Abstract

The outdoors is an ecosystem of places in the open air where older people connect to nature, to one another and to themselves. Activities in the outdoors range from walking, gardening and fishing through to adventure activities such as windsurfing and backpacking. Natural landscapes provide multiple opportunities for engagement that contribute to active lifestyles, increased life satisfaction and improved health for older people (Alves & Sugiyama, 2006). Both individual agency (e.g. motivation) and social structure (e.g. neo-liberalism) are seen to work in tandem to frame an outdoor lifestyle.