Students’ agency in campus greenspace: How guerrilla use informs the design of university greenspace

University students increasingly face pressures related to mental health, cognitive fatigue, and reduced nature connectedness, challenges intensified by global concerns such as climate change and biodiversity loss. Evidence shows that greenspaces can help mitigate these pressures by supporting restoration, social interaction, and everyday wellbeing. Although research highlights the importance of flexibility, sensory richness, and user agency in greenspace design, less is known about how these dynamics operate in university settings. This study addresses this gap by examining how students use campus greenspaces and introducing a new concept to explain these behaviours. This study synthesises existing literature into a three-part activity framework, necessary, individual, and social activities, and applies it to observations of greenspaces at two universities in Bristol, England. Findings show that students engage in all three activity types, shaped by spatial attributes such as location, vegetation, and the availability of flexible or movable seating. The study also introduces the term “guerrilla use,” describing students’ informal appropriation of edges, steps, lawns, and movable furniture to optimise comfort, privacy, shade, or sociability. By foregrounding guerrilla use as a distinct pattern and linking it to spatial conditions, the study expands understanding of how design features shape student engagement with campus environments. It offers an empirical contribution by showing how students adapt and personalise greenspaces, and a theoretical contribution through the introduction of guerrilla use as an interpretive concept. The findings provide practical insights for planners and designers seeking to create campus environments that encourage lingering, support wellbeing, and foster interaction with nature.