Pulse Survey April-May 2022 - Our Lives Outdoors: Snapshot of Results

In this section, we asked the respondents about the time they spent and the activities they engaged in outdoors and in natural spaces. We were also interested in how they felt after being outdoors. Finally, we explored how the time the respondents spent outdoors changed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this survey, we defined the outdoors and natural spaces in Ireland as 'green' outdoor spaces in cities and towns (e.g. parks and urban green spaces), and in the countryside (e.g. mountains, forests or farmlands). It also included 'blue' outdoor spaces such as lakes, rivers and the open sea. Private and shared outdoor spaces such as gardens, patios, yards, balconies etc. were excluded from this section as they had a dedicated part in the survey later (see Gardening Activities chapter). 

The majority of participants (98%) liked spending time outdoors (Figure 3.1 and Table 3.1). The two main reasons reported were 'To get fresh air' (87%) and 'To enjoy nature' (85%; Table 3.2). For those who did not like spending time outdoors, the majority said this was because they preferred to spend time indoors (71%) or found it difficult to spend time outdoors for health or other reasons (44%; Table 3.2).

The most frequently visited outdoor spaces were 'Beach / other coastline / sea' (62%), 'Urban green space (such as a park, field or playground)' (59%), and 'River, lake or canal' (47%; Figure 3.2, Table 3.3).

The majority of respondents reported that, in the past six months, they spent time outdoors in natural spaces for recreational purposes on a daily (40%) or weekly (37%) basis (Figure 3.4, Table 3.6). The main reasons for spending this time outdoors were 'For mental health and well-being' (76%), 'For physical health and exercise' (75%), and 'To get fresh air' (73%; Table 3.7).

The majority of respondents (55%) reported spending more time outdoors since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost a third of the participants (28%) spent the same amount of time outdoors, and 17% spent less time outdoors (Figure 3.6 and Table 3.9). When asked about attitudes to natural spaces since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, of those who spent more time outdoors, 78% reported that they spent more time in natural spaces, 71% realised that being in natural spaces was important to their well-being, and 63% spent more time socialising in an outdoor setting. Over half of respondents (56%) reported discovering new natural spaces since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (Figure 3.7, Table 3.10).