Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health

Matilda van den Bosch is a physician with a PhD in landscape planning and public health. Her work cuts across medicine and environmental sciences, exploring interactions between human health and nature. Her main focus is health benefits from natural environments and how ecosystem services protect health in a changing climate. Her work is widely acknowledged, featuring in for example National Geographic. Apart from teaching and research activities at the University of British Columbia, Matilda has worked as a consultant to WHO, UN Environmental Programme, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. She is president of the Swedish Society of Behavioural Medicine and president elect of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment.William Bird is a GP with a special interest in the promotion of outdoor physical activity. He helped set up both the British Heart Foundation National Centre Physical Activity and Health in Loughborough University (2000) and European Centre for Environment and Human Health in Truro (2010). Between 2000 and 2005 he was clinical director at the Met Office working on the Health Forecasting service. In 2010 William was awarded the MBE for services to promote physical activity and health.

• Section 1: Why is nature a health factor?1.1: Matilda van den Bosch and William Bird: Setting the scene and how to read the book1.2: Felicia M. Low, Peter D Gluckman, and Mark A. Hanson: A life course approach to public health: why early life matters1.3: Karl-Henrik Robèrt, Michael T. Hernke, Luke Fortney, and Rian Podein: Systems thinking for global health and strategic sustainable development1.4: Peter Währborg, Panagiota Pervanidou, and George P. Chrousos: The physiology of stress and stress recovery1.5: William Bird, Elissa Epel, Jeannette Ikovics, and Matilda van den Bosch: Unifying mechanisms: nature deficiency and chronic stress and inflammationSection 2: How nature can affect health- theories and mechanisms2.1: Agnes E. van den Berg, and Henk Staats: Environmental psychology2.2: Mardie Townsend, Claire Henderson-Wilson, Haywantee Ramkissoon, and Rona Weerasuriya: Therapeutic landscapes, restorative environments, place attachment, and wellbeing2.3: Graham Rook: Microbes, the immune system and the health benefits of exposure to the natural environment2.4: Heidi Janssen, Julie Bernhardt, Frederick R. Walker, Neil J. Spratt, Michael Pollack, Anthony Hannan, and Michael Nilsson: Environmental enrichment: neurophysiological responses and consequences for health2.5: Caroline Hägerhäll, Richard Taylor, Greg Watts, Gunnar Cerwén, Matilda van den Bosch, Daniel Press, and Steven Minta: Biological mechanisms and physiological responses to sensory impact from nature2.6: Leonie Venhoeven, Danny Taufik, Linda Steg, Marino Bonaiuto, Mirilia Bonnes, Silvia Ariccio , Stefano de Dominicis, Massimiliano Scopelliti, Matilda van den Bosch, Paul Piff, Jia Wei Zhang, and Dacher Keltner: The role of nature and environment in behavioural medicineSection 3: Public health impact of nature contact - pathways to health promotion and disease prevention3.1: Billie Giles-Corti, Fiona Bull, Hayley Christian, Mohammad Javad Koohsari, Takemi Sugiyama, and Paula Hooper: Promoting physical activity reducing obesity and NCDs3.2: Matilda van den Bosch, Catharine Ward Thompson, and Patrik Grahn: Preventing stress and promoting mental health3.3: Birgit Elands, Karin Peters, and Sjerp de Vries: Promoting social cohesion and social capital increasing wellbeingSection 4: Public health impact of nature contact- intervention and rehabilitation4.1: Anna María Pálsdóttir, Joe Sempik, William Bird, and Matilda van den Bosch: Using nature as a treatment option4.2: Aubrey H. Fine and Shawna Weaver: The human-animal bond and animal assisted intervention4.3: Cecilia Stenfors, Eva Bojner Horwitz, Töres Theorell, and Walter Osika: Similarities, disparities, and synergies with other complex interventions stress as a common pathwaySection 5: Public health impact of varied landscapes and environments5.1: Qing Li and Simon Bell: The great outdoors: forests, wilderness, and public health5.2: Mathew P. White, Rebecca Lovell, Benedict W. Wheeler, Sabine Pahl, Sebastian Völker, and Michael H. Depledge: Blue landscapes and public health5.3: Peter H. Kahn, Jr: Technological nature and human wellbeingSection 6: Varied populations and interactions with nature6.1: Nancy M. Wells, Francesqca E. Jimenez, and Fredrika Mårtensson: Children and nature6.2: Mark Detweiler, Jack Carman, and Jonna G. Meinersmann-Detweiler: Nature-based treatments as an adjunctive therapy for anxiety among elderly6.3: Richard Mitchell, Julia Africa, and Alan Logan: Vulnerable populations, health inequalities, and nature6.4: Caroline Hägerhäll: Responses to nature from populations of varied cultural backgroundSection 7: Threats, environmental change, and unintended consequences of nature - protecting health and reducing environmental hazards7.1: Åslög Dahl, Matilda van den Bosch, and Thomas Ogren: Allergenic pollen emissions from vegetation threats and prevention7.2: David Wong: Vector-borne diseases and poisonous plants7.3: Eric K. Noji. Anas Khan and Osama A Samarkandi: The health impact of natural disasters7.4: David J. Ball and Laurence N. Ball-King: Risk and the perception of risk in interactions with nature7.5: Anthony J. McMichael: Population health deficits due to biodiversity loss, climate change, and other environmental degradationSection 8: The nature of the city8.1: Florian Lederbogen, Leila Haddad, Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Danielle Ompad, and Matilda van den Bosch: The shift from natural living environments to urban population-based and neurobiological implications for public health8.2: Timothy Beatley and Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch: Urban landscapes and public health8.3: Stephen R. Kellert: Nature in buildings and health design8.4: Raffaele Lafortezza and Cecil Konijnendijk van den Bosch: Green infrastructure - approach and public health benefits8.5: Elisabet Lindgren, My S. Almqvist, and Thomas Elmqvist: Ecosystem services and health benefits an urban perspective8.6: Evelyne de Leeuw and Premila Webster: The healthy settings approach: healthy cities and environmental health indicatorsSection 9: Natural public health across the world9.1: Emmanuel K. Boon and Albert Ahenkan: Africa and environmental health trends9.2: Ana Faggi, Sylvie Nail, Carolina Ceres, Sgobaro Zanette, and Germán Tovar Corzo: Latin America and the environmental health movement9.3: Evelyne de Leeuw, Erik Martin, and Temo Waqanivalu: Healthy islandsSection 10: Bringing nature into public health plans and actions10.1: Robert Zarr and William Bird: The role of the health professional10.2: Cinnamon P. Carlarne and Jeffrey M. Bielicki: The role of environmental law10.3: Salim Vohra, Marla Orenstein, Francesca Viliani, Ben Cave, Ben Harris-Roxas, and Filipe Silva: Environmental assessment and health impact assessment10.4: David Nowak: Quantifying and valuing the role of trees and forests on environmental quality and human health10.5: Matilda van den Bosch, Cathey E. Falvo, Génon Jensen, Joshua Karliner, and Rachel Stancliffe: The role of civil society and organizations