5th November, at 19:00.
National Art Gallery in Vilnius, Lithuania
Our CEO Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo gave a talk titled "Can landscapes be healing?"at the National Gallery of Art in Vilnius.
In this talk, Agnieszka explored the intersection between landscape architecture and neuroscience, which led to the creation of Contemplative Landscapes. She presented the science behind how natural environments impact brain function, offering insights into designing spaces that enhance aesthetic experiences, reconnect us with nature, foster contemplation, and ultimately improve our quality of life.
NetworkNature Annual Event 2024 | Busting myths: People with nature
24-25 of September, 2024 | Brussels, Belgium
The NeuroLandscape team just returned from an incredible few days at the NetworkNature EUAnnual Event in Brussels! What a wonderful blend of insightful discussions, knowledge-rich myth-busting panels, and interactive hands-on workshops, all reinforcing the key message of the event: Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are not a luxury but a necessity to tackle global challenges.
A Breakdown of the Event: Tuesday, 24th of September (Task Force Cluster Meeting)
On the 24th of September, 2024, our team was welcomed to Network Nature's Task Force Cluster meetings at the historic Flemish Theatre. We were joined by leading academics, experts, and activists , EU-funded Horizon project representatives (not to mention from our own GreenME Project and GreenInCities projects), MEPs, EU Commission officers, and other key players from across the world in the Nature-based Solutions community. That morning our team joined the AI and Digital Solutions and the NbSAssessment Indicators tables as part of our Cluster talks. We are confident that the discussion and the ideas developed based on these exchanges could lead to further funding for future initiatives 🌍! The day wrapped up with a summary of the next steps for each Task Force, setting the stage for upcoming collaborations.
A Breakdown of the Event: Wednesday, 25th of September (Network Nature's Annual Conference)
This year, the Network Nature's Annual Conference took place on the 25th of September, 2024 at the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles. The theme was "Busting Myths," featuring brilliant keynote speakers and thought-provoking panels. The panel topics included Regenerating nature : Soil & Water, Nature governance : Nature for people, and Economy for and with nature. Here are some key takeaways from the talks:
➙ "If we try to give nature a monetary value, do we value nature, or do we value money?”
➙"As individuals, do we have the power to bring about change?"
➙"We cannot debunk the myths. Only the myth carriers can, and this process will be painful. We can, however, have our arguments and evidence ready.” ➙"Are we too comfortable preaching to the converted?"
We’re proud to share that our poster on the Contemplative Landscape Model was exhibited alongside other NbS case studies during the "Busting Myths" sessions.
The event was a fantastic opportunity for collaboration, providing valuable insights on how we can push NbS forward through collective effort and innovation. We would like to extend our thanks to NetworkNature EU and all the participants for creating a wholesome and knowledge-inspiring experience!
We’re excited to keep driving efforts to help communities embrace Nature-based Solutions for a more sustainable future!
Dr. Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo has presented her insights at the session 5H: Green spaces for healthier cities, which was fully recorded and available online:
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 from 11 to 15 October 2021 and attracted over 1,000 city leaders, scientists, researchers, innovators, academics, youth, and business leaders and is open to everyone.
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.
"Assessing Relevant Knowledge Related to the Types and Characteristics of Urban Green & Blue Spaces Having a Significant Impact on Human Mental health and Well-being" to be presented at Healthy landscapes | UNISCAPE International Conference in Bologna (6-8 June) by Eklipse: Knowledge and Learning Mechanism on Biodiversity
While participating in the Eklipse project we are looking forward to its results: the first Systematic Review on the types and components of urban green landscapes to have a positive impact on mental health. This SR will pinpoint the most urgent research questions to answer in the area!
