Miles Richardson

Eric Brymer

Elizabeth Louise Freeman

In recent years there has been a growing body of evidence from fields such as public health, architecture, ecology, landscape, forestry, psychology, sport science, psychiatry, geography suggesting that nature enhances psychological health and wellbeing. Physical activity in the presence of nature, feelings of connection to nature, engagement with nature, specific environmental features (e.g. therapeutic, water and trees) and images of real and virtual nature have all been posited as important wellbeing facilitators. Thus, the association between natural environments and health outcomes might be more complex than initially understood (Pritchard, Richardson, Sheffield, & Mcewan, 2019). Despite the number of studies showing improvements in psychological health and wellbeing through nature-based physical activities or feelings of connection to nature the exact role and influence of the natural environment in this process is still rather unclear (Brymer, Davids, & Mallabon, 2014; Karmanov & Hamel, 2008). Research is also beginning to consider the importance of individual differences, meaning and the person-environment relationship (Freeman, Akhurst, Bannigan & James, 2016; Freeman & Akhurst, 2015) in the development of wellbeing and health outcomes. Furthermore traditional theoretical notions, such as Biophilia, topophilia, restoration theories and stress reduction theories typically used to interpret findings are also being critiqued. Often one of the main barriers for practitioners is the vast array of theories that claim to effectively explain research findings but that tend to be only partially relevant (e.g. for Physical activity or restoration), focus on the characteristics of the person (e.g. nature relatedness) and only some features of the landscape (e.g. therapeutic landscapes). This special edition therefore brings together cutting edge ideas and research from a wide set of disciplines with the purpose of exploring interdisciplinary or trans-disciplinary approaches to understanding the psychological health and wellbeing benefits of human-nature interactions.

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