Nature, Psychological Restoration and Health - Presented by IAAP Division 4

Nature, Psychological Restoration and Health - Presented by IAAP Division 4

Reflecting the increasing concern about the negative consequences of population growth, urbanization and lifestyle changes, the volume of research on health benefits of nature experience has expanded dramatically in recent years.

Around the world today, researchers in environmental psychology and allied disciplines such as landscape architecture, environmental epidemiology, medical geography, and leisure research are studying how different forms of contact with nature might promote mental, physical and social health and well-being.

In explaining how nature experience can be beneficial, much of this work refers to the opportunities that natural settings offer for forms of restorative experience, most notably recovery from stress and mental fatigue.

This restoration pathway may also relate to other pathways between natural environments and health, including physical activity and social contacts.

Learn more about this emerging and exciting area. In this webinar, Professor Terry Hartig, President of Division 4, will cover some of the basic concepts and theories of this research area, consider different kinds of evidence concerning the restoration pathway developed regarding basic processes, therapeutic strategies, and public health applications. He will also consider some significant research issues that remain understudied, such as the possibility of collective outcomes.

Presented on August 22, 2019