on youths' everyday access to nature. Results were robust across various model specifications, including change score models, models excluding youth with high levels of pre‐camp AFN, and those that considered parent‐reported AFN in place of the youth‐reported measure. Findings suggest that overnight summer camps that offer youth a sense of belonging and engagement can cultivate their emotional connection to nature, even when they return to communities with limited green space after camp. As opportunities for outdoor engagement continue to decline in many communities, camps may offer a critical intervention point for fostering AFN and environmental stewardship in the next generation. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Spielvogel et al. (Wed,) studied this question.