Category Archives: Climate Change

OPENspace research featured in new WHO Europe Action Brief on Urban Green Spaces

The European Regional Office of the World Health Organizaton (WHO) has launched a new Action Brief on Urban Green Spaces, building on extensive research in the field, including a number of studies by OPENspace.

The Action Brief is a beautifully-illustrated suite of practical guidance on how to maximise the health benefits of urban green spaces.

Designed for urban practitioners, it is based on, and summarises, two recent technical reports by WHO Europe:

‘Urban Green Spaces and Health: A review of evidence’ (2016), which cites a number of OPENspace research papers, and has a chapter co-authored by Professor Catharine Ward Thompson and Dr Eva Silveirinha de Oliveira.

‘Urban Green Space Interventions and Health: A review of impacts and effectiveness’ (2017), which includes our I’DGO and Woods In and Around Town (WIAT) projects as examples of how to assess the health benefits of environmental interventions.

Front cover of WHO publication

Having been cited by the WHO in its 2007 guidance on Global Age-friendly Cities, OPENspace has become a respected source of evidence for the organisation.

As well as citing our research in publications, WHO has invited Catharine to participate in a number of pan-European meetings and conferences, the most recent of which was the fourth European Conference on Biodiversity and Health in the face of Climate Change (Bonn, June 2017) at which she gave a plenary presentation and was interviewed by MDR, together with Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN) President, Beate Jessel.

 

Check out some of the visuals from the publication below, or access the document in full…

> Download the WHO Europe Action Brief on Urban Green Spaces

> Download Urban Green Spaces and Health: A review of evidence

> Download Urban Green Space Interventions and Health: A review of impacts and effectiveness

 

Photo of a jogger in a park

Photo of an urban parkPhoto of an urban streetPhoto of two women gardening

Photo of a tram

Photo of a coastal path

Catharine in Macedonia for WHO Task Force meeting

Greetings from Skopje in Macedonia where Catharine is presenting evidence on urban green spaces and health to the World Health Organization European Environment and Health Task Force (EHTF).

The Task Force is the leading international body for implementation and monitoring of the European Environment and Health Process, and we welcome the emphasis it is placing on the relationship between the quality of our urban outdoor spaces and people’s health and wellbeing.

We are delighted to have been invited to talk about our research to the group, framing the issue in the wider context of topics such as land use, urban planning, urban adaptation to climate change and demographic changes.

We are also pleased that the presentation is being followed by a discussion on the formulation of policy goals and political commitments in this area.

Keep an eye oLogo of the World Health Organization European Environment and Health Processn the EHTF website for outcomes from the meeting and details of the Sixth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in 2017.