Download Recreational users` understandings of outdoor environments.

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Difference between ways of knowing and understandings…
Humans use outdoor environments for a variety of reasons and a variety of activities. Through their
particular usages of the environments they are often exposed to a variety of ways of “knowing”
outdoor environments. “Understandings” of particular outdoor environments is different to this
concept though and you need to be able to differentiate between the two.
Ways of knowing:
- Experiential knowledge
- Environmental history
- Natural history
Ecological perspective
Social perspective
Economic perspective
These are the basically the ways in which we come to see outdoor environments through historical
knowledge and a variety of perspectives.
Understandings on the other hand, are reliant on how you interact with an outdoor environment
and what you have gained from your ‘experiential knowledge’ (Knowledge gained for participating in
an experience, eg. If you go for a swim at the beach you would learn about the coldness of the water
during winter months ect.) specific to a particular style of interaction.
A brief recreation based example:
Mountain bikers – understand that rock surfaces are more stable than sandy areas due to needing to
experience maintaining a fast and stable line on courses. They understand the foliage of smaller
bushes is much more flexible than that of thicker eucalypts due to riding through them. They
understand that after a cold morning dew can effect the amount of grip their wheels so they opt for
thicker tyres.
Now research what each of these groups may understand about specific environments due to the needs
or aims of their activity. You need to detail 3 things they may understand about a particular environment
and why they would understand this..
Rock climber
Mountaineer (Everest)
White water rafter
Now for your personal experiences (can be Surfing at Anglesea/Orienteering at Brimbank or anything else
you’ve done) , describe what how you have come to understand about the particular environments due
to your specific recreational view point.