The overall aim of this dissertation was to better understand the learning and teaching of NBPA in PHE experiences for teachers and adolescent students. A secondary aim was to better understand the learning and teaching cycle for NBPA reform in PHE. To achieve these aims, I conducted three interrelated studies that explored: (a) how pre-service teachers learn to teach NBPA in PHE, (b) in-service educators’ perspectives on learning and teaching NBPA, and (c) adolescent student experiences with NBPAs in and beyond PHE. These three studies explored the learning cycle from pre-service instruction, to in-service professional development, to, finally, the impact on the students’ learning. Individual findings are discussed in each of the three studies, and two overarching themes are discussed as findings for the overall body of research: (a) NBPA as a conduit for place- and land-based education; and (b) NBPA as an effective form of PHE reform. / Graduate / 2023-07-07

<p> This dissertation examines Bernard Lonergan' s understanding of value, its assumptions and its development, for the sake of determining the role of human nature and human historicity in the experience of value. The categories of nature and history reflect a specifically modem form of the long-standing question of the relationship between physis and nomos- i.e., nature and convention, or 'nature and nurture'-for modernity has made us accutely aware of the historicity of cultural conventions. We ask of Lonergan: how or to what extent is the experience of value determined by human nature, and how or to what extent is it historically conditioned?</p> <p> To understand Lonergan' s position one must appreciate both the difference and the continuity between his earlier and later thought. Lonergan' s earlier thought reflects a rather Kantian fonnalistic account of value as the rational good, but his later thought embraces Scheler' s non-fonnal, material account of value-i.e., the good is an object of natural appetite-a position in which affectivity plays a role in revealing value. In spite of this development, there yet remains an underlying unity: there is a fundamental opposition of affect and intellect that precludes the possibility of understanding value as both rationally and materially good. Lonergan associates affect with natural spontaneity, and intellect with the deliberate:, progressive dynamic of history. Because of this, in his earlier work he presents value as rationally, and therefore historically, determined; yet in his ma1ure position value is grasped primarily in affective apprehensions, which are ahistorical intuitions, grounded in human nature and the 'reasons of the heart'.</p> <p> In response, it will be argued that this dichotomy of feeling and rationality can be transcended without sacrificing Lonergan' s account of self-transcendence.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The built environment has largely separated itself from the natural one, making demands of nature, and requiring the natural environment to exist on its terms. This prevailing condition has led to the detriment of the natural environment and consequently, those who must inhabit both. Because of this, a shift from the domination of the natural environment to reconciliation with it is necessary. Serving as an intermediary between these two worlds, architecture has the potential to blur the boundaries once created by the built environment in the pursuit of reconciliation. Architecture can learn from the natural environment and take that which has been poorly adapted to aim for a more synchronous future. Shaping culture and perspective, architecture can serve as a signal to humanity that this reconciliation is worth pursuing. This thesis explores the dialogue between form and facade to comment on architecture's flawed yet hopeful path as it seeks a more sustainable relationship with nature. / Master of Architecture / The facade acts as an element of nature, attaching itself to the building like a mask as if it were nature itself taking over the building. Composed of coral-inspired ceramic pieces, the facade hosts an alternative green wall of algae. An otherwise typical rectilinear building form transforms itself, stretching certain spaces beyond its bounds to reach out to the facade as if a reconciliation is desired. This thesis explores the dialogue between form and facade to comment on architecture's flawed yet hopeful path as it seeks a more sustainable relationship with nature.

Mitt projekt består av ett kombinerat folkets hus och vad jag kallar ”centrum för fysisk aktivitet”, där en viktig del för mig är att främja alla sorters fysisk aktivitet där tävlingssporter inte nödvändigtvis prioriteras, och där det kan finnas någonting för alla. Den till ytan största enskilda delen av plusprogrammet, bassängen, är till skillnad från den klassiska badhusbassängen inte utformad för tävlingssim utan för att främja lek och andra vattenaktiviteter. Detta görs genom en irregulär form där flera mindre rumsligheter skapas, där man kan organisera allt från vattengympa och rehabiliterande träning, till simskola och lek. Andra viktiga delar av plusprogrammet är danssalen och tre aktivitetsrum, där tanken är att dessa rum inte ska vara alltför programmerade utan ska kunna användas till en rad olika aktiviteter baserat på önskemål och behov. Exempel på sådana aktiviteter skulle kunna vara dans, kampsport, rehabiliterande träning, yoga, och så vidare. Idén till detta kom ur att den enda träningsanläggningen som finns i området är en bollplan och en bollhall, och de närmaste faciliteterna för andra typer av träning ligger i Nynäshamn, med undantag från en simhall i närliggande Ösmo som just nu är planerad att rivas. Det här känns alltså som någonting som området skulle kunna dra mycket nytta av. Tanken med gestaltningen var att skapa en byggnad som blir en del av skogskanten och som fortsätter in i skogen. Strukturen baseras därför på pelare och vertikala modulliknande delar som följer skogens och markens form. Materialet är i huvudsak trä, och de spridda pelarna samt takfönster utplacerade här och var stärker känslan av att vara ute i skogen. De olika delarna av byggnaden – pelare, rumsligheter, och fönster – är utplacerade med en viss irregularitet och lekfullhet för att gynna den mer naturliga känslan. / My project consists of a combined people's house and what I call a "centre for physical activity", where an important part for me is to promote all kinds of physical activity where competitive sports are not necessarily prioritized, and where there can be something for everyone. The largest individual part of the plus program, the pool, unlike the classic bathhouse pool, is not designed for competitive swimming but to promote play and other water activities. This is done through an irregular shape where several smaller spaces are created, where you can organize everything from water gym and rehabilitative training, to swimming school and play. Other important parts of the plus program are the dance hall and three activity rooms, where the idea is that these rooms should not be overly programmed but should be able to be used for a range of different activities based on wishes and needs. Examples of such activities could be dance, martial arts, rehabilitative exercise, yoga, and so on. The idea for this came from the fact that the only training facility available in the area is a ball field and a ball hall, and the nearest facilities for other types of training are in Nynäshamn, with the exception of a swimming hall in nearby Ösmo which is currently scheduled to be demolished. So this feels like something that the area could greatly benefit from. The idea with the design was to create a building that becomes part of the edge of the forest and that continues into the forest. The structure is therefore based on pillars and vertical module-like parts that follow the shape of the forest and the ground. The material is mainly wood, and the scattered pillars and skylights placed here and there strengthen the feeling of being out in the forest. The various parts of the building – columns, spaces, and windows – are placed with a certain irregularity and playfulness to favor the more natural feel.

BACKGROUND: In the past decade urbanization has increased, with over half the world’s population and 83% of the total United States population, residing in urban areas as of 2021. Urbanization has the potential to decrease connectivity between nature and humans, impacting health and exacerbating urban heat islands. Previous research has found that the natural environment (i.e., trees and bluespace) provide vital ecosystem services through both direct and indirect pathways that positively impact health. Objective: The objective of my dissertation was to assess the current state of the natural environment in urban areas and gain a better understanding of the relationship between exposure to nature, health, and heat. METHODS: Research aims were addressed by focusing on publicly available data and a range of metrics used in previous literature to characterize exposure to greenness and natural landscapes and their associations with health and land surface temperature. In Chapter 2, I report on a nationwide quantitative health impact assessment to estimate the reduction in all-cause mortality in populations aged 65 and older in the largest metropolitan areas (n=35) in the United States associated with an increase in greenness in selected years across twenty years (2000, 2010, and 2019). Census tract mean seasonal greenness exposure was estimated by using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Landsat 30 m 16-day satellite imagery from April to September. All-cause mortality estimates were downscaled from county to tract-level from the CDC WONDER Portal. Mortality reduction was estimated using a recently published exposure-response function. Chapter 3 focuses on urban census tracts in Massachusetts (n=525), in order to assess the cumulative exposure of the urban natural environment. Thirty candidate, validated measures of the natural landscape space were derived from data published between 2016 and 2019. Principal component analysis was used to reduce the number of candidate items and confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the underlying hypothesized latent structure of three sub-domains: green space, parks and recreation and blue space. Items hypothesized to measure each latent structure were summed using equal weights and each sub-domain was rescaled from 0–100. The tract-level cumulative exposure index was the sum of the three sub-domains. Lastly, in Chapter 4 using generalized linear models, I investigated the relationship between urban heat and nature using the natural landscape index created in Chapter 3 and mean five-year Land Surface Temperature (LST). The City of Boston was then used as a case-study to identify vulnerable tracts with low nature and high heat to inform planning for climate adaptation strategies and public health planning. RESULTS: In Chapter 2, overall greenness in the largest metropolitan areas in the US increased from 3% between 2000 and 2010 to 11% between 2010 and 2019. Approximately 34,000 to 38,000 all-cause mortality deaths could have been prevented with an increase in 0.1 NDVI units from 2000 to 2019. In developing the cumulative natural landscape index, in Chapter 3, we found that greenness measures (NDVI, tree canopy, percent impervious, etc.) explained the most variance among all of the items hypothesized to measure the cumulative natural landscape index. The three sub-domains explained 69% of the total variance, with greenness accounting more than half the total variance explained. Lastly, in Chapter 4, we report that with an interquartile shift in overall nature, LST decreased by 0.8°C. More specifically, higher overall greenness, higher percent tree canopy, and higher percent impervious surfaces resulted in the largest change in LST. With an increase in greenness and tree canopy we found a decrease in LST by over 1°C. In contrast, an increase in impervious surfaces resulted in an increase in LST by 1.31°C. Within the City of Boston, we found that 9% of the total population resides in tracts that were within the highest quartile of LST and lowest quartile of overall nature. CONCLUSION: Overall, this work finds that large urban areas in the United States saw a small increase in overall greenness across the past two decades. With a trend of increasing greenness there is also the potential to reduce all-cause mortality in those 65 years and older. Going beyond overall greenness, we created a cumulative natural landscape index to capture simultaneous exposures to the urban natural environment. Greenness measures such as tree canopy, NDVI, open space, and impervious surfaces explained the most variance in the cumulative nature index and was the most associated with LST as compared to parks and recreation and bluespace. We assessed the impacts of the natural landscape on temperature, and found that an increase in nature resulted in a significant decrease in LST with greenness measures having the largest impact. Results from these studies can be used to support climate action plans and greening initiatives to show the co-benefits of increased exposure to the natural environment and help identify areas that are lacking in these exposures to better implement initiatives.

This thesis focuses on the activation of the southwestern part of the Highlands Region. This section is not frequented by tourists. Those are just passing through this part, from the regional city of Jihlava in Telc, the historic town included on the UNESCO list. These two cities are among the most visited places in the Highlands, yet tourists around not delay longer. The reason is the lack of information about how to place and in particular the poor amenities.

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The Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected countries all over the world and impacted many areas of our lives. Research studying psychosocial issues caused by Covid-19 addressed that during the pandemic well-being was lower. Well-being integrates mental health, clinical and developmental theories to provide a better understanding of positive psychological functioning. An abundance of studies demonstrated that natural environments, both wild and managed, have a positive effect on people’s being. In the present study, the changes in people’s nature visits as well as the links between nature visits and well-being has been investigated. The current sample (1902 participants) was from the corona survey, a subsample of the SLOSH. During the Covid-19 pandemic, some people started visiting nature more, while others reduced their visits. Well-being was lower than before. The observed directions of the associations were: nature visits were positively linked with the quality of life, while depressive moods from 2020 and 2021 were linked negatively. Change in forest visits (&lt;65 female group) was the best well-being predictor from all types of nature exposure.

This paper explores the nature of compassion within various yoga traditions and clarifies its role through historical and textual examination. In doing so, it explores key texts within the yoga traditions that address compassion and highlight the qualities attributed to compassion. While compassion is commonly present within the texts, it varies in meaning and significance within these texts and often is not perceived as central to the text’s teachings. Initially, this paper examines teachings from the Upaniṣads that address moral conduct and the nature of transformative knowledge. Second, verses from the Yogasūtra are discussed. In doing so, this paper addresses the brahmavihāras and their understanding in Buddhist literature. Third, this paper examines verses and concepts from the Mahābhārata, in which compassion can be seen as an important theme. Then, the Yogavāsiṣṭha's view on ethics and compassion is explored. Haṭhayoga texts present a shift within the conception of compassion and address compassion as part of the yamas within the aṣṭāṅgayoga framework, a representation that carries through to the Yoga Upaniṣads. Lastly, this paper elaborates on the implications and significance of compassion within yoga, discusses the main Sanskrit terms, and addresses possible threads that demonstrate the evolution of compassion within yoga’s literature. It further argues that there is a correlation between the importance of compassion within a text to the text’s target audience as ascetics or householders. I will further demonstrate that the prominence of compassion within a text signifies the accessibility of the text, its teachings, and the practice of yoga to a wider audience.

Walt Whitman used animistic techniques in his poetry and prose, specifically "Song of the Redwood Tree," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," and Specimen Days. The term animism can be traced to the Latin root of the word, anime, which connotes a "soul" or "vitality." So, when one is talking about animistic techniques, one is speaking of the (metaphoric or realistic) ensoulment of natural objects. In the wake of a growing global crisis modern scholarship has begun reexamining the implications of this belief; often it introduces ambiguities into an otherwise comfortable relationship of unquestioned human domination. In Specimen Days, Whitman seems to have a more clear view of his natural philosophy, in which he expresses his belief that nature possesses an inherency that he envies and an ability to communicate that quality with him. However, Whitman's "Song of the Redwood Tree" is ambiguous and contradicting. Whitman creates a vision of Manifest Destiny by portraying settlers in California clearing space for houses and agriculture by cutting down the majestic redwood forests. However, this poem contains a particularly odd element: the trees have a voice. They mourn their own demise while simultaneously celebrating the arrival of the new American populace. It is a conflicting image. The animistic, majestic qualities of the trees challenge an anthropocentric view of the world, not allowing the reader to quickly disregard the extinction of the redwood forests in order to embrace American ideals of progress, which in a way defeats the more imperialistic message of the poem. Another comparison, with "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," demonstrates how important subversion of self to place is when using animistic techniques in poetry. This poem implies that animate nature is a locus for Whitman's creative genius, both inspiring his poetry and permeating it with confusion. Whitman's very engagement with the process of imagining a voice for nature inserts doubt into some of his more imperialistic pronouncements and encourages the reader to question his own previously unexamined assumptions. Animistic literary techniques have the potential to encourage an involvement with non-human nature, along with a more conscious awareness of the way we use (and abuse) that Other.