Contemplative Landscape Features Archives

Zielone miasta a prawo do zdrowia i zdrowia psychicznego | Webinar in Poland

Posted on 1 June 202226 August 2022 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

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 of conscious design of urban spaces for health.

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1 czerwca 2022 roku odbyło się spotkanie z dr Agnieszką Guizzo na temat związków między przestrzeniami zielonymi w mieście a zdrowiem psychicznym.
Podczas webinaru poruszono takie tematy, jak wpływ środowiska życia na zdrowie i zdrowie psychiczne; sposób, w jaki prawo do zdrowia psychicznego może być łamane przez złe decyzje projektowe; sposoby świadomego projektowania przestrzeni miejskich dla zdrowia.

1st in-person NeuroLandscape Workshop | Korthi-Greece | 7-9 May 2022

Posted on 14 May 202226 August 2022 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

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 - 11:30	Welcome & Opening with Coffee		GR/ENG
11:30 - 12:00	Contemplative Landscapes for Sustainable Tourism - Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo (NeuroLandscape)		ENG
12:00 - 12:30	Nature-Based Solutions for More Inclusive and Resilient Communities - Dr. Weronika Gasior (NeuroLandscape)		ENG
12:30 - 13:00	A.I. Tools for Cultural Heritage and Tourism - Dr. Theofrastos Mantadelis (NeuroLandscape)		ENG

SUNDAY (8.05.2022)

10:00 - 10:30	Impact in Post-pandemic Times: Neuroscience to the Rescue - Dr. Nicolas Escoffier (NeuroLandscape)	ENG
10:30 - 11:15	Gender Equality Plan as a necessary tool for Horizon Europe Applications - Dr. Weronika Gasior (NeuroLandscape)	ENG
11:15 - 11:30	Coffee Break
11:30 - 12:00	Korthian Artists 1850-1950 - Mr. Aristeidis Mantadelis (Civil Engineer)	GR/ENG
12:00 - 13:00	Can you see what you’re looking at?: Contemplative Landscape Features Recognition and Assessment - outdoor workshop - Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo (NeuroLandscape)	ENG

MONDAY (9.05.2022)

10:00 - 10:30	Dimetra - Predicting vulnerable goods disease before transportation - Dr. Theofrastos Mantadelis (NeuroLandscape)	ENG
10:30 - 11:15	Sustainable food systems in the EU legal framework - Ms. Aleksandra Zaborowska (Neurolandscape and EP)	ENG
11:15 - 11:30	Coffee Break
11:30 - 12:00	Climate Change and Water Management - case study of Khulna, Bangladesh - Ms. Nazwa Tahsin (NeuroLandscape)	ENG
12:00 - 12:30	VinhoLandscape - An Introduction to the Wines of Northern Portugal - Mr. Raul J.Guizzo (Symington Family Estates)	ENG
12:30 - 13:00	Wine Tasting - workshop - Mr. Raul J.Guizzo (Symington Family Estates)	ENG

EASCAPE VR – our first Virtual Healthy Environment

Posted on 25 February 202125 February 2021 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

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 escape from everyday stress to immerse yourself in the healing power of nature, to ease the mind and enjoy beautiful Contemplative Landscapes carefully curated by scientists, whenever and wherever you decide to – all you need is a pair of VR goggles. After an intensive season of work and scientific testing with our partners, EPIC VR and Brainstorm, we are ready to share this exciting news with you - our app is becoming available very soon!

Best part? It’s completely free!

To make sure you don’t miss the grand release, you can subscribe to our newsletter (https://eascape.org), like and follow our Facebook page (https://lnkd.in/eUdr7VD), and if you’re already a VR user, you can add EASCAPE to your Steam wish list (https://lnkd.in/ejGjAyU).
Ready to ease your mind with a virtual journey?

We are!
#mentalhealth #eascape #eascapevr #virtualreality

NeuroLandscape featured in BBC “My Perfect City”

Posted on 30 December 20203 January 2021 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

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 to experience mental health problems. This counts for about 38% more than people living outside of big cities. Urban greening and creating therapeutic gardens with contemplative features can really help. But also, promoting high amenity public spaces, physical exercise, housing security and social services are important too! These solutions can make a city more liveable but also reduce rates of disorders such as OCD, anxiety and depression.

But are these community-based, non-medical approaches enough to improve mental health among the population of the highly urbanized Singapore? Let's find out!

Listen to the end to find out if Singapore receives 3 ticks - a perfect city mark. This means that Singapore should be an example to follow by other cities!

Taking part in the podcast like this one was a great experience. Thanks to endeavours like this one we can share the knowledge from the scientists and inform the public!

Here are some other blog posts related to Singapore:

Singapore Urban Sustainability MND Congress.
IFLA Conference, Singapore
Neuroscience data collection outdoors
NeuroLandscape featured in BBC "My Perfect City"

Healthy Cities – Cities for Humans, Conscious Warsaw 2020 (VIDEO)

Posted on 26 October 202026 March 2021 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

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/

Centre for Conscious Design: www.theccd.org

Designing & Using School Grounds to Support Mental Health (Video Available!)

Posted on 26 June 202026 March 2021 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

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.

Elizabeth & Nona Evans Restorative Garden, a Garden for Contemplation

Posted on 1 October 20191 October 2019 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

I have recently found a great piece of literature about designing urban gardens for well-being. “Restorative commons: Creating health and well-being through urban landscapes” by Campbell, Lindsay; Wiesen, Anne published in 2009 under USDA – Forest Service.

Here is the link to the online resource – available free pdf version!

What specifically caught my attention there is the description of the case example of the Elizabeth & Nona Evans Restorative Garden in Cleveland, a winner of a design charrette. Part of this design is a Garden for Contemplation, inviting specifically the elderly and persons with disabilities

The space is easy to comprehend and inviting to first-time visitors who discover smaller
more private spaces within. This verdant, quiet garden is gracious and
welcoming. It is lush; its colors calm and serene. The design reflects
the proportion, scale, and fine detailing of the adjacent handsome
modern limestone library

It is beautifully designed with consideration of all aspects of a contemplative model. One interesting aspect is that it contains poems in Braille’s language

The height of the pool in relation to the adjacent path was carefully considered to allow visitors to see
reflections of trees and sky whether sitting or standing. Behind it a fountain flows from the top of the low wall into a basin.

I encourage everyone to have a look at this chapter, and others, that bring the best available knowledge about the landscape design for Health and Well-being!

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Maintenance of green in the city and health

Posted on 15 April 201926 March 2021 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

Different initiatives undertaken by the urban authorities can contribute to the improvement of urban dweller’s contact with nature and the nature exposure

These include:

Leaving unmowed areas in the urban green spaces, for developing a small ecosystems for flora & fauna, (urban meadows)
Promoting the spontaneous habitat creation
Leaving the fallen leaves on the ground for the winter (improves conditions of the soil)

These actions, (or rather withdrawing from action) not only improve the urban ecosystems functioning, but also can save some money in the local budget. Most importantly however from our point of view, they improve the sense of connectedness of people with urban nature, by making the changing seasons noticeable, and more pronounced, enabling the observation of the life phases of the plant and ultimately contemplation of the continuous life cycles.

These three postulate were included in an open letter to the Major of Warsaw, Poland by the local community and proffessionals, and will contribute to the Greenery Council (Zarzad Zieleni) activities, (see the campaign here ). Because of the postulates are strongly aligned with the NeuroLandscape’s vision of the city, we support this action, and look forward to positive changes on city lawns!

A Place for Yourself Everywhere.

Posted on 21 June 201821 June 2018 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

Research has proven that time alone in outdoor nature is beneficial for our mental and physical health. One of the Contemplative Landscape characteristics is the “sense of solitude” that one can experience when immersed in the landscape.

Yet, the urban high stress pace of life “enjoyed” by many across the globe makes finding such a spot difficult. While it is common for cities to increase their foliage, it is often hard to measure how effective their efforts are.

However, here at NeuroLandscape, our research allows up to strive further in incorporate nature into our own everyday surroundings. Creating a seamless experience that can be enjoyed by all who inhabit the same space.

You can also assess the link from here: https://www.universal-sci.com/headlines/2018/6/9/-spending-time-alone-in-nature-is-good-for-your-mental-and-emotional-health

Hidden in Plain Sight

Posted on 14 June 2018 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

Urban landscape surrounding most of us nowadays, offers more than just the face value that we see. Urban ecosystem services are presenting terrific potentials for the growing communities. Landscape design for health and well-being goes hand in hand with the design for fresh produce and urban farming opportunities.

There is plenty evidence to show this dynamics. In this TED talk, we show an example from Detroit, Devita Davison from FOODLAB Detroit brings viewers on a 12 min tour on how the city's weakness can become its future. We are so into discovering such transformative opportunities!