Seminar: Improving wellbeing through noticing urban nature

There is a growing interest in people’s connection with (the rest of) nature owing to the benefits to both human and nature’s well-being. This talk will introduce the psychological construct of nature connectedness, the benefits and how to improve it.

The pathways to nature connectedness and their application will be introduced, along with a specific intervention around noticing nature.

This was implemented as a smartphone based wellbeing intervention that prompted 582 adults to notice the good things about urban nature or built spaces.

There were statistically significant and sustained improvements in wellbeing at one-month follow-up, with the improvement in wellbeing explained by significant increases in nature connectedness.

The study provides controlled experimental evidence that noticing the good things about urban nature has clinical potential as a wellbeing intervention and social prescription.

View the presentation slides (PDF, 4.8MB)