Layered habitats: An evolutionary model for present-day recreational needs

Urbanisation and lifestyle-related illnesses increase globally. This highlights the need to shape modern human habitats to support basic recreational needs, promoting such things as physical activity and restoration of high stress levels and cognitive fatigue. Previous research suggests eight perceived qualities in the outdoor environment, described as eight perceived sensory dimensions, as universally meaningful to people in this regard. However quite extensively studied in relation to various health and wellbeing outcomes, human sensitivity and appreciation for these qualities has not yet been explicitly analysed from an evolutionary perspective. This paper investigates their possible evolutionary roots and suggests an order for their development. This is linked with empirical findings on their relative capacity to support restoration of stress and cognitive fatigue. Qualities of earlier origin are suggested to correspond to older, more fundamental adaptations. Each subsequently developed quality implies an increased complexity of our environmental relations, associated with higher demands on more recently developed capacities. The proposed model thus links the more restorative Serene, Sheltered, Natural, and Cohesive perceived sensory dimensions with earlier stages of our development while the more demanding Diverse, Open, Cultural, and Social qualities are associated with more recent transitions. It might be of relevance when shaping modern human habitats from a health-promoting perspective, and have applications in the planning and design of, e.g., health care settings, rehabilitation gardens, urban green areas, recreational forests or other similar outdoor environments

Concepts, Intension, and Identity in Tibetan Philosophy of Language

This article examines one highly localized set of developments to the Buddhist doctrine of word meaning that was made by twelfth and thirteenth century Tibetan Buddhist epistemologists primarily schooled at gSaṅ phu Monastery in central Tibet. I will show how these thinkers developed the notion of a concept (don spyi) in order to explain how it is that words are capable of applying to real objects, and how concepts can be used to capture elements of word meaning extending beyond reference to real objects

Layered habitats: An evolutionary model for present-day recreational needs

Urbanisation and lifestyle-related illnesses increase globally. This highlights the need to shape modern human habitats to support basic recreational needs, promoting such things as physical activity and restoration of high stress levels and cognitive fatigue. Previous research suggests eight perceived qualities in the outdoor environment, described as eight perceived sensory dimensions, as universally meaningful to people in this regard. However quite extensively studied in relation to various health and wellbeing outcomes, human sensitivity and appreciation for these qualities has not yet been explicitly analysed from an evolutionary perspective. This paper investigates their possible evolutionary roots and suggests an order for their development. This is linked with empirical findings on their relative capacity to support restoration of stress and cognitive fatigue. Qualities of earlier origin are suggested to correspond to older, more fundamental adaptations. Each subsequently developed quality implies an increased complexity of our environmental relations, associated with higher demands on more recently developed capacities. The proposed model thus links the more restorative Serene, Sheltered, Natural, and Cohesive perceived sensory dimensions with earlier stages of our development while the more demanding Diverse, Open, Cultural, and Social qualities are associated with more recent transitions. It might be of relevance when shaping modern human habitats from a health-promoting perspective, and have applications in the planning and design of, e.g., health care settings, rehabilitation gardens, urban green areas, recreational forests or other similar outdoor environments

Health-Promoting Nature-Based Paradigms in Urban Planning

Since the 19th century, urban planning has largely been guided by ambitions to improve the population’s wellbeing and living conditions. Parks and green areas have played a significant role in this work. However, the confidence in the function of green areas, and thus the motives for creating urban parks and green open spaces, have shifted over the years, which has affected both the planning and design of green areas. This entry describes three overarching paradigm shifts in urban planning, from the end of the 18th century to today, and the focus is on the major paradigm shift that is underway: how green areas can mitigate climate effects, increase biodiversity and at the same time support people’s health and living conditions in a smart city

Forests for Health Promotion: Future Developments of Salutogenic Properties in Managed Boreal Forests

Visits to forests can improve human health and well-being through various mechanisms. They can support the immune system, promote physical activity, and restore stress and attention fatigue. Questions remain about how perceived qualities in forests important to support such salutogenic, i.e. health-promoting, benefits can be represented in forest simulation tools to allow quantitative analyses, e.g., long-term projections or trade-off analyses with other forest functions, such as biodiversity conservation, wood production, etc. Questions also remain about how different forest management regimes might impact such perceived qualities in forests. Here, we defined three types of salutogenic forest characteristics (SFCs), referred to as Deep, Spacious, and Mixed forest characteristics, respectively. We did so by using the perceived sensory dimension (PSD) model, which describes and interrelates more fundamental perceived qualities of recreational outdoor environments that are important to support people’s health and well-being. We identified proxy variables for the selected PSD models in boreal forest stands and compared the effect of five different management regimes on both individual PSD models and the derived SFCs when projecting a forest landscape 100 years into the future. Our results suggest combinations of protection (set-aside) and variations of continuous cover forestry as the most promising strategies to achieve these salutogenic properties in the long-term future. Depending on the SFC in focus and the specific management regime used, between 20% and 50% of the landscape could support associated properties in the long term (100 years). This might impact how forests should be managed when salutogenic outcomes are considered alongside, e.g., wood production and other forest contributions

Salutogenic Affordances and Sustainability: Multiple Benefits With Edible Forest Gardens in Urban Green Spaces

With increased urbanization, ecological challenges such as climate change and loss of biodiversity, and stress-related disorders globally posing a major threat to public health and wellbeing, the development of efficient multiple-use strategies for urban green spaces and infrastructures is of great importance. In addition to benefits such as climate and water regulation, food production, and biodiversity conservation, green spaces and features have been associated with various health and wellbeing outcomes from a psychological perspective. Research suggests links between exposure to green environmental qualities and restoration from psycho-physiological stress and attention fatigue, promotion of physical activity, increased neighborhood satisfaction and even reduced mortality. Especially strong associations have been observed in urban and socio-economically challenged areas. Usually such salutogenic, i.e., health-promoting, effects are explained through theories related to the notion of biophilia, i.e., the idea that humans share innate tendencies to attend to natural environments and features that have been beneficial during evolution. This paper assumes an ecological approach to perception and behavior to be fruitful in order to analyze the salutogenic potential of environments such as urban green spaces and to step beyond the “green vs. gray” dichotomy that has been prevalent through much of the research on health-promoting environments. Through an analysis of environmental affordances for certain perceived qualities such an approach is explored through a proposed concept for urban green space use and management, the edible forest garden. Such gardens, based on agroecological principles, have emerged as one of the most promising models regarding ecologically sustainable food production. In addition to potential contributions of importance for urban sustainability and biodiversity, we argue that the inclusion of edible forest gardens in urban green spaces – today globally dominated by lawns – also potentially could reinforce several affordances of salutogenic importance, both in terms of, e.g., social cohesion but also in regard to restoration from psycho-physiological stress and attention fatigue. Increased opportunities for contact with nature and processes of food production may also reinforce pro-environmental behaviors in the population and thus also affect long-term sustainability

Green perception for well-being in dense urban areas

A previous study (n = 24,819) of semi-urban and rural areas in the Skåne region, southern Sweden, showed that people living in flats are dependent on having green space with several characteristics for different affordances close to their homes to be satisfied with their neighbourhood. The two studies presented in this paper focuses on the urban area of Malmö, the largest city in Skåne. Equivalent criteria for the presence of certain characteristics within 300 m from home were used, however analysed from other kinds of data than the regional study. In both the previous rural/semi-urban study as well as the urban studies presented here, respondents report being more satisfied with their neighbourhood the more qualities that are present within 300 m of their home. Less than half of the apartment-dwelling respondents in the Malmö urban area are satisfied with their neighbourhood if less than half of the characteristics are available within 300 m. Even when there are few characteristics close by, people living in their own house are generally more satisfied with their neighbourhood (70 % or more irrespective of area type) than tenants are. A relatively high concordance between the two studies, despite the fact that they represent different kinds of landscape (semi-urban and rural vs. urban) and different scales (region vs. municipality), adds validity to the recreational characteristics as a tool for assessing well-being qualities of neighbourhood landscapes. The results from the studies of Malmö were also related to average household income and a clear association between our studies’ data on accessibility to serene areas and household income was found. This finding suggests that creating additional serene green space in low-income areas could be a tool to help the municipality reduce segregation

High resolution coherent population trapping on a single hole spin in a semiconductor

We report high resolution coherent population trapping on a single hole spin in a semiconductor quantum dot. The absorption dip signifying the formation of a dark state exhibits an atomic physics-like dip width of just 10 MHz. We observe fluctuations in the absolute frequency of the absorption dip, evidence of very slow spin dephasing. We identify this process as charge noise by, first, demonstrating that the hole spin g-factor in this configuration (in-plane magnetic field) is strongly dependent on the vertical electric field, and second, by characterizing the charge noise through its effects on the optical transition frequency. An important conclusion is that charge noise is an important hole spin dephasing process

Bra utemiljö i verksamhetsområden

Våra arbetsområden, särskilt kunskapsintensiva såsom universitetscampus och teknologiparker, karaktäriseras bl. a av att personal och studerande verkar under stress i konkurrensutsatta branscher i internationell tävlan. Lottrup m fl (2013) har visat att grönområden på arbetsplatser har betydelse för stress och trivsel. Stress och empati är omvänt korrelerade. Allt talar för att utemiljöer inom verksamhetsområden bör ha lämpliga grönkvaliteter för att gynna empati och samarbete. Ekosystemens funktioner för hälsa/välbefinnande är mycket viktig där många människor frekvent vistas. Stressrelaterade åkommor är den vanligaste orsaken till sjukskrivning idag i Sverige. Den snabbaste ökningen av stressjukdom sker i åldersgruppen 18-29 år. Därför bör det vara av särskild vikt att miljöerna på universitet innehåller stressåterhämtande kvaliteter. Universitetens campus är särskilt lämpliga för forskning om olika gröna kvaliteters effekter för stressreduktion. Studenters och forskares situation är relativt lika internationellt, varför olikheter i kulturella och socioekonomiska förutsättningar har mindre betydelser vid jämförelse av campusmiljöer än av andra typer av arbetsplatser länder emellan. Våren 2013 deltog undertecknad och landskapsarkitekt Jerker Nyblom, AH, i NAEP´s (National Association of Environmental professionals) årskonferens i Los Angeles (Skärbäck, 2013). I samband därmed besöktes UCLA, Stanford, Berkeley och Google‐plex i Silicon Valley. Arbetsområdenas utemiljöer fotodokumenterades och kvaliteterna analyserades med avseende på åtta karaktärer för hälsa och välbefinnande, som forskning på Alnarp har definierat (Grahn m fl 2005,). De åtta karaktärerna benämns här 1) Rofylldhet Serene, 2) Vild Wild, 3) Artrikedom Lush, 4) Rymd Space, 5) Allmänning Common, 6) Lustgård Pleasure garden, 7) Center/fest Centre/fest, 8) Kulturhistoria Culture. Underlag för campusområdenas planeringsprinciper erhölls genom personlig guidning av lokala planeringsansvariga på Berkeley och Stanford. För Stanford redovisades även en student‐ och medarbetarenkät med rangordning av populära och impopulära platser. Googles huvudkontor, Googleplex nära Stanford har besökts och fotoinventerats avseende de åtta karaktärerna, och redovisas här som bilaga. Besöket på UCLA skedde annandag påsk med få studenter och utan möte med någon central medarbetare. Samma vår besökte Jonathan Stoltz Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. En enkätundersökning genomfördes med planeringsstudenter och campus fotoinventerades. Studien gjordes i samband med en utbyteskonferens mellan Lunds universitet och tre universitet i Indien. Med detta underlag har de olika utemiljöerna analyserats och jämförts översiktligt konceptuellt som ett steg på vägen att få fram generell kunskap och metodik för ekosystemfunktionen hälsa/välbefinnande i allmänhet och för arbetsområden i synnerhet. Studien ger en del svar, och skärper en del frågeställningar. Erik Skärbäc