Changes in recreation participation in natural environments after immigration among immigrants in the U.S., Netherlands, Germany and Poland¹

¹Paper submitted for publication in Leisure Studies.

Abstract

This study examines the use of natural environments for recreation among immigrants and factors that led to changes in their use of natural environments between home and host countries. The data were collected through individual interviews with 13 Latino and 13 Chinese immigrants in the U.S., 15 Ukrainian and 11 Vietnamese immigrants in Poland, 9 Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands and 9 Turkish immigrants in Germany. The findings show that changes in the use of natural environments for recreation are related to different types of nature in home and host countries, access-related issues, quality of natural environments, work focus among immigrants, transportation problems, cultural differences, lack of knowledge of opportunities, life stage and ageing. Based on the findings, we develop a model that outlines different types of interaction with natural environments among immigrants following their settlement in the host countries.

Keywords:

• Natural environments
• outdoor recreation
• immigration
• ethnic and racial minorities

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge help from three research assistants who participated in this project: Mariela Fernandez, Ella Duan, and Jan Neumann.

Notes

¹ Paper submitted for publication in Leisure Studies.