The policymaking conducted in the field of childhood through the lens of the child–nature relationship. Accordingly, this research seeks not only to critique social, cultural, educational, environmental, economic, and political policymaking with an emphasis on childhood, but also to propose strategies and solutions for reconnecting children with nature and enabling them to benefit from rich natural environments. Based on this problem statement, the main question of the present study is: How have social, cultural, educational, economic, political, and environmental policies-particularly those concerning childhood-approached the relationship between children and nature? What points and policies have they articulated regarding this relationship, and what have been the outcomes and consequences of those policies?
Method: To answer the above questions, this study employs a documentary research method. The dominant approach is “descriptive–analytical,” relying on library-based data collection conducted through reviewing and extracting information from sources relevant to the research topic. With an interdisciplinary approach, the research materials have been used so that through a careful and detailed review of the literature, studies, and existing policies, the researcher could refine the data to the extent possible, categorize them coherently and meaningfully, and ultimately provide a systematic description. Thereafter, the study critiques and examines the relevant policies and high-level documents, identifying challenges and criticisms raised against them. Finally, it presents recommendations to improve the current situation.
The documents and policies examined in this article were selected through the documentary method and by searching keywords such as “child,” “nature,” “environment,” “open space,” and “play.” In other words, the data were collected through keyword searches and then interpreted and analyzed. The reviewed documents include: the Fundamental Reform Document of Education, the Six National Development Plans (social, economic, and cultural), the Vision Document of the Islamic Republic of Iran for 2025, the National Cultural Engineering Map, the National Curriculum of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the National Document on the Rights of the Child and Adolescent, the Law on the Protection of Children and Adolescents, the Charter of the National Organization for Education and Training, the National Curriculum Document, the General Environmental Policies, and the Child-Friendly City program.
Findings:‌Analysis of  policies in Iranian society, with an emphasis on childhood, shows that these documents have not addressed the child–nature relationship (particularly in the form of direct and unmediated experience). Examination policymaking indicates that most of these documents fail to give serious attention to children and childhood, and none of them discusses children’s direct contact with nature, natural spaces designated for children, or children’s free play in natural environments.
In the documents produced by the Department of Environment, the focus is limited to environmental protection education for children. Likewise, municipal documents and programs-despite acknowledging children’s right to the city and the need to provide urban spaces for them-generally remain at the level of slogans and have rarely been implemented.
The neglect of the child–nature relationship in policymaking has contributed to shaping children in Iranian society as individuals confined to enclosed, artificial, and limited urban spaces, deprived of free and spontaneous play in natural settings. This is despite the fact that children’s experiences in nature help heal physical, psychological, and social disorders and strengthen various skills (Wilson, 1984). Free play in nature enhances children’s sense of wonder, creativity, and imagination, and fosters the internalization of an ethic of care and a sense of responsibility toward nature (Carson, 2023). Conversely, children’s absence from nature leads to a wide range of physical, psychological, and social harms and disrupts their developmental trajectory. It also reduces self-confidence, increases anxiety and worry, hinders emotional and social growth, contributes to social isolation and social anxiety, impairs relationship management and sound decision-making, limits self-knowledge and the discovery of personal abilities, and fosters indifference and alienation toward nature (Louv, 2006; Nabhan & Trimble, 1994).
Ultimately, based on the findings of this study and the critique of existing policies, several strategies may be proposed for improving policymaking related to children and ensuring their access to nature experiences, including:
Reframing perspectives on children and childhood;
Redirecting policies and programs toward providing direct nature experiences for children;
Grounding policymaking in systematic and targeted research on the child–nature relationship;
Establishing a High Council for Children to centralize related policies and programs;
Transforming school programs and environments to incorporate green spaces;
Shifting teachers’ roles from instructors to facilitators;
Providing natural spaces for children through various organizations;
Designing habitats and integrating natural elements within cities;
Revitalizing neighborhoods for children and planning for children’s return to their neighborhoods;
Fostering intergenerational interactions between children and the elderly in local spaces;