Blog

ASEAN Workshop on Biodiversity and its Links to Human Health in an Urban Context and Capacity Building on Therapeutic Horticulture as an Example of the Links, 23-24 November 2022, Singapore   https://youtu.be/T-uVdJFOWVYRead More »

18 of August 2022 10:40 AM Hong Kong Time (GMT+8) *online Dr Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo to present "Neuroscience for Designing Urban Green Spaces: Contemplative Landscape Exposure for Mental Health" at the  International Conference for Environment and Human Health hosted by Research Centre for Environment and Human Health in Hong Kong. https://youtu.be/GZObrp0q9i4Read More »

On June 1, 2022, a meeting with Dr. Agnieszka Guizzo was held on the relationship between green spaces in the city and mental health. The webinar covered topics such as the impact of the living environment on health and mental health; how the right to mental health can be violated by bad design decisions; ways Read MoreRead More »

Floriade Challenge 🌿‘The Green Escape’🌿 took place at Aeres Hogeschool Almere and Floriade Expo 2022. 25 young professionals accepted the challenge of Almere 2.0 and the Gemeente Almere to develop an innovative concept for greening an important 🏃🏻 slow-traffic route 🚴🏻 in the centre of Almere. May 20th: Location:            Floriade MASTERCLASS: 14.45-16.00 u 14.15-14.45        IT check 14.30-14.45       Online walk-in 14.45-14.47       Welcome Read MoreRead More »

The first, in-person scientific meeting of NeuroLandscape Team, titled "Natural and Cultural Heritage for Healthier and More Sustainable Urban Realms" took place among beautiful landscapes of the Greek island of Andros, hosted at the local Korthi Town Hall.  The program of a 3-day event included: SATURDAY (7.05.2022) Time Presentation title - Speaker (Affiliation) Language 11:15 Read MoreRead More »

XIII International Congress of the Spanish Association of Bioethics and Medical Ethics (AEBI) The Organizing Committee and the Spanish Association of Bioethics and Medical Ethics (AEBI) organized the thirteenth edition of the AEBI International Congress that hosted several focused events, including the webinar on ICT solutions for Healthcare. In it our NeuroLandscape VR tool called Read MoreRead More »

Tuesday 12 October at 15:45 CEST. Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo has presented her insights at the session 5H: Green spaces for healthier cities, which was fully recorded and available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df16SGuCO1w The Conference, co-hosted by #UNHabitat and #Mayors4Climate, brings together innovative research and science to help cities tackle #ClimateChange challenges. The global five-day virtual #I4C Conference covering #Science and #Innovation partnerships driving inclusive, resilient, and climate-neutral #cities, runned Read MoreRead More »

Experts talks were a part of the Sustainability day at the FoodForum and gave a lot of fruit for thought on how we can work towards more #circular cities (Vojtech Vosecky), nature inclusive urban developments such as #pampus #Almere (Paola Huijding & Ingrid Zeegers) and on a street-level scale by #RewildingSteppingStones (Gideon Spanjar) and the value for human well-being by Dr Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo. The event was Read MoreRead More »

27 September 2021  at 2:30 PM Singapore The connections between biodiversity, mental health and physical inactivity are particularly relevant in the context of shifting global burden of diseases in which non-communicable diseases are among the most rapidly rising challenge to global public health. Contact with nature may provide positive mental health benefits, as well as Read MoreRead More »

On Monday 13th September at 11:00 CEST Dr Diana Benjumea Meija presented her research on "The Spatial and Social Components of Community-led Green Spaces and its Contribution to the Health and Wellbeing of Low-income Communities" at the 9th World Sustainability Forum In the last decade, there has been a surge in projects initiated by urban Read MoreRead More »

For several years, papers have been published about the positive impact of greenness on health, including some synthesis and systematic reviews. Yet, none of them has so far addressed the question of the type of habitats and components of such habitats that have a significant (and preferably positive) effect on mental health and psychological well-being. Read MoreRead More »

The share of the world’s population living in urban areas has been predicted to increase from 55% in 2018 to 60% in 2030 (UN, 2018). Every year people move to the urban areas from villages for various reasons. If we try to see this urban-rural migration under the push-pull model, push factors from rural end Read MoreRead More »

JULY 1, 2021 16:30 – 18:00 (CEST) Neuro-architecture transmits knowledge and technologies from the field of neuroscience into the professions of spatial design, aimed to get better-informed design solutions to promote human and non-human well-being in our public spaces. We kick off with the key findings of our 2-year research project Sensing Streetscapes, followed by Read MoreRead More »

In early 2021 our Board Member and Lead researcher Dr Diana Benjumea was selected to join a prestigious  Health Leaders Network initiated by the Urban Land Institute (ULI). Health Leaders Network is a platform aimed at sharing knowledge and ideas with health leaders across continents. It gathers professionals across the globe with the skills and Read MoreRead More »

Eascape, a new VR relaxation app created by neuroscientists and landscape architects, makes it possible to benefit from the healing power of nature without leaving home. The test version of the app has just been launched, as the whole world deals with the consequences of coronavirus waves and lockdowns. It is not a coincidence. In Read MoreRead More »

  Speech presented at the 25th Environmental Design Research Association 25th Conference in the panel "Green Resilience and Behaviour" by Nazwa Tahsin. Part of the Research Program "Nature Connection and Mental Health of Communities". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwGBP0sscNo&t=24s https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.edra.org/resource/resmgr/edra52/subpages/edra52_-_program_book.pdfRead More »

The fast-paced urbanization and disconnection of people from nature and the current series of lockdowns, contribute to an increasing burden of mental health disease in cities. Researchers have estimated that it is 39% more likely to develop depression when living in urbanized areas as compared to rural regions [source]. Other mental illnesses and neurodegenerative disorders Read MoreRead More »

Our programme Planting Seeds of Empowerment Mental Health and Well-being of the Communities starts this year with a new project created in collaboration with international organisations to emphasise the importance of nature in the mental health and well-being of people residing in heavily urbanised cities. The project entitled: Networks of Nature Integrating Urban Farming in Read MoreRead More »

Thanks to Virtual Reality technology, our mission of providing science-based mental health tools through bringing people closer to nature, and specifically Contemplative Landscapes, has taken life in the form of EASCAPE. It’s our free VR app that enables you to enjoy Contemplative Landscapes from the comfort of your home. Why EASCAPE? Because it lets you Read MoreRead More »

In our most recent contribution to the Volume Two of the book series Urban Health and Wellbeing Systems Approaches, published by Springer and Zhejian University, we discuss the preliminary findings of our research project currently conducted in low-income communities in Medellin Colombia for our program Planting Seeds of Empowerment: Mental Health and Wellbeing of the Read MoreRead More »

NeuroLandscape featured in BBC "My Perfect City" Series episode which was released on: 30 Dec 2020 New episode of the BBC World Service "My perfect city" features Dr Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo among other experts.  They discuss Singapore as a city which attempts to improve residents' mental wellbeing through urban design. Generally, people in cities are likely Read MoreRead More »

4th NeuroLandscape Scientific Board Meeting took place online on Friday 13th November, 2020.   Meeting agenda: 1)  Round table of  updates from each member 2)  A game! -  2 truths and 1 lie 3)  "Summary of NGO activity of 2020 , opportunities for 2021 ( Agnieszka O-G & Agnieszka Ch. -10 min ppt + Q&A) Read MoreRead More »

A speech presented during the "Conscious Warsaw - Sensing our City" webinar organized by the Center for Conscious Design, which took place on October 22, 2020, in Polish (English subtitles available in this video!). Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo presented a new concept of designing mentally healthy cities based on contact with salutogenic natural landscapes (Contemplative Landscapes) Read MoreRead More »

The built environment and mental health of the residents within the city are extremely interconnected. Daily exposures are known to influence psychological processes, having both known and unknown consequences. The study of Gary W. Evans from 2003 points out that personal control, social support and restoration from stress and fatigue in the physical environment directly Read MoreRead More »

24th September 2020. Tecnológico Nacional de México, campus Costa Grande, hosted an online event addressing the World New Normal in the interdisciplinary lens. Dr Diana Benjumea gave a speech regarding architecture and urban planning, where she sets a new paradigm of bottom-up, evidence-based urban design. Moreover,  she introduces NeuroLandscape projects and explains the global implications Read MoreRead More »