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