The Outdoor Innovation Space, an Innovation Space that is literally out of the box
Harness the healing power of nature in your remote work
Green areas are almost to be found everywhere – in more urban areas you’ll find a yard, a garden, a seashore or a park around the corner that could suit as an innovation space. In rural areas you are probably close to open landscapes or forested areas. The Nordic countries’ Right to Roam means that you are free to walk and spend time in nature and the forests.
There are scientifically proven effects on body and mind of spending time in green environments that seem quite convincing on several aspects. After just 15-20 minutes in a natural surrounding your blood pressure and stress hormone levels decreases, your pulse slows down and muscle tension releases. Nature visits also have a positive effect on our executive functions.
Cognitive work becomes more efficient in the heart of nature
The executive functions of our brain enable our advanced thinking skills, which makes us capable of directing and sustaining attention and redirect attention between things, planning ahead and executing our planned actions, resist impulses and reason logically in several steps. Some things seem to be more restorative for our executive functions than others, these are nature experiences, physical activity, to feel connected to others and a good night’s sleep.
Walking in an environmental surrounding can be a boost for creativity as physical activity affects the ability to manage the flow of ideas. Divergent thinking, an important part of creative processes, is improved by physical activity.
There is also evidence of social interaction getting smoother if having a meeting in natural surroundings. Discussions might flow more freely, and you might feel that it is easier to give voice to different ideas during brainstorming sessions.
There is a lot of potential for using an innovation space that is easily available, free, and comes with effects that might boost innovations, as well as general health and wellness-related effects. Yet, the benefits for Business Development and RDI-related work are not fully utilized today.
An obstacle for outdoor office activities is the common view of what work should look like: inside and preferably sitting down in front of a screen or in a meeting room. Legitimizing that it is also possible to process, innovate, collaborate and create in other ways is a way forward.
How to find the best Outdoor Innovation Space?
The best Outdoor Innovation Space is the one that is close to you and that you easily can use for the outdoor office activities that fits you and your organization best. This might be meetings of different kind, planning sessions, brainstorming or perhaps a session on your own for structuring your work week or a problem-solving walk when you get stuck with a challenge. This is also the most innovative aspect of the Outdoor Innovation Space – it is literally out of the box.
The Outdoor Innovation Space administered by Centria University of Applied Sciences is funded by the European Social Fund 2025-2026 through the project “Innovativa lösningar för framtidens kontor”, after this facilitation services will be available through Centria UAS.
References and more to read on the topic:
Lavikainen et al. (2024). The impact of chronic conditions on productivity-adjusted life years (PALYs) in both the workplace and household settings in the general adult population in Finland. Value in Health https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2024.09.017.
Oppezzo & Schwartz (2014). Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking. Journal of Experimental Psychology Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking
Outdoor Office Day https://www.outdoorofficeday.nl/
Pasanen (2020). Everyday physical activity in natural settings and subjective well-being. Direct connections and psychological mediators. Diss. Tampere University Dissertations 187. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-1378-4
Peterson Troije (2024). Turning Work Inside Out – Exploring Outdoor Office Work. Mälardalen Universtity Doctoral Dissertation 405. https://diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1848286/FULLTEXT02.pdf
Peterson Troije et al. (2021). Outdoor Office Work – An Interactive Research Project Showing the Way Out. Frontiers in Psychology. Frontiers | Outdoor Office Work – An Interactive Research Project Showing the Way Out
Söderlund et al. (2023). The outdoor office: a pilot study of environmental qualities, experiences of office workers, and work-related well-being. Frontiers in Psychology. Frontiers | The outdoor office: a pilot study of environmental qualities, experiences of office workers, and work-related well-being
van den Bosch & Bird (Eds.) (2018). Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.
van den Bosch & Ode Sang (2017). Urban Natural Environments as Nature-Based Solutions for Improved Public Health—A Systematic Review of Reviews. Environmental Research. Urban natural environments as nature-based solutions for improved public health – A systematic review of reviews – ScienceDirect
WHO Regional Office for Europe (2021). Nature, biodiversity and health: an overview of interconnections. Nature, biodiversity and health: an overview of interconnections
Williams et al. (2018). Conceptualising creativity benefits of nature experience: Attention restoration and mind wandering as complementary processes. Journal of Environmental Psychology. Conceptualising creativity benefits of nature experience: Attention restoration and mind wandering as complementary processes – ScienceDirect
Sara Kåll-Fröjdö is an RDI-expert at Centria UAS. She has a Master’s degree in Education and a Master’s degree in Science, and is specialized in facilitating outdoor learning experiences for different kind of groups in different kind of natural environments during all seasons, in a Nordic climate.
About the writers
Maria Hofman-Bergholm is an RDI-expert at Cenria UAS. She has a Master’s degree in Education and a Licentiate of Philosophy with focus on environmental education. Maria has also studied nutritional counseling, health knowledge and mental training and can contribute with a broad knowledge of sustainability, sustainable lifestyle and stress management.
