Determinants of free time spent in forested areas by students of the Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska

• Authors: Dąbrowski, Dominik , Zbucki, Łukasz

Abstracts

EN

The aim of the paper is to assess the determinants of free time spent in forested areas by students of the Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska, Poland. In the paper, the authors have assessed the need to spend free time in forest, the role of the forest in the respondents’ lives, how much time they spend in this forest environment, and what forms of recreation they pursue here. The authors have also listed the benefits of spending free time in this environment, and what limitations young people have in organizing and using their free time in the forest. The above-mentioned aspects have been assessed analyzing the following factors: sex, place of residence, distance to the nearest forest. The empirical study was conducted in 2013, applying the diagnostic survey method and questionnaire form. The study was carried out on 400 students of the Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska, Poland. The university students mostly declared a will to spend their free time in forested areas, far away from the places they live in. The most popular forms of recreation were marches and strolls, and cycling. The respondents also displayed interest in other activities such as mushroom-picking and socializing in the forest. Spending time in the forest provides various benefits, as was listed by the youths surveyed, i.e. physical and mental recuperation of the body, the need for internal peace and rest, mood improvement, and the possibility of stress relief. While assessing the barriers to spending time in forested areas, the respondents pointed out fear of encountering wild animals and the possibility of being bitten by a tick. Quite an important barrier stated was the distance from the place of their residence to the nearest woods.

Keywords

EN

free-time determinants; recreation; forest; youth

• Publisher: Wyższa Szkoła Bankowa w Poznaniu
• Journal: Studia Periegetica
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 11(1)
• Pages: 75-87

Dates

published

2019-11-22

Contributors

author

Dąbrowski, Dominik

author

Zbucki, Łukasz