In urban areas, the implementation of schoolyard facilities (especially through the greening of these spaces) aims to promote children's contact with nature to improve well-being and increase their awareness of environmental preservation. In this study, we use the prospect of schoolyard landscaping in two French schools to conduct research on pupils’ relationship with nature and well-being at school. We explore cognitive and social mechanisms that affect children's perceptions and behaviour in their relationships with nature on a daily basis and in the school context, with a view toward implementing schoolyard designs. The research aims are (i) to gain a better understanding of the perceptions and uses that shape children's day-to-day interactions, (ii) to document their perceived well-being in the school environment, and (iii) to elicit pupils' views on changes to the school grounds, in order to better understand the characteristics and dynamics underlying the organisation of direct and sensitive relationships with nature. The results of this study are intended to contribute to an understanding of the issues, obstacles and levers involved in implementing schoolyard development projects, and to provide input for a reflective approach to these initiatives. The results show that children's daily experiences of nature are constructed at the convergence of direct contact with the environment and the social framework that supports these interactions. These experiences foster the construction of perceptions and links with the natural environment, which reciprocally feed into further experience. The presence of nature in school grounds directly promotes pupils' perceived well-being; a greater degree of experience and appreciation of nature positively influences it. We observe a lack of explicit recognition of nature's contribution to well-being and examine the social and contextual reasons behind this, as well as the impact on pupils' choices about schoolground planning. We then discuss the limits of urban policies based on schoolyard modifications and explore ways of including social-ecological relationships through children’s participation.
