Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen

sustainability and ecology (see for, example, Pretty, 2002), and could be
key to the understanding of the therapeutic efficacy of green care. The
converse state, of ‘disconnectedness from nature’ therefore may correlate
with, or even cause, mental and physical ill-health.
2.3.1 Changes in connection to nature over time
Humans appear to have developed positive relationships with nature as
they have co-evolved. Natural and amended ecosystems have provided
sustenance and recent evidence indicates that they also improve quality
of life. The value and importance of this relationship has in the past often
been overlooked, yet it does appear that contact with nature does result in
enhanced human health and well-being (Maller et al, 2002; Frumkin, 2003;
Health Council of the Netherlands, 2004; Pretty et al, 2005a; Maas et al,
2006; Bird, 2007; Van den Berg et al, 2007).
However, society is becoming increasingly urbanised and throughout the
20th and 21st centuries the number of people living in an entirely urban
setting has increased. More than half of the world’s population currently
live in urban areas (UNFPA, 2007) and this proportion is still set to increase
(Pretty, 2007) and with ongoing urban and sub-urban sprawl, often access
to nature and green spaces is becoming limited. As a result, many people
are becoming ‘disconnected’ from nature, losing their familiarity with the
countryside and the natural world. This disconnection from nature can
impose new health costs by affecting psychological health and wellbeing
and reducing the opportunity for recovery from mental stresses or physical
tensions (Pretty et al, 2004).
In addition, according to Pretty (2002) many of us worldwide have become
disconnected from the way in which land is farmed and food is produced,
resulting in the loss of important parts of our culture that arose from
agriculture and the countryside:
“In the pursuit of improved agricultural productivity …. We
are losing the stories, memories and language about land
and nature. These disconnections matter, for the way we think
about nature … fundamentally affects what we do in our
agricultural and food systems.” (p. xiv)
18 Green Care: A Conceptual Framework