Rediscovering Nature in Everday… | Healthy Trees, Healthy Lives

Rediscovering Nature in Everday Settings: Or How to Create Healthy Environments and Healthy People

The two studies described indicate that the experience of nature in everyday settings is important to the health and well-being of adults and children. It is suggested that researchers and practitioners from public health, ecology, urban planning, and other relevant disciplines collectively reexamine how to improve the quality of, and access to, nature in cities which will have multiple co-benefits for both public and ecosystem health.

Maller, CJ, Henderson-Wilson, C, Townsend, M

Ecohealth, 6, Mar. 2010, pp. 553-556

Findings from two Australian research projects. Incorporation of nature into children’s everyday settings appears to have significant outcomes for health and well-being, in particular mental health. Results of the second study showed that residents who lived in developments that contained natural elements were typically more satisfied and felt their quality of life was better than those who had limited or very little access to nature.