Database

This paper highlights the urgent need to integrate nature into city design to support both biodiversity and human well-being. It emphasizes the importance of everyday experiences with nature, not just urban greening, to benefit both people and nonhuman species. Achieving this requires a shift in thinking, treating nature as a development opportunity and avoiding biodiversity trade-offs. The approach involves using biodiversity-sensitive design and fostering collaboration among ecologists, planners, and designers. Key challenges include managing conflicts between nature and people, as well as addressing social and political differences. Research and practical interventions can help create more resilient and nature-friendly urban environments.

The purpose of this qualitative constructivist grounded theory study was to develop a model to explain potential mechanisms of change in the nature-based pediatric occupational therapy process, based on analysis of the perspectives of occupational therapy practitioners currently engaging in nature-based practice with children.

This study explores how children experience two different locations at Oslo University Hospital in terms of their architectural design and emotional potential. Overall, the children prefer architectural spaces with direct contact to nature or design that mimics natural environments, in addition to being exciting, friendly, and intimate.

This study explores how Earth-centered experiential group counseling supports Native American university students in deepening cultural awareness, identity, and connection to nature. Through group sessions and focus groups, participants engaged in activities rooted in NA traditions, revealing shared themes of interconnectedness, belonging, and tribal identity. The findings highlight the power of culturally grounded group work in fostering healing and self-understanding.

Spending time in nature is known to boost well-being—but what about the scents we may not even notice? A new study highlights how natural odors, from pine trees to plant-emitted chemicals, could influence our health in profound ways. As pollution and biodiversity loss threaten these "smellscapes," scientists are calling for a deeper exploration of nature’s olfactory impact.

As the planet faces rapid ecological shifts, our sense of smell—often overlooked—plays a vital role in how these changes impact human health and well-being. This article explores how natural scents influence emotions, cognition, social connection, and even inflammation. Drawing on diverse scientific perspectives, the authors present a new framework linking olfaction, nature, and human health—offering fresh insights for policy and environmental decision-making.

This study explores the impact of an Environmental Education Program designed to strengthen environmental values and knowledge among preadolescents in Kerala, India. Using a combination of empathy-building stories, reflective thinking exercises, and information on environmental issues, the program was tested on students aged eleven to twelve. The results showed that these methods positively influenced students' understanding, emotions, and behaviors related to the environment. The study suggests that combining emotional, cognitive, and reflective approaches can make indoor environmental education more effective.

Ecosystems play an important role in supporting public health, but their connection to social health needs is not fully understood. This study examined how natural ecosystems like forests and rangelands, and artificial ones like parks and gardens, contribute to five dimensions of health: physical, mental, spiritual, social, and environmental. Results showed that natural ecosystems best support mental, spiritual, and environmental health, while artificial ecosystems are more effective for physical and social health due to accessibility. The study suggests improving urban ecosystems by enhancing elements such as silence and beauty to better support mental well-being.

Beekeeping may offer more than environmental benefits, as it can also positively influence human wellbeing. This study examines how caring for bees affected the emotional, psychological, and social lives of Irish farmers involved in the Let it Bee project. In-depth interviews revealed five key themes, including pride in environmental efforts, stronger connections with nature and community, a sense of purpose, personal growth, and the use of individual strengths. The results suggest that beekeeping can support both ecological sustainability and human health.

Greenspace is a critical feature of a healthy built environment. Exposure to greenspace fosters improved wellness and health among living organisms. This paper introduces the Health: Epigenetics, Greenspace, and Stress (HEGS) conceptual model which seeks to provide greater understanding of these processes and to identify key gaps in the field regarding the epigenetic influences underlying how greenspace exposure impacts stress and health.

How do we help seriously and chronically ill children and adolescents find hope and courage to get through illness and treatment? How do we greet them? What surroundings and activities do we offer them? And how may these greetings, surroundings, and activities facilitate a belief in their own capacity to help themselves? The Outdoor Care Retreat is a cabin bordering the hospital ground created to meet the needs of admitted patients and their families.

This study investigated how a 40-minute walk in nature versus an urban environment affects attention and brain activity. Participants who walked in nature reported a more restorative experience and showed enhanced neural activity related to executive control, as measured by EEG. In contrast, the urban group did not show this neural improvement. These results suggest that time in nature can boost executive attention at the neural level, offering insight into how natural environments help restore mental focus.

This study explores how creativity can help preschool children develop environmental awareness and take action for sustainability. Conducted in a Greek kindergarten, the research used an art-based project to encourage young learners to identify environmental problems at their school. Visual art served both as a teaching method and a research tool. The results showed that creative thinking was strengthened when students were given space to explore ideas and work together. The study highlights the importance of using imaginative and reflective teaching methods, supported by an encouraging teacher, to foster creativity in early environmental education.

Large-scale commercial farmers and small scale “hobby” farmers engage in growing crops for subsistence and survival for themselves, their families, communities, and beyond. We suggest there may be a collective physical, emotional, and spiritual draw to farming that is interwoven with occupational engagement. With an increasing interest in community practice as well as environmental and social sustainability, occupational therapy’s role in supporting the farming community is important to consider.

Place attachment and meaning are important, though rarely acknowledged, contributors to personal mental health and community cohesion.

This study highlights the wide-ranging health and cognitive benefits of spending time in nature, such as improved mental health and executive function. However, most research has focused on limited populations and overlooks cultural differences in how nature is perceived. As a result, implementing nature-based policies can be challenging in diverse communities. The authors recommend that such policies be flexible and equity-focused to meet varying community needs while maximizing the benefits of nature contact.

Concern about humanity’s detachment from nature has spawned a global push to increase the availability of green spaces within cities.

The conflict and discord between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois regarding their premise and approach to racial uplift for Black Americans have been very well documented.

This study compares the experience of therapy in the Outdoor Care Retreat (OCR)—an architect-designed cabin in a natural setting behind the Oslo University Hospital in Norway—with therapy in a traditional hospital setting.

A trauma-informed approach to disaster recovery recognizes the potential impacts of trauma, promotes resilience to protect against retraumatization, and can support catering the needs of disaster survivors in affected communities.