science Archives | NeuroLandscape

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

Annual Scientific Board Meeting 2020

Posted on 30 November 202030 November 2020 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

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)

4) "Planting seeds of empowerment - summary of activities and future plans (Diana B. - 10 min ppt + Q&A)

5) "Virtual Healthy Environments - research findings (Nicolas E. - 10 min ppt + Q&A)

6) "Virtual Healthy Environments - communications" (Weronika G. - 10 min ppt + Q&A)

7) "Developments on CLASS" (Theophrastos M. - 10 min. ppt + Q&A)

8) Discussion topics:

- planning for each development of the programs

- our activity and COVID pandemic

- dissemination activities/ webinars/ workshops

- social media participation of the Board

- NGO & Board transformations

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

Landscape & Brain – neuroscience data collection outdoors (VIDEO)

Posted on 30 July 202030 July 2020 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

Rigorous neuroscience research would question collecting the neuroscience data outdoors, due to too many confounding factors occurring and researchers not being able to control them all. In the sensory exposure research, each participant has to be exposed to the same set of stimuli, which is very difficult if not impossible in an outdoor setting. For example, small environmental nuances such as certain type of cloud covering the sun would change the amount of light reaching the eye of the participant , which can dramatically change the alpha power produced by the brain.

For this sake we should collect the exposure data in a controlled-lab environment, controlling for each factor such as brightness, temperature, etc. Also, we should use the same set of stimuli, that can be recorded in a form of photo, video or more immersive - VR.

However, environmental researchers, landscape architects and ecologists will all agree that the exposure to nature in the lab has nothing to do with the one outdoors in a real setting. Lab-based experiment lacks the so-called "ecological validity" - meaning it cannot be fully compared with the real experience. As it is essential to advance the knowledge in the area of real exposure to nature as opposed to natural images, we took a challenge to collect a reliable data outdoors, while controlling for most important environmental factors (temperature, humidity, brightness and noise), and making sure for each participant the experience is as similar as possible.

We recorded the video of in-situ data collection from the "Effects of Landscapes on the Brain" project in Singapore, where we show how the EEG and fNIRS data can be collected outside. We have published the preliminary findings from that research in a journal.

Let us know if you have comments or questions about that procedure, also share and support pushing this discipline forward!

Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

President and Co-founder of NeuroLandscape. She is a Ph.D. in landscape architecture and urban ecology, who has explored the relationship between the different features of the natural and built environment’s influence on human health and wellbeing. In her research she has successfully incorporated neuroscience tools to investigate the changes in brainwave oscillation in participants exposed to different types of designed landscape. She has introduced and operationalized the term contemplative landscape and proposed a quantitative assessment scale to distinguish landscape views according to which are most beneficial for mental health in terms of passive exposure. She has developed several research projects worldwide and established international research networks across multiple universities. She is an originator of the idea for the VR_HEATHER project, which builds upon her research and is also in line with the statutory goals of NeuroLandscape.

Our Brain On Perspectives by IMAGINE CITIES | 23rd June 2020

Posted on 2 June 202026 March 2021 by Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo

23 June, 6PM MST

In Yuval Harari’s book Home Deus, he states that the greatest leaps in human progress were not simply the result of individual acts. Instead, the greatest leaps have been the result of our ability as a species to cooperate in large numbers.

Join us for an insightful conversation about how breakthroughs in neuroscience have led us to better understand how the brain functions when we’re faced with perspectives that are different from our own. By understanding how our brain works we can better understand each other, improve our ability to work together, and more effectively solve humanity’s most pressing urban challenges.

Special Guests

Agnieszka Olszewska-Guizzo is the Founder & President of NeuroLandscape, a non-profit dedicated to improving mental health and wealth-being through green space design. With a Ph.D. from the University of Porto in Landscape Architecture and Urban Ecology, alongside experience developing numerous research projects worldwide, Agnieszka possesses a unique understanding of how urban design impacts the human brain.

Maria Escobar-Bordyn is the Vice President of Creating WE, an organization that coaches CEO's on the importance of conversations in shaping corporate culture and achieving goals. After spending her early career on HR teams in two Fortune 100 companies, Maria spent 12 years at a global human performance consulting firm where she coached hundreds of hundreds of executives. She has a degree in Social Ecology with a concentration in human behaviour from the University of California, Irvine.

Mitchell Reardon is the Lead for Urban Planning, Design & Experiments at Happy City. Happy City is an interdisciplinary urban planning and design consultancy that uses the science of wellbeing to create healthier, happier and more inclusive communities. Mitchell is also the co-founder of Metropolitan Collective, a group of tactical urbanists who transform unloved and overlooked spaces. He received his Masters of Science in Urban and Regional Planning at Stockholm University and his insights have been heard on CBC News, StarMetro, CBC Radio and more.

Link to registration page