The following citations are of recent literature that show the benefits of nature or green space on human health and interactions. From mental health, to obesity rates, to pre- and post-natal health, to crime rates – the nearness of nature promotes positive outcomes in many aspects of human life. As the following papers show, application of nature does not necessarily need to be done in a directly therapeutic model. Scroll through the paper abstracts, use the citations to find the full articles, and be inspired to access nature and green space in your life and help others do the same.

Barton J, Pretty J (2010) What is the best dose of nature and green exercise for improving mental health? A multi-study analysis. Environmental science & technology 44:3947-3955

Abstract: 

Green exercise is activity in the presence of nature. Evidence shows it leads to positive short and long-term health outcomes. This multistudy analysis assessed the best regime of dose(s) of acute exposure to green exercise required to improve self-esteem and mood (indicators of mental health). The research used meta-analysis methodology to analyze 10 UK studies involving 1252 participants. Outcomes were identified through a priori subgroup analyses, and dose−responses were assessed for exercise intensity and exposure duration. Other subgroup analyses included gender, age group, starting health status, and type of habitat. The overall effect size for improved self-esteem was d = 0.46 (CI 0.34−0.59, p < 0.00001) and for mood d = 0.54 (CI 0.38−0.69, p < 0.00001). Dose responses for both intensity and duration showed large benefits from short engagements in green exercise, and then diminishing but still positive returns. Every green environment improved both self-esteem and mood; the presence of water generated greater effects. Both men and women had similar improvements in self-esteem after green exercise, though men showed a difference for mood. Age groups: for self-esteem, the greatest change was in the youngest, with diminishing effects with age; for mood, the least change was in the young and old. The mentally ill had one of the greatest self-esteem improvements. This study confirms that the environment provides an important health service.

Bell JF, Wilson JS, Liu GC (2008) Neighborhood greenness and 2-year changes in body mass index of children and youth. American J. Preventive Medicine 35:547-553

Abstract:

Background: Available studies of the built environment and the BMI of children and youth suggest a contemporaneous association with neighborhood greenness in neighborhoods with high population density. The current study tests whether greenness and residential density are independently associated with 2-year changes in the BMI of children and youth.

Methods: The sample included children and youth aged 3–16 years who lived at the same address for 24 consecutive months and received well-child care from a Marion County IN clinic network within the years 1996–2002 (n3831). Multiple linear regression was used to examine associations among age- and gender-specific BMI z-scores in Year 2, residential density, and a satellite-derived measure of greenness, controlling for baseline BMI z-scores and other covariates. Logistic regression was used to model associations between an indicator of BMI z-score increase from baseline to Time 2 and the above-mentioned predictors.

Results: Higher greenness was significantly associated with lower BMI z-scores at Time 2 regardless of residential density characteristics. Higher residential density was not associated with Time 2 BMI z-scores in models regardless of greenness. Higher greenness was also associated with lower odds of children’s and youth’s increasing their BMI z-scores over 2 years (OR0.87; 95% CI0.79, 0.97).

Conclusions: Greenness may present a target for environmental approaches to preventing child obesity.Children and youth living in greener neighborhoods had lower BMI z-scores at Time 2, presumably due to increased physical activity or time spent outdoors. Conceptualizations of walkability from adult studies, based solely on residential density, may not be relevant to children and youth in urban environments.

Berman MG, Kross E, Krpan KM, Askren MK, Burson A, Deldin PJ, Kaplan S, Sherdell L, Gotlib IH, Jonides J (2010) Interacting with nature improves cognition and affect for individuals with depression. J. Affective Disorders 140:300-305

Abstract:

Background: This study aimed to explore whether walking in nature may be beneficial for individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). Healthy adults demonstrate significant cognitive gains after nature walks, but it was unclear whether those same benefits would be achieved in a depressed sample as walking alone in nature might induce rumination, thereby worsening memory and mood.

Methods: Twenty individuals diagnosed with MDD participated in this study. At baseline, mood and short term memory span were assessed using the PANAS and the backwards digit span (BDS) task, respectively. Participants were then asked to think about an unresolved negative autobiographical event to prime rumination, prior to taking a 50-min walk in either a natural or urban setting. After the walk, mood and short-term memory span were reassessed. The following week, participants returned to the lab and repeated the entire procedure, but walked in the location not visited in the first session (i.e., a counterbalanced within-subjects design).

Results: Participants exhibited significant increases in memory span after the nature walk relative to the urban walk, p<.001, η_p²=.53 (a large effect-size). Participants also showed increases in mood, but the mood effects did not correlate with the memory effects, suggesting separable mechanisms and replicating previous work.

Limitations: Sample size and participants’ motivation.

Conclusions: These findings extend earlier work demonstrating the cognitive and affective benefits of interacting with nature to individuals with MDD. Therefore, interacting with nature may be useful clinically as a supplement to existing treatments for MDD.

Keywords: Major depressive disorder, Memory, Nature, Intervention, Mood, Attention restoration

Dadvand P, de Nazelle A, Figueras F, Basagaña X, Su J, Amoly E, Jerrett M, Vrijheid M, Sunyer J, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ (2012) Green space, health inequality and pregnancy. Environment International 40:110-115

Abstract:

Green spaces have been suggested to improve physical and mental health and well-being by increasing physical activity, reducing air pollution, noise, and ambient temperature, increasing social contacts and relieving psychophysiological stress. Although these mechanisms also suggest potential beneficial effects of green spaces on pregnancy outcomes, to our knowledge there is no available epidemiological evidence on this impact. We investigated the effects of surrounding greenness and proximity to major green spaces on birth weight and gestational age at delivery and described the effect of socioeconomic position (SEP) on these relationships. This study was based on a cohort of births (N = 8246) that occurred in a major university hospital in Barcelona, Spain, during 2001–2005. We determined surrounding greenness from satellite retrievals as the average of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in a buffer of 100 m around each maternal place of residence. To address proximity to major green spaces, a binary variable was used to indicate whether maternal residential address is situated within a buffer of 500 m from boundaries of a major green space. For each indicator of green exposure, linear regression models were constructed to estimate change in outcomes adjusted for relevant covariates including individual and area level SEP. None of the indicators of green exposure was associated with birth weight and gestational age. After assessing effect modification based on the level of maternal education, we detected an increase in birth weight (grams) among the lowest education level group (N = 164) who had higher surrounding NDVI (Regression coefficient (95% confidence interval (CI) of 436.3 (43.1, 829.5)) or lived close to a major green space (Regression coefficient (95% CI)) of 189.8 (23.9, 355.7)). Our findings suggest a beneficial effect of exposure to green spaces on birth weight only in the lowest SEP group.

Donovan GH, Michael YL, Butry DT, Sullivan AD, Chase JM (2011) Urban trees and the risk of poor birth outcomes. Health & Place 17:390-393

Abstract:

This paper investigated whether greater tree-canopy cover is associated with reduced risk of poor birth outcomes in Portland, Oregon. Residential addresses were geocoded and linked to classified-aerial imagery to calculate tree-canopy cover in 50, 100, and 200 m buffers around each home in our sample (n=5696). Detailed data on maternal characteristics and additional neighborhood variables were obtained from birth certificates and tax records. We found that a 10% increase in tree-canopy cover within 50 m of a house reduced the number of small for gestational age births by 1.42 per 1000 births (95% CI—0.11–2.72). Results suggest that the natural environment may affect pregnancy outcomes and should be evaluated in future research.

Gandelman N, Piani G, Ferre Z (2012) Neighborhood determinants of quality of life. J Happiness Studies 13:547-563

Abstract:

In this paper we analyze various dimensions of the quality of life in Uruguay. The results suggest that differences in overall happiness and in domain satisfaction can partly be explained by different levels of access to public goods. We find that the monetary equivalent value of public goods such as electricity, running water, sewage system, drainage, waste disposal system, street lighting, sidewalks in good condition, trees in the street, and the absence of air or noise pollution is considerable.

Keywords: Public goods, Neighborhood amenities, Quality of life

Lachowycz K, Jones AP (2011) Greenspace and obesity: a systematic review of the evidence. Obesity Reviews 12:e183-e189

Open-access available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2010.00827.x/full

Abstract:

Greenspace is theoretically a valuable resource for physical activity and hence has potential to contribute to reducing obesity and improving health. This paper reports on a systematic review of quantitative research examining the association between objectively measured access to greenspace and (i) Physical activity, (ii) Weight status and (iii) Health conditions related to elevated weight. Literature searches were conducted in SCOPUS, Medline, Embase and PYSCHINFO. Sixty studies met the inclusion criteria and were assessed for methodological quality and strength of the evidence. The majority (68%) of papers found a positive or weak association between greenspace and obesity-related health indicators, but findings were inconsistent and mixed across studies. Several studies found the relationship varied by factors such as age, socioeconomic status and greenspace measure. Developing a theoretical framework which considers the correlates and interactions between different types of greenspace and health would help study design and interpretation of reported findings, as would improvement in quality and consistency of greenspace access measures. Key areas for future research include investigating if and how people actually use greenspace and improving understanding of the mechanisms through which greenspace can improve health and, in particular, if physical activity is one such mechanism.

Mitchell R, Popham F (2008) Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: an observational population study. Lancet 372:1655-1660

Abstract:

Studies have shown that exposure to the natural environment, or so-called green space, has an independent effect on health and health-related behaviours. We postulated that income-related inequality in health would be less pronounced in populations with greater exposure to green space, since access to such areas can modify pathways through which low socioeconomic position can lead to disease. We classified the population of England at younger than retirement age (n=40813236) into groups on the basis of income deprivation and exposure to green space. We obtained individual mortality records (n=366348) to establish whether the association between income deprivation, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality (circulatory disease, lung cancer; and intentional self-harm) in 2001-05, varied by exposure to green space measured in 2001, with control for potential confounding factors. We used stratified models to identify the nature of this variation. The association between income deprivation and mortality differed significantly across the groups of exposure to green space for mortality from all causes (p<0.0001) and circulatory disease (p=0.0212), but not from lung cancer or intentional self-harm. Health inequalities related to income deprivation in all-cause mortality and mortality from circulatory diseases were lower in populations living in the greenest areas. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) for all-cause mortality for the most income deprived quartile compared with the least deprived was 1.93 (95% CI 1.86-2.01) in the least green areas, whereas it was 1.43 (1.34-1.53) in the most green. For circulatory diseases, the IRR was 2.19 (2.04-2.34) in the least green areas and 1.54 (1.38-1.73) in the most green. There was no effect for causes of death unlikely to be affected by green space, such as lung cancer and intentional self-harm. Populations that are exposed to the greenest environments also have lowest lewis of health inequality related to income deprivation. Physical environments that promote good health might be important to reduce socioeconomic health inequalities. 

Troy A, Grove JM, O’Neil-Dunne J (2012) The relationship between tree canopy and crime rates across an urban–rural gradient in the greater Baltimore region. Landscape and Urban Planning 106:262-270

Abstract:

The extent to which urban tree cover influences crime is in debate in the literature. This research took advantage of geocoded crime point data and high resolution tree canopy data to address this question in Baltimore City and County, MD, an area that includes a significant urban–rural gradient. Using ordinary least squares and spatially adjusted regression and controlling for numerous potential confounders, we found that there is a strong inverse relationship between tree canopy and our index of robbery, burglary, theft and shooting. The more conservative spatially adjusted model indicated that a 10% increase in tree canopy was associated with a roughly 12% decrease in crime. When we broke down tree cover by public and private ownership for the spatial model, we found that the inverse relationship continued in both contexts, but the magnitude was 40% greater for public than for private lands. We also used geographically weighted regression to identify spatial non-stationarity in this relationship, which we found for trees in general and trees on private land, but not for trees on public land. Geographic plots of pseudo-t statistics indicated that while there was a negative relationship between crime and trees in the vast majority of block groups of the study area, there were a few patches where the opposite relationship was true, particularly in a part of Baltimore City where there is an extensive interface between industrial and residential properties. It is possible that in this area a significant proportion of trees is growing in abandoned lands between these two land uses.

Childhood obesity is a significant problem in the United States, and school gardens have increased in popularity as part of the solution. The article, “Perceptions of Middle School Educators in Hawai‘i about School-based Gardening and Child Health,” by AT Ahmed et al., (2011) evaluates the perceived benefits that educators in Hawai’i have of school gardens. The interviews completed with these educators reveal the valuable nature of
school gardens to educate through experiential learning and promote healthy lifestyles. With that, the conversation around health needs to remain culturally appropriate as well as accessible to all socioeconomic classes.

Read the article here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3158450/pdf/hmj7007_suppl1_0011.pdf

Share with us in the comments section below! What are your thoughts about and experiences with school gardening programs? What sort of evaluations are being completed to judge their efficacy?

The review article, “What Is the Evidence to Support the Use of Therapeutic Gardens
for the Elderly?” by MB Detweiler et al. (2012), takes a comprehensive view of the
use of therapeutic gardens for the various ailments of our aging populations. This
article goes through the history of horticultural therapy and outlines the many documented physical and psychological benefits gardens can have on the elderly. MB Detweiler et al., takes the time to hone in on dementia patients and the therapeutic benefits wander gardens have for such patients, including a reduction in
anti-psychotic medications. The article concludes with a need for further quantitative studies to investigate gardens as a therapy for our aging populations.

Read the paper here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3372556/pdf/pi-9-100.pdf

What research are you seeing regarding gardens and the elderly? Where do you see a need for research in this area? Share your thoughts and experiences related to therapeutic gardens and elderly care in the comments below!

The article, “Connecting food environments and health through the relational nature of aesthetics: Gaining insight through the community gardening experience”, by J Hale et al. (2011), connects the idea of environmental aesthetics to how people interact with community gardens on every physical, social, and psychological level. This study used a qualitative approach to explore the aesthetic-health dimensions of community gardens in Denver, Colorado. The interviews with gardeners tell a thoughtful story of how they interact with their community garden spaces and what this means for their emotional, physical, social, and cultural health. Overall, this study works to promote community gardening as an activity that engages people in a way that will improve their overall well-being.

Read the article here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3114166/pdf/nihms294307.pdf

What are some of your thoughts about community gardens as it relates to human health? What are some new ideas you are working with related to gardening in public spaces? Share them with us in the comments section below!

The People Plant Council is an organization that finds strength in its international membership. This allows for a diverse exchange of ideas and research regarding people and plant relationships. It’s not hard to see this diversity by simply taking a look at our World Map. If you haven’t already, add yourself to the PPC World Map and begin connecting to other people-plant enthusiasts world wide. To get an idea of what PPC members are doing internationally, we interviewed a few PPC members to show simply how wonderfully diverse our membership is. Read about them below and feel inspired!

David Aldous, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Queensland, Australia

Are you originally from Australia?                                                                        Born in Sydney, New South Wales (N.S.W.), Australia and graduated with B.Agr.Sci. (Hons.) from the University of Sydney. Undertook graduate work at Cornell (MS) and Michigan State University (PhD). Spent most of my professional career as an academic and researcher in environmental horticulture at the University of Queensland (Queensland, Australia), Massey University (New Zealand) and the University of Melbourne (Victoria, Australia). Principal areas of research included plant growth under stressed environments, sport turf and amenity grasslands, urban park management, and horticultural therapy, in the environmental horticulture sector.

What do you currently do as a profession?
Retired in 2008 from the University of Melbourne. Currently Adjunct Associate Professor with the University of Queensland and hold an Honorary Professorship with the Univeristy of South Africa. Sessional staff member and researcher with the University of Queensland, and Griffith University in Queensland in the area of environmental horticulture. Research interests now broadened to include the measuring and managing the benefits of green open space in urban and peri-urban areas, and the sustainability of green open space undergoing climate change. Industry contributions include providing presentations at conferences and symposiums, being a consulting editor (HortScience), and contributing on the Executive Committee to the 2014 International Horticultural Congress)( http://www.ihc2014.org/)

How did you get interested in this field?
Initial invitation to speak on horticultural therapy at a Victorian Health Commission Meeting in Melbourne, Victoria in 1984. This extended into an elective as part of the B.Appl. Science (Horticulture) program at the University of Melbourne where students could also undertake their Horticultural Project in this area. In the 1980s-1990’s there where 5 viable horticultural therapy associations or their equivalent in N.S.W., Victoria, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory (A.C.T.) and Western Australia in a population of 20 milliom. Real interest started when the International People-Plant Symposium came to Sydney, N.S.W., Australia in 1998.

Do you have a favorite source, book, website, or journal that you always go to for work? If so, what is it? How did you originally find it?                                                     The favorite sources, books, websites and journal principally came out of the United State of America and the United Kingdom. The main driving force has been the website of the American Horticultural Therapy Association (http://ahta.org/). Originally found the website on Google and networked with organisations and individuals from Australasia, Europe and North America. In 2014 three volumes called “Horticulture: Plants for People and Places”, to be co-edited by G.R. Dixon and D.E. Aldous will be published. In Volume 2 called “Social Horticulture” there is the place of horticulture in meeting individual and community needs in social health, diet and health, public health, urban environmental health, and urban food security.

What is the primary challenge specific to your work as it relates to people-plant interactions?
Primary challenge is to ensure that any professional horticultural therapist has the practical experience and knowledge to be able to select appropriate plant material and /or activities/programs so they achieve the therapeutic and rehabilitative needs of the client group

What do you like most about what you do?
Gaining that rewarding feeling when a positive connection is made between the patient/client and the plant material/gardening activity where the goals have been established and achieved by the trained therapist.

What is your favorite plant and why?                                                               Basically a short growing food plant like peas, beans or radish. Crops can illustrate a number of activities that emulate life.

Masanori Kimura, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture

Where are you originally from?                                                                      Hokkaido (northernmost of main land), Japan. I graduated from Tokyo University of Agriculture.

What do you currently do?
As a faculty of Urban Horticulture and People-Plant Relationships at Department of Human and Animal-Plant Relationships, Tokyo University of Agriculture, I focus on utilizing agricultural techniques for local people and improving quality of life through plants and gardening activitie such as:

1. Roof gardening with organic vegetables at local elementary school – the first year children participated in this program experience how to grow lots of vegetables within limited space, which is less than a square meter per person, of roof gardening. Also, children are interviewed to examine how they enjoy roof gardening activity and how roof gardening activity is meaningful to them. The children yearly grow potatoes, sweet potatoes, gingers, soybeans (edamame), peanuts, tomatoes, sweet peppers, rice, herbs, and etc.

2. Roof gardening on residential buildings and community gardens in urban area – this roof gardening program held every weekend aims to support the landscape conservation (environmental level), the formation of community (society level), and the purpose of life (individual level). Also, I am an instructor to coach growing vegetables in the community garden program. Students in my lab assist me in both programs and conduct surveys to study what participants desire and how they enjoy the corporative gardening.

3. Rapid market assessment of local farmer’s market – The rapid market assessment, investigated by Oregon State University and I learned it during my half-year study abroad at Michigan State University, I utilize it to support the connection between consumers and producers and to examine the role of famer’s market in urban area.

4. Developing of roof gardening of shopping mall in corporation with a company – with making green space on the rooftop, we aim to provide a garden leading happiness to people by setting a device to directly connect people together.

How did you get interested in this field?
I used to engage in the cultivation of herb and microscopy of essential oil secretory tissue as my earlier career. In 1994, there was the 24th International Horticulture Congress (IHC) carried out in Kyoto, Japan, and the first People-Plant Relationships Symposium was also held. That experience I helped the international conference drew me to the work in people-plant relationships having a great purpose to focus on the happiness of people. After the symposium, I started the laboratory of this field in Tokyo University of Agriculture, which was the earliest in Japan, and I have belonged to my lab since it began in 1998.

Do you have a favorite source, book, web site, or journal that you always go to for work? If so, what is it? How did you find it?                                                              Websites: People Plant Council, International Society for Horticultural Science, Japanese Society of People-Plant Relationships                                                    Journals: Chronica Horticulturae, Acta Horticulturae, Hort-Science, Journal of the Japanese Society of People-Plant Relationships                                            Conference and symposium: International People-Plant Symposium, International Conference on Landscape and Urban Horticulture, International Horticultural Congress, Japanese Society of People-Plant Relationships Annual Conference

What is the primary challenge specific to your part of the works, as it relates to what you do?
To conduct evidence-based research and to quantify people’s happiness

What’s your favorite plant and why?
The beautiful flowering pear and crabapple tree that I saw at Michigan State University is my unforgettable memory. I was so impressed to see the blooming tree avenue in the United States, because I thought it was something particular to Japan such as cherry, plum and peach trees. With green lawn, the beautiful scenery of blooming trees comes to my mind even now.

What do you like most about what you do?
Since my research is conducted in the practical fields in our society, it allows me to actually see people’s happy smile, which is my great pleasure, and I can feel that being able to study in the practical fields leads my lab students to grow as well.

You can contact Masanori at: [email protected]

Annette Beerens, Changing Colors, horticultural therapist in the Netherlands

Where are you originally from?
Montreal, Quebec, but now I live in Holland.

What do you currently do?
I am a horticultural therapist with my own practice.

How did you get interested in this field?
I started my professional career as a biodynamic farmer. After working at a care farm in Switzerland, I decided to ‘dig deeper’ into the world of therapy and Nature. Then I studied horticultural therapy, worked in several healthcare facilities and started my own practice 9 years ago.

Do you have a favorite source, book, web site, or journal that you always go to for work? If so, what is it? How did you find it?’
The book: “Green Nature, Human Nature” by Charles Stewart offers a great introduction to why horticultural therapy really works. Patrik Grahn at the Swedish University of Agriculture has done some research on humans and nature.

What is the primary challenge specific to your part of the work, as it relates to what you do?
The greatest challenge is to convince the government to pay for horticultural therapy programs because they cure people and prevent others from getting ill.

What’s your favorite plant and why?
My favorite plant is the Acanthus mollis because it has a ‘prehistoric’ look and grows in places where it gets stuck.

What do you like most about what you do?
I enjoy pointing out to others that Mother Nature loves us onconditionally. We are all equal and allowed to replenish by using Nature in any form that is appropriate for us.

Learn more about Annette’s work through these websites: www.changingcolors.nl, www.ipps2012.com, and www.growingfoundation.nl

S. Norman Goodyear, Associate Professor, Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Dalhousie University, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada

Where are you originally from?                                                                               My home province is Newfoundland and Labrador.

What do you currently do?
Associate Professor in the Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University

How did you get interested in this field?
I have a keen interest in alternative approaches to health, so in addition to my formal training in plant science/horticulture I have also studied, formally and informally, in the human behaviour and counseling areas. Specifically with horticultural therapy I was the project lead (Canadian) for a North America mobility project* and one of the US partner institutions was Virginia Tech (US lead). It was through that project that I met Diane Relf and developed a close working relationship. Curriculum development was part of the objective of the project and with Diane Relf as my mentor (and supplier of many resources) I wrote an upper level undergraduate course in Horticultural Therapy – to date I have had four successful offering of the course. I also work with local groups interested in HT, particularly with seniors and youth. Under the Canadian system (CHTA.ca) I am a HTR (Horticultural Therapist Registered), I have also at time been active in the CHTA.

[* HRSD in Canada http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/student/funding/north_america.shtml, FIPSE, USA and SIP, Mexico]

Do you have a favorite source, book, web site, or journal that you always go to for work? If so, what is it? How did you find it?’
I frequently visit the web pages of the CHTA and AHTA, as well as Thrive in the UK. There isn’t a favourite journal, I search multiple sources for information, and in recent years most are available online. On-line search engines for both academic and non-academic sources make it very easy to access information. The text that I recommend for my course is: Simpson, S. and M. Straus. 1998. Horticulture as Therapy: Principles and Practices. The Food Products Press (The Haworth Press). New York;
I also suggest:
Haller, R. L. and C. L. Kramer. 2006. Horticultural Therapy Methods. The Haworth Press.
Hewson, M. L. 1994. Horticulture as Therapy: A Practical Guide to Using Horticulture as a Therapeutic Tool. Greenmor Printing Company Ltd. Guelph ON.
Marcus, C. C. and M. Barnes. 1999. Healing Gardens: Therapeutic Benefits and Design Recommendations Wiley.
Relf D. (Ed.). 1992. The role of horticulture in human well-being and social development. Timber Press
Among others….

What is the primary challenge specific to your part of the works, as it relates to what you do?                                                                                                                    I think in NA generally we are still at the embryonic stage of recognizing and embracing the power of many alternative approaches to health, indeed focussing on a wellness model rather than the medical (or sick) model. There is a huge need for education and moving alternative approaches as either adjunct or direct interventions alongside what is viewed as traditional healthcare.

What’s your favorite plant and why?
It is difficult to really identify just one favourite plant!!Today it is the Amaryllis as I have one that is just beginning to bloom. What I like about it is that is really fail safe, it is a large bulb, easy to handle and it will produce a most striking and impressive bloom; because of its size it is easy to obverse and enjoy all the development phases. So simple, but for a more advance group can work with manipulating the blooming period and even propagation.

What do you like most about what you do?
I enjoy teaching, being in the classroom in both formal and informal learning settings. Specifically with HT the magic that happens when plants and people come together, either within Therapeutic Horticultural or Horticultural Therapy.

To learn more about Norman’s work visit:  http://www.dal.ca/faculty/agriculture/plant-animal-sciences/faculty-staff/our-faculty/norman-goodyear.html

You can contact Norman at: [email protected]

We are delighted to draw your attention to the beautiful documentary, Healing nature: Living and working in resonance with nature. It is an inspiring 42 minute film about human-nature relationships and lessons we can learn from nature for a healthy and living and a sustainable business and society.

This DVD is a result and nice reminder of the wonderful encounter we had during the 11th International People Plant Symposium 2012 on Castle de Berckt in Baarlo, The Netherlands.It shows a compilation of images captured during three days full of enlightening speeches and innovative workshops in the enchanting and warm setting of the castle and its gardens.With this documentary the makers have been able to carry forward the theme of the symposium “Diversity, Towards a new Vision of Nature” and pinpoint many important aspects of human’s interaction with nature and the positive influence this has on our health, personal wellbeing and social interactions. Interviews with keynote speakers and other contributors of the symposium have resulted in inspiring thoughts and remarks that can broaden or change the way people see and experience nature.

Some remarks from the documentary are:

“We are in a time of fundamental crisis; humanity is loosing contact with the natural reality”

“When you are disconnected, you feel lonely and are lost”

“We are part of nature, if you deny that, we become ill”

“When we see those shapes and are present in nature we feel calm, we feel safe”

“Nature is like a compass; if you can work with your inner and outer nature you know at any time where you are, what you need and in which direction to go”

Our current offer:

Our offer is the full film for €20,- within the Netherlands and €25,- outside the Netherlands, including postage abroad.For those participants who are considering to buy the DVD, we want to make it possible to preview the full film online during the coming two weeks.You can access the film by going to the website: http://www.henkemansfilm.nl/?p=1148  Enter the password: ipps2012

We are looking forward to your response and your order!

Warm regards,

The Growing Foundation and the Organising Committee of the IPPS2012