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) and introduced the scientific background and activities of her NGO.
The entire webinar is available on https://theccd.org/domain/conscious-warsaw/
The video from the webinar is already available on! The webinar organized by the International School Grounds Alliance and the Children &Nature Network on how school grounds can be designed and used to support took place on June 23rd 2020, and featured research and design insights on how to design mentally healthy outdoor spaces for children.
Everyone interested in design for children will find a lot of inspiration in this video, in other words it's a must-see! We are very proud and grateful that NeuroLandscape could be a part of this insightful panel!
The program featured:
an introduction to the ISGA activity by Kerry Logan;
showcasing international best-practice examples, by Kathrin Schmiele;
research and design lessons from neuroscience by Dr Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo;
strategies for the design of schoolyards for students Claire Latané.
The mission of the Conference is to stimulate research, implementation and scaling up innovations to manage health and wellbeing of the ageing population. BFHA 2020 is a scientific conference that will enable discussion on the transformation of health and care services into more digitilized, long-term, integrated and personalized care models while promoting innovative ecosystems in order to deliver a better quality of life among the elderly.
In line with this mission, the Conference is to address growing demand caused by the global trends of population ageing and the expansion of chronic diseases by focusing on potentials large-scale implementation of innovations to foster functional ability and wellbeing of older people.
The objectives:
* addressing issues of ageing of biological systems through the topics of regenerative medicine, neuroscience, clinical medicine and other fields of medicine with the emphasis on personalized and integrated medicine;
* showcasing the impact of smart technologies for age-friendly ecosystems by providing a discussion on scaling-up innovations and solutions for age-friendly environments;
* analysing the issues of ageing and healthcare system sustainability at various levels (e.g. institutional, regional, state, EU level).
Outputs:
During the Conference, the participants will have a special section within the programme that will be transferred into the Recommendations. The Recommendations will be developed into the final Conference outcome – the Policy Paper which will be drafted after the Conference. The aim of this working paper is to develop forward-looking valuation pathways and impact approaches and dimensions of ageing research for transformative, mission-oriented research and innovation agendas, which can be taken up in the formulation of ageing services. The Conference and its outputs, including the Policy Paper are aimed at stakeholders, policymakers, the scientific community and healthcare providers.
The Conference will broaden the narrow focus on scientific impact measurement of ageing and healthcare system sustainability research, towards the aforementioned impact dimensions to which the BFHA 2020 Conference can make a fair contribution.
NeuroLandscape Delegate:
Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska Guizzo, President of NeuroLandscape is one of the invited speakers, and will give her speech titled “Green and Healthy Cities – Environmental exposures and Urban Design for Healthy Longevity” on 4th June within a session “Modern Urban Planning in the Service of Healthy Ageing”. The detailed event program is available here.
Edit: The complete presentation is available on our youtube channel:
Conference organizer: University of Zagreb School of Medicine
Co-organizers: Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (Croatia), School of Medicine, University of Rijeka, University of Split School of Medicine and Josip-Juraj-Strossmayer-Universität Osijek Faculty of Medicine, as well as other faculties of the University of Zagreb – the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, Faculty of Economics and Business and Faculty of Croatian Studies; Ministry of Health, Ministry for Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia.
The talk aimed to share the multidisciplinary work that is conducted in NeuroLandscape with special attention to the new program Nature Connection and Mental Health of the Communities launched last year.
The information included some of the preliminary study results obtained from the two main international research clusters in Medellin (Colombia) and Dhaka (Bangladesh). The presentation discussed the social and scientific research approaches that NeuroLandscape is leading in order to understand the contribution of nature in the mental health of low-income communities with the aim of informing new urban design models.
Staff from the Universidad de Caldas Manizales and the National Training Service (SENA) joined in the discussion of creating possible cooperation between institutions and NeuroLanscape in order to consolidate future social and scientific projects in the city of Manizales that could contribute to the health and well-being of the communities in this city.
With combined efforts from the educational institutions and the scientific background of Neurolandscape, future projects are envisioned, in which a greater network of opportunities that include new research projects and transfer skills education programs could be established with the aim of benefiting low-income community residents.
Date& Time: 5.11.2019, 9am Location: School of Architecture and Civil Engineering (SACE 5), Xiamen University, #182 Da Xue Road, Xiamen, China
With the growing interest among researchers, practitioners, and urban decision makers in the influence of the quality of the built environment on peoples’ health, there is increasing emphasis on using scientific knowledge to inform urban design, including methods of neuroscience. Current development of the
technology permits to study the brain response of people in-situ, using the wireless portable electroencephalography (EEG) devices.
Studies leveraging on the knowledge on the design theory, and affective neuroscience are part of emerging area of evidence-based design. It is of NeuroLandscape mission to advance the knowledge on this topic and promote use of rigorous scientific experimental designs in various contexts around the globe. This would allow replication of experiments while advancing the knowledge on causal relationships between the quality of living environments and mental health outcomes from the passive exposures to them.
We are hosting a 3 hour, hands-on workshop
Application of neuroscience in urban planning and design. An introduction to the theory and practice of EEG experiment design, data collection, and analysis
Workshop program:
9:30 – Registration
9:45 – Introduction to EEG
10:00 – Experiments design in an urban context (theory + practical exercise)
11:00 – Equipment and data acquisition (theory + demo)
12:00 – Q&A session
The workshop is free of charge for the conference delegates. You can register here
Singapore is one of the most prominent examples of Urban Sustainability through new technologies, research and development. It is also one of the few countries where the government is actively supporting science and innovation in order to inform the practice of urban design and solve urban living issues. The Urban Sustainability R&D Congress is organized since 2011, biannually, and invites all R&D projects pursued by Government agencies, collaborating with local and international research institutions.
One of the keynote speakers, Dr Elsa Arcaute from UCL, a researcher of Cities as Complex Systems, when asked by a panel moderator, Dr Cheong Koon Hean (CEO of Housing & Development Board) what advice does she have for Singapore, she answered to just continue what Singapore was already doing. She mentioned that she as a researcher is used to “begging” urban decision-makers to look at the results of her work. In Singapore, authorities are not only interested to hear researchers out but also keen to fund the applicable research.
Congress is a national platform for government agencies, research community and industries to come together to discuss R&D responses for urban solutions and sustainability. The exhibition is also a showcase of the most interesting solutions and research in progress. Everything is presented with typical to Singapore care to impress all the visitors.
Singapore has been striving to balance economic growth with a high quality of life and care for the environment. As a result, it has to deal with many challenges, including the growing burden of mental health disorders and the aging population. These challenges were recognized and addressed at the Congress through a “Greater Sustainability Track”, which shared the benefits of adopting sustainable and biophilic design ideas, provide behavioural and technological insights to aid the creation of a high-quality living environment. On this track the preliminary study of Dr Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo, President of NeuroLandscape was presented, you can watch her speech on our youtube channel!
Photos: 1. Punggol Digital District https://www.jtc.gov.sg/industrial-land-and-space/Pages/punggol-digital-district.aspx , 2.& 3. A.O.G
Most people in Asian biggest metropolitan areas live above the ground in multi-storey buildings. Here in Singapore residential blocks can reach up to 50+ floors! Developers try to fit as many housing units on small plots of lands without the consideration of what will be the view from the window. Well, maybe it is about the time for them to reflect on that.
This newest study from researchers of NeuroLandscape shows that the window views depending of the floor level and the amount of visible green can affect the brain activity in a positive or negative way. This goes along with the scientists claim that the daily passive exposures to the living environment can have tremendous impact on our mental health.
Check out your window view!
Update! The paper from this study is already published online in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, click here to read!
Happy to share the newest interview from one of the world’s leading experts in the area of evidence-based landscape design, Prof. Chang, Chun-Yen from National Taiwan University.
We had the pleasure to speak to Professor Chang after his presentation at the IFLA World Congress 2018 in Singapore, and ask him questions about the newest research endeavors of his team, the demands and limitations of clinical studies on landscapes, the challenges of interdisciplinary research and future opportunities in the area.
Yesterday marks the end of the 2 day IFLA World Congress 2018.
Here at NeuroLandscape, we can't wait to update everyone with all the exciting events that happened over the 2 days. There will be more detailed spotlights in the weeks to come, but here is a quick glimpse of NeuroLandscape @IFLA.
The IFLA Congress venue was truly impressive this year, acomodated almost entire top floor of Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center. Invited keynote speakers included Minister of National Development, Mr. Lawrence Wong and even Prof. Timothy Beatley, researcher and writer who first introduced the green urbanism concept and introduced the biophilic cities network. He stressed the importance of LIVING IN NATURE for health, instead of just visiting the nature from time to time.
The following session was lead by Dr Cheong Koon Hean, the Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Housing & Development Board (HDB) announcing the updated Biophillic Town Framework. In many ways, the Biophillic Town Framework is especially critical of an achievement to us . At times, it can be easy to question ourselves. While members of NeuroLandscape were directly involved in its inception, the significance of HDB adopting this framework is far greater than just that. This is absolute proof of the value of our research and the potential of a better tomorrow that it can bring. It shows that we are not alone in what we strive to do.
Interview with Gayle Souter - Brown
Gayle is a Principle of Greenstone Design UK & Ecological Victoria, landscape architect, writer and researcher. She is one of our esteemed Advisory Board Members. Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with her as she shares her extensive insight with us!
Dr. Agnieszka O. Guizzo had the privilege of being one of the design facilitators for this student design competition. Below is a picture of her taking a group photo with one of the student teams. The students were greatly intrigued by the idea of contemplative landscapes and even incorporated it into their design!
The IFLA World Congress 2018 concluded with a Paper Presentation Session. Dr. Agnieszka O. Guizzo, joined by several other presenters like Prof. Liao Kuei-Hsien, they shared their findings with an attentive crowd and ended the day with a fruitful discussion. More details about Dr. Agnieszka O. Guizzo's Window View and the Brain and Prof. Liao Kuei-Hsien's Landscape Design with Ecosystem services in High Density Cities will be coming soon.
Next week, from 18th to the 21st of July, The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA)is returning to Singapore for the 2nd time to host the prestigious IFLA World Congress. The IFLA World Congress prides itself as the key contributor in landscape architectures, developing attractive, livable, equitable, and sustainable environments of the future. Many of its project revolve around the themes of: Biophilic City, Smart Nation, and Future Resilience.
The International Federation of Landscape Architects, also known as IFLA is an international body spanning across 4 regions of the world: Africa, America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Their vision is to spearhead the development of global sustainability in living environment by landscaping architecture. And this year the main conference thenes ate Biophilic City, Smart Nation, and Future Resilience. There is going to be an entire presentation session on “Greenery and Health” too!
As such, it is our pleasure to announce that NeuroLandscape ‘s President Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo will be presenting the study: “WINDOW VIEW & BRAIN: Can Floor Level and Amount of Green within the View Have an Effect on Our Well-Being?” on 19th July at 5pm (Venue: Biophilic Room, Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands, 1 Bayfront Ave, Singapore 018971)
