The Guardian article focuses on findings from a recent study led by Dr Scott Ogletree, into the relationship between greenspace exposure and telomere length. The study found that those living in neighbourhoods with more green spaces had longer telomeres, the protective structures at the end of chromosomes associated with cellular health and aging. Telomeres prevent DNA unravelling and longer telomeres allow cells to replicate more times.
The study, based on the survey responses and medical records of over 7,800 participants, revealed that a 5% increase in neighbourhood green space was associated with a 1% reduction in cellular aging. However, the positive effects were less pronounced in low-income or segregated areas, indicating that a neighbourhood context, including deprivation, pollution, and segregation, may influence the health benefits of green spaces.
The Landscape Forum aims to stimulate knowledge building, collaboration and action for local sustainable development, while integrating a European dimension. It provides a unique opportunity to interact creatively with colleagues from a range of landscape disciplines through informal workshops and in field visit settings.
Dr Scott Ogletree has been awarded a visiting research fellowship this coming summer at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. Scott will be collaborating with Agnès Patuano to explore the potential of Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) for testing the effects of design scenarios on the health of urban communities, in an effort to develop Research through Design methodologies. During his stay, Scott will also contribute to selected courses via guest lectures and provide reviews for courses in Landscape Architecture and Planning. The visit will be an opportunity to build networks and collaboration between OPENspace and other researchers in landscape and health.
Agnès is an Assistant Professor in Landscape Architecture and Spatial Planning and a former postdoctoral researcher with OPENspace. She also completed her PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2017 with Professor Catharine Ward Thompson and Prof Peter Aspinall.
Scott’s visit will run from mid-June to mid-July 2024.
OPENspace Co-Director, Prof Catharine Ward Thompson, is contributing to a new parliamentary inquiry into Urban Green Spaces.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee invited Prof Ward Thompson to attend an oral evidence session in the House of Commons, Westminster, on 5th December 2023 as a witness, covering differences in access to green spaces, the barriers to using them, and how they can be made more inclusive, while linking this to the health and wellbeing benefits of green spaces, and their relationship with health inequalities.
The full Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee event recording is available via Parliamentlive.tv.
Catharine Ward Thompson has a short essay published in ‘Garden and Metaphor: Essays on the Essence of the Garden’, a book edited by Ana Kučan and Mateja Kurir and published by Birkhäuser in October 2023. In this book, landscape architects, sociologists, architects, artists, philosophers and historians illuminate different aspects of the garden in the Anthropocene: the garden as a place of community, garden as art, and the garden as a place of enchantment and rapture. The book is in part a tribute to the work of the late Slovenian landscape architect, Professor Dušan Ogrin, whose work over many decades to support education in the profession was untiring, international and inspirational.
Mediaeval flowery mede/pleasaunce: illustration from Roman de la Rose (The Romance of the Rose), Master of the Prayer Books, Bruges, c. 1490–1500.
Following the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the University of Edinburgh and Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) over the summer of 2023, the two institutions have decided to set up The Joint Laboratory of Healthy Space in the related fields of urban design, landscape architecture and environmental design.
It is an international and interdisciplinary laboratory, with the aim of “creating healthier living environments for the public”. The OPENspace Research Centre in Edinburgh College of Art and the Social Space and Healthy Environment Laboratory at BIT are the two bodies within each institution who are forming research teams to further the collaboration.
To address global health threats and challenges in relation to living environments, the laboratory will join hands with interdisciplinary global experts to investigate new evidence on the impact of built environments on health and well-being, and promote the construction and renewal of healthy spaces around the globe, with a view to improving the health and well-being of all human beings. At the local level, the laboratory will focus on the national strategy of “Healthy China 2030” and the needs of the construction of a healthy China. It has the following mission:
To promote health and well-being for the public in relation to landscape architecture and design
To provide the highest-quality research and teaching
To challenge the boundaries of knowledge, research and disciplines
To enable our graduates and staff to be exceptional individuals equipped to address global challenges
Activities of the laboratory will facilitate academic exchange, student supervision, bi-lateral workshops and research projects in investigations of the many links between health and the built environment.
Applications are invited for a part-time Science Communicator and Research Impact Officer with experience in science communication, impact and community engagement.
The successful post-holder will join GroundsWell: a large UK-wide consortium evaluating the health and well-being benefits of urban green and blue spaces.
The closing date for applications is 7th August 2023. For more information and to apply, please click here.
A survey to gauge public opinion on the potential to transform some kerbside parking spaces in Edinburgh into community spaces, also known as ‘parklets,’ has shown 58 per cent of residents are in favour of having them in their neighbourhood.
Support was greatest among under-45s and non-car owning residents.
Of the 42 per cent of respondents who did not wish to see a parklet in their neighbourhood, most were over 55 and owned a car.
Nearly 800 people took part in the University of Edinburgh study via online platforms, social media and face-to-face interviews.
Business owners and community organisations were among those engaging with academics from the University’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
Enthusiasm for parklets was greatest in Morningside, Portobello and Leith where several streets were suggested as possible locations, while areas such as Corstorphine showed less interest.
The study team is to carry out further research in districts that drew only a limited response.
Researchers are recommending that the City of Edinburgh Council explore the feasibility of implementing parklets in specific locations which have community support.
Findings will also be used to help shape emerging policies on street space allocation across the city.
A new kind of public space
The survey describes parklets as “small community gathering space for people to stop, relax, and socialise”.
Edinburgh has some commercial kerbside build-outs but has not yet introduced the parklet concept, which is based around providing a fully public and non-commercial space. Some parklets have already been introduced in cities including London and Leeds.
Parklets are usually created by converting one or two on-street parking bays into a small public space with installation of temporary structures, seating areas, plants and cycle parking.
Parklets need to be supported by the local community and so this research looked at whether residents would be interested in having one in their neighbourhood.
Lead investigator and OPENspace Co-Director, Dr Simon Bell said, “This research is a good example of how the collection of data about a topic, in this case parklets, can be used to provide better evidence for use in planning and policymaking. It shows that reliable data can support other aspects of the planning process and can balance situations where, otherwise, effective lobbying might unfairly affect a planning outcome.”
The study was supported by the University of Edinburgh’s Data-Driven Innovation programme – part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal and funded by the UK and Scottish Governments.
OPENspace Research Fellow, Dr Caroline Pearce, presented initial findings from the ACRC study, ‘Environmental support for flourishing in older age: an exploration using a personal projects approach’, and Dr Scott Ogletree provided an overview of the Landscape and Wellbeing program at ECA and his work on GroundsWell.
The students, who had earlier explored urban areas within Scotland to note the accessibility of public transportation, availability of green spaces, and the cultural attitude toward older adults, had positive feedback on the impact of OPENspace research:
“It helped broaden my outlook on how the physical environment can directly impact people’s health and well being in ways that I hadn’t thought about before”
“Seeing that even the smallest activity can make older adults feel so much better just solidified the idea that the world needs to do better, not just for older adults, but for everyone.”
