Green Space and Forest Recreation Use During COVID-19 Pandemic Stress
A special issue of Challenges (ISSN 2078-1547).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 492
Special Issue Editor
Interests: urban sustainability and smart cities; forest ecosystems and biodiversity services and valuation; clean and renewable energy; macroeconomic policies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The year 2021 is soon coming to an end, and at this point in time, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed over 5.2 million lives and caused over 266.2 million infections globally. These occurrences have left many people worldwide with socioeconomic, mental, and psychological welfare issues. The constant lockdowns, though necessary, have also compounded the already bad situation and increased rates of mental health issues. Humanistic forest ecosystem services play a paramount role in reducing stress if utilized or accessed by people in need. Forests and urban parks offer recreational services necessary for the mental and physical welfare of the visiting persons. Understanding the value of forest ecosystems and nature for people's welfare is currently more necessary than it has ever been before. Therefore, emphasizing the role of urban nature and forest recreation services during epidemiological situations and lockdown stress is very important for both research and policy and decision makers. Related challenges regarding the pandemic are also essential to investigate, requiring practical solutions.
Original research articles, case studies, communications, comprehensive reviews, and any other submissions relating to the Special Issue theme are welcomed.
Topics of research and studies will cover but are not limited to:
- The role of urban nature and forest recreation on people’s physical, economic, social, and mental welfare and medical measures;
- Rules and policy decision making amid a pandemic;
- Urban planning during the COVID-19 pandemic;
- Stress management during COVID-19;
- The impact of COVID-19 on nature/forests;
- Challenges and opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Dastan Bamwesigye
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Challenges is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- COVID-19
- forest recreation
- lockdown stress and resilience
- meditation
- mental health
- physical exercise
- vaccination
- vitamin D
- urban resilience in the pandemic
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