Check here for all required and optional course readings (including links to interesting material discussed during class sessions) and feel free to send additional material our way!
Required Core Content
- Gifford R, McCunn Lindsay. Appraisals of built environments and approaches to building design that promote well-being and healthy behaviour. In Steg L, van den Berg AE, De Groot JI, editors. Environmental psychology: an introduction. Baltimore: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 2012.
- House E, O’Connor C, Wolf K, Israel J, Reynolds T. Outside our doors: the benefits of cities where people and nature thrive. Seattle: The Nature Conservancy; 2016.
- Wolf, K. Nature’s riches: the health and financial benefits of nearby nature. Seattle: The Nature Conservancy; 2016.
- Egorov A, Mudu P, Braubach M, Martuzzi M, editors. Urban green spaces and health: a review of evidence. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2016. [Chapters 1-2 only]
- Browning WD, Ryan CO, Clancy JO. 14 patterns of biophilic design: improving health and well-being in the built environment. New York: Terrapin Bright Green llc; 2014.
- Depledge MH. Healthy people with nature in mind. BMC public health. 2014 Dec;15:1232-.
Optional Readings
Healthy planet, healthy people
- Healthy built environment linkages: a toolkit for design, planning, health. Vancouver: BC Provincial Health Services Authority; 2014.
- van den Bosch M, Cave B, Kock R, Nieuwenhuijsen M. Global environment outlook: GEO-6 assessment for the pan-European region. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme/United Nations Economic Commission for Europe; 2016.
- Turner WR, Nakamura T, Dinetti M. Global urbanization and the separation of humans from nature. Bioscience. 2004 Jun 1;54(6):585-90.
Social cohesion
Diseases and health outcomes related to urban forests
- Kardan O, Gozdyra P, Misic B, Moola F, Palmer LJ, Paus T, Berman MG. Neighborhood greenspace and health in a large urban center. Scientific reports. 2015 Jul 9;5:11610.
- Dadvand P, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Esnaola M, Forns J, Basagaña X, Alvarez-Pedrerol M, Rivas I, López-Vicente M, Pascual MD, Su J, Jerrett M. Green spaces and cognitive development in primary schoolchildren. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2015 Jun 30;112(26):7937-42.
- Gascon M, Triguero-Mas M, Martínez D, Dadvand P, Rojas-Rueda D, Plasència A, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ. Residential green spaces and mortality: A systematic review. Environment international. 2016 Jan 31;86:60-7.
- Donovan GH, Butry DT, Michael YL, Prestemon JP, Liebhold AM, Gatziolis D, Mao MY. The relationship between trees and human health: evidence from the spread of the emerald ash borer. American journal of preventive medicine. 2013 Feb 28;44(2):139-45.
- Hartig T, Mitchell R, De Vries S, Frumkin H. Nature and health. Annual Review of Public Health. 2014 Mar 18;35:207-28.
Stress
- Sapolsky RM. Why zebras don’t get ulcers. New York: WH Freeman; 1994.
- Van Den Berg AE, Custers MH. Gardening promotes neuroendocrine and affective restoration from stress. Journal of health psychology. 2011 Jan;16(1):3-11.
- Annerstedt M, Jönsson P, Wallergård M, Johansson G, Karlson B, Grahn P, Hansen ÅM, Währborg P. Inducing physiological stress recovery with sounds of nature in a virtual reality forest—Results from a pilot study. Physiology & behavior. 2013 Jun 13;118:240-50.
- Lederbogen F, Kirsch P, Haddad L, Streit F, Tost H, Schuch P, Wüst S, Pruessner JC, Rietschel M, Deuschle M, Meyer-Lindenberg A. City living and urban upbringing affect neural social stress processing in humans. Nature. 2011 Jun 23;474(7352):498-501.
- Öhman A, Mineka S. The malicious serpent: snakes as a prototypical stimulus for an evolved module of fear. Current directions in psychological science. 2003 Feb 1;12(1):5-9.
Pro-environmental behaviour
- Zelenski JM, Dopko RL, Capaldi CA. Cooperation is in our nature: Nature exposure may promote cooperative and environmentally sustainable behavior. Journal of environmental psychology. 2015 Jun 30;42:24-31.
- Zhang JW, Piff PK, Iyer R, Koleva S, Keltner D. An occasion for unselfing: Beautiful nature leads to prosociality. Journal of environmental psychology. 2014 Mar 31;37:61-72.
Green roofs and walls
- White EV, Gatersleben B. Greenery on residential buildings: Does it affect preferences and perceptions of beauty?. Journal of environmental psychology. 2011 Mar 31;31(1):89-98.
- Lee KE, Williams KJ, Sargent LD, Farrell C, Williams NS. Living roof preference is influenced by plant characteristics and diversity. Landscape and urban planning. 2014 Feb 28;122:152-9.
- Sheweka S, Magdy AN. The living walls as an approach for a healthy urban environment. Energy Procedia. 2011 Jan 1;6:592-9.
- Loder A. ‘There’s a meadow outside my workplace’: A phenomenological exploration of aesthetics and green roofs in Chicago and Toronto. Landscape and urban planning. 2014 Jun 30;126:94-106.
Online Resources
- Curitiba: the green capital – BlueHealth
- Why do we care about bluespace? – Danish Architecture Centre
- How to read a scientific article – Cain Project in Engineering and Professional Communication
- EnviroAtlas Eco-Health Relationship Browser – United States EPA
- Green Cities: Good Health – University of Washington
- Nature is everywhere: we just need to learn to see it (Emma Maris) – TEDSummit
- Debunking myths about the “third world” (Hans Rosling) – Gapminder