Nature Immersion, Health, and the Community
A Special Issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601) belonging to the section "Environmental Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 September 2027 | Viewed by 457
Editors
Interests: anxiety disorders; spirituality; health and wellness; health psychology; integrative medicine; psychophysiology
Interests: green social prescribing; forest bathing; sustainable urban landscapes; pro-environmental and conservation behaviours; compassion-based interventions
Interests: lifestyle medicine; NCD prevention; nature-based interventions and forest bathing (shinrin-yoku); behavioral science; implementation science and health policy; comparative and cross-cultural health systems
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Exposure to natural environments—through nature walks, green space views, or even virtual nature—consistently produces beneficial effects on stress reduction, mood enhancement, cognitive restoration, and resilience. Increasing engagement with nature complements the effects of conventional treatment interventions and contributes to increased wellbeing of the individual and the community.
Theoretical frameworks such as the Biophilia Hypothesis, Stress Reduction Theory, and Attention Restoration Theory have offered explanations of how natural settings engage the parasympathetic nervous system, reduce cortisol, and restore mental resources.
Experimental studies have reported decreased self-reported and physiological stress after even brief periods in nature. Nature immersion trials have repeatedly demonstrated improvements in mood and immune markers like natural killer cells. Observational and intervention studies have linked green space availability and community “greening” to reductions in depression and anxiety risk, and improvements in wellbeing.
Meta-analyses have suggested that even 10 – 15 minutes per day in nature significantly improves subjective well-being. Frequency and “dose” matter: interval exposures may yield stronger effects than single, prolonged visits to nature. The effectiveness of nature exposure is moderated by individual factors (age, socioeconomic status, prior connectedness) as well as by the type and quality of the green space. From a resilience perspective, nature serves as a low-cost enhancer of adaptive capacity.
Access to nature immersion is obstructed by many factors in urban areas and disadvantaged populations. Health inequities are compounded by non-equitable access to nature. Barriers to nature contact are a form of environmental injustice. Planning to provide greening throughout urban areas and to facilitate access to urban green spaces is a priority.
Programs such as the “green social prescribing” in the United Kingdom provide not only encouragement for the individual to access nature, but also coordination with transportation resources. The Dose of Nature program, also in the UK, combines physician prescription with patient education on the mental health benefits of nature contact. Framing nature contact as a public health “ecosystem service” invites broader policy integration, both in urban planning and community education.
This Special Issue welcomes papers on (1) empirical studies on the benefits of nature contact; (2) demographic studies on nature access, health, and wellbeing; (3) action research on programs to enhance access to nature for disadvantaged populations; (4) reports on the benefits of nature contact for specific patient groups or specific communities; and (5) programs to create green hospitals, clinics, and work spaces.
Prof. Dr. Donald Moss
Dr. Kirsten McEwan
Dr. Tamami Shirai
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 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
- exposure to nature
- physiological mechanisms
- demographics
- health equity
- environmental justice
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