Outdoors as Your Office

Developing a conscious business step by step. Building a solid base. Part two. Can nature-conscious mindset exist without spending time in nature, knowing your employees spend most of their week indoors at the workplace and home? Bringing your office outdoors might be the curious step towards a more healthier, productive and connected to nature organisation to transcend common sustainability agenda.

Studies show that taking office work outdoors positively impact person’s wellbeing and recovery, evokes “feel of freedom”, increases creativity and productivity, leads to more open conversations and better communication, and most importantly connects us to nature through senses, appreciation, emotions and potentially helps to increase our nature connectedness. How can you or your organisation implement this practise? We want to share our reflections on research, personal experience and invite you to bring the change in your office space. It’s perfect time to do so, warm season is almost here.

What is outdoor office?
Outdoor office is simply an act of doing your regular work activities outdoors, those can vary in types.  Analysing scientific research paper “Outdoor Office Work – An Interactive Research Project Showing the Way Out” , outdoor office work activities were quite broadly outlined and explained in detail. The categories of work activities included:

Collaborative: outdoor meetings, while sitting or walking.

Individual: outdoor office when bringing office outdoors and simply working with or without the laptop, or other tasks such as reading, walking to think about some project, problem or idea by yourself.

Outward facing: outdoor learning when seeking to learn on field trips or education style visits, and pop out service when changing certain location of service to outdoors.

In-between: outdoor transportation when using a bike or walking, and talking outdoor breaks when getting outside of the office building.

Our founder’s research, experience and feedback.

Bonethica founder Rugilé Juodzbalyte has engaged in the practise of outdoor office work throughout August and September of 2024. During that time, she was doing her masters research studying nature connectedness development in organisations. One of the potential approaches that can be taken to increase employee connectedness to nature is by spending time outdoors during the working hours. Although “bringing work outdoors” was not the most popular action among organisations compared to “taking break outdoors”, by no surprise, the subject was discussed in the study and brought some interesting insights. Rugile has successfully defended her master’s research in January of 2025. In studying ways of approaching organisation’s environments for nature connectedness, a gathered data additionally showed that there are some considerations when developing outdoor work opportunities in the organisations. For example, the importance of types and variety of outdoor spaces available to employees. Main categories or the radius that were identified for nature connectedness development through organisations’ environments when practising outdoor office work were:

Private, built-in outdoor environments: for personalised sensory intake, private and secure individual tasks, collaborative work while sitting and in-between work for breaks.

Open to public landscape and nature elements around the office building: for individual and collaborative work while sitting, and in-between work for breaks.

Green and blue spaces within 15min walking distance from the office: for individual and collaborative work while walking, and in-between work for breaks.

Workplace area surrounded by nature: for in-between work for transportation on bike or walking.

Hopefully soon Rugilé will have an opportunity to share her master’s research with the community of scientists and everyone who is interested in the topic of nature connectedness in organisations. For the time being, here is her reflection on outdoor office work experience:

“My chosen outdoor office space was mostly a botanical garden. I have tried different approaches each time, whether it was sitting in front of the table or on the ground, or leaning back to the tree. While I was working on my laptop I noticed the flow of productivity and increased creativity, as if I had less tension and more energy doing the task. I was regularly visited by the insects and small animals that increased the sense of connection with nature. Also, I was experiencing the weather conditions, such as wind gusts while sitting above the tree, water movements in the pond, warmth of sunshine, the feel of the grass barefoot and the uneven ground beneath the sitting area… Working on my laptop in the garden and taking walk breaks has allowed me to notice nature from closer perspective as well. I can’t wait for the warmer weather and to go back to my outdoor office.”

Let’s try it together.
This year Outdoor Office Day will be celebrated on June 12th, 2025. The idea that was born in the Amsterdam now acknowledged internationally.

Here in Lithuania, there is also a social project “NeBiuras” that has started in the Summer 2021, with a concept “Closer to Nature” for people to work and spend time in nature and now keeps reoccurring. Be on the look out. Each May in Vilnius comes back as a mobile outdoor work station designed from irregularly shaped wooden structures and placed in the city centre green area near Neris river and Baltasis bridge.

Let’s get in touch! Let us know if you or your organisation tried before or need a consultation to practise outdoor office work as part of your “beyond sustainability” towards nature-connected organisation agenda. Send us a message at hello@bonethica.com and/or tag us on social media @bonethica.

Here at Bonethica we help with holistic sustainability development. We support businesses that create with other’s in mind. We nurture brands to find ways it can strengthen its core to walk the Earth’s steps. Neither behind, neither close by, but – together.