Tag Archives: BlueHealth

Event Exploring Blue Health: Research, Practice & Partnerships

Public Health Scotland is hosting the next Green Health Learning Network (GHLN) event on Tuesday 16th December, bringing together researchers, practitioners, and community organisations to explore the theme of Blue Health: Research, Practice and Innovative Partnerships.

We’re pleased to share that Prof Simon Bell, Co-Director of OPENspace, will be speaking at the session, offering insights from ongoing research into the value and potential of blue spaces.

The online session will highlight leading academic research on the wide-ranging benefits of blue spaces, alongside real-world examples from community groups using water-based activities to support healthier lives. Strategic leaders will also share emerging opportunities for collaborative partnership working in this area.

The event is designed for anyone interested in health improvement, community engagement, or environmental wellbeing.

To book a place, email PHS.healthyenvironments@phs.scot.

Blue Health: Research, Practice & Innovative Partnerships
📅 Tuesday 16 December, 12:30–14:30
📍 Online via MS Teams

Prof. Simon Bell Contributes to WHO Working Group on Drowning Prevention

Prof Simon Bell has been invited to join a working group set up by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to provide recommendations on the prevention of drowning, one of the leading causes of death worldwide.

While there are many aspects to consider, the planning and design of water areas in landscapes to make them accessible while maintaining safety is an important task for landscape architects. Following his work on BlueHealth, Prof. Bell joins the group as an expert in designing waterfront environments.

Introducing the BlueHealth Toolkit

In this video, produced by the Estonian University of Life Sciences, OPENspace Co-Director Dr Simon Bell introduces the BlueHealth Toolkit – a validated, tested and free resource for urban planners and designers to use when working on new blue space projects. The toolkit is particularly useful for conducting before and after assessments of a blue space, so that the success of a project can be evaluated. The BlueHealth Toolkit was created as part of the EU Horizon 2020-funded BlueHealth project – a pan-European research initiative that investigated the links between urban blue spaces, climate and health.

Video credit: @EestiMaaulikool

The Surprising Benefits of Blue Spaces

On Friday 11 November 2022 the BBC published a long piece on its website under the Future Planet/MentaL Health section on “The Surprising Benefits of Blue Spaces” https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221108-the-doctors-prescribing-blue-therapy?utm_source=bbc-news&utm_medium=right-hand-slot .

In it, the EU Horizon 2020 BlueHealth project is specifically mentioned, and a link is made directly to one of Simon Bell’s articles from his work as a Principal Investigator on the BlueHealth project https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/10/4084 which is all about the impact of a small-scale intervention in Plymouth on residents’ health and wellbeing.

The surprising benefits of blue spaces – BBC Future When Homo sapiens first evolved some 300,000 years ago, we lived in grasslands and forests, next to lakes and rivers. It wasn’t until 2007 that we became a majority-urban species. But as … www.bbc.com

(Image credit: Frankie Adkins)