20%
only a minority of reviewed studies addressed restoration and education
Few studies linked psychological restoration to education
A systematic review of 46 peer-reviewed studies on psychological restoration in natural settings, tied to targets of the 2030 Agenda, found that while 52% of studies linked restoration to mental health outcomes, only 20% addressed connections to education. This makes education the second most examined theme, but a clear minority compared with mental health.
For those designing schools, outdoor learning spaces or green campuses, this points to a research gap rather than an established evidence base linking restorative natural settings to educational outcomes. The mental health pathway is well documented; the educational pathway, involving learning that shifts perspective and builds ecological awareness, remains comparatively unexplored and cannot yet be treated as a design driver on its own.
The evidence for the proportion itself is well supported, since it is a direct count from a systematic review of 46 studies. It reflects how often a topic came up across the literature; the strength or direction of any link between restoration and educational outcomes was not assessed here. The scope is limited to peer-reviewed studies indexed in Scopus and Web of Science.
Education
While 52% of the studies reported links between psychological restoration and mental health outcomes, fewer addressed connections to education (20%), sustainability (7%) or peace building (2%).
Used in these factorsheets
Nature views probably raise fascination.
Nature views probably raise restorative behaviour.
Put to work
Architect
A nature view needs 35 per cent greenery to lift satisfaction
When the value engineering round opens and the glazing spec is first in line to be cut, you defend a nature view only by naming the effect figure that justifies it.
Asset manager
No certification premium attaches to the nature view on its own
A certification premium prices the whole label into rent and exit value, but it never tells you which single measure inside the building earned it.
Corporate real estate manager
Outward views reach staff cost through sleep and stress
Optimised daylight and views came with 37 minutes more sleep and 42 per cent higher cognitive scores, and a 2006 REHVA guidebook puts staff cost at 100 to 200 times a building's energy cost.
Developer and investor
No study ties a rent premium to the nature view
Nature views change measurable outcomes in people; the link from there to rent stays a category average, not a per-building figure.
HR manager
A view of nature restores attention
Berman and colleagues validated attention restoration on a backwards digit-span task, and cognitive control is rated strong; on retention there is one study, and it dates from 1998.
Marketing manager
A nature-view claim is safe only as a description of the view
For the real estate marketing lead: a nature-view study measured 37 extra minutes of sleep under one tested condition, and this worksheet sets the boundary an exposé sentence must keep to pass an advertising review.
Workplace strategist
Nature views lower reported stress and sharpen attention
Boubekri and colleagues measured 37 more minutes of sleep and a 42 per cent gain on cognitive scores: a capex paper defends that figure only by naming the author and the limit a finance committee will probe first.
Related studysheets
3 out of 3
plant enrichment improved outcomes in every experiment
In all 3 field experiments, offices enriched with plants showed enhanced outcomes compared with lean offices
Marlon Nieuwenhuis et al., 2014, Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied
+0.10 SD
better overall cognitive function after ecological zone policy
NKEFZs implementation improved overall cognitive function by 0.0993 standard deviations
Jia Tang et al., 2025, Social Science & Medicine
82.0%
high perceived impact of environmental design on children's behavioural and academic outcomes
Inclusive architectural design is perceived to strongly support behavioural and academic outcomes for children with neurodevelopmental disorders
Heba M. Abdou et al., 2026, Architecture
Read more in
Education Which classroom conditions affect learning
Where the evidence on classroom air, acoustics, light and green is strong, where it is thin, and what to measure before the build.
Workplace Four design choices that change office work
Even under conditions counted as acceptable, air quality takes 5 to 10 per cent off performance. Speech disrupts memory in the open plan, light shifts sleep and circadian timing and the view evidence stays thin.
Workplace