Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly popular infrastructure protection options, particularly in coastal engineering. These systems have shown the ability to provide similar coastal protection services to traditional hard schemes while providing other ecological and economic benefits, and a capacity to adapt to changing contexts. One prominent example of coastal NBS are saltmarshes: fields of flexible or semi-flexible vegetation, which have been found to significantly reduce damage to local communities under daily and storm conditions. Scientific study of these complex, multi-faceted structures is growing in volume, but there remain many knowledge gaps in the field. Numerical modelling is a powerful tool for investigating both large- and small-scale behaviours of saltmarshes. Numerical models provide a controlled, repeatable, and easily variable method for testing how a marsh impacts local hydrodynamic climates and how incident flow or wave conditions affect the behaviour of their constitutive vegetation. Small-scale plant behaviour is the focus of this thesis. Literature on the subject has been chiefly limited to greatly simplified vegetation modelling, reducing plants' behaviour to that of straightforward rigid cylinders. While this can be effective, it requires significant calibration to measured data and may not provide an accurate picture of the intricate flow dynamics surrounding an individual plant, let alone a full marsh system. Recently, numerical models capable of modelling flexible structures have been developed and used by researchers. However, studies applying these tools have focussed on replicating the more significant hydrodynamic effects of marshes, such as mixing or wave attenuation. By doing so, the calibration requirements of the rigid-type models remain, and the way the plants themselves are modelled loses physical meaning beyond their hydrodynamic impacts. The work presented in this thesis aims to expand on current flexible plant modelling research by evaluating a new numerical modelling tool in the open-source software REEF3D for replicating in situ saltmarsh plant behaviour in terms of drag force and motion response to hydrodynamic forcing. Three experimental programs were designed and conducted in order to thoroughly evaluate both aspects of the model. The first, based on a flume study performed by Paul et al. (2016), tested the drag force response to regular wave action. The second, based on the work of Tschisgale & Fröhlich (2020), further investigated the drag force response using closed- and open-channel flow, as well as solitary waves. The third, based on a flume study performed with live vegetation by Markov et al. (2023), evaluated the accuracy of the motion response to irregular waves. Consistent through all three programs was an overestimation of the examined behaviour and, in the third case, persistent model breakdown. These results demonstrate that, as tested, the evaluated tool is unsuitable for this purpose. It is suggested that this is due to the foundational assumptions of the model, namely that the material of the flexible structure is of a linearly viscoelastic type, whereas a nonlinear elastic material would be more appropriate for this application. These results highlight the difficulty of numerically modelling these systems and the need for further research developing and applying practical modelling tools for marshes.

Nature-based solutions, through the protection, restoration, management, and creation of new and novel urban ecosystems and the provision of ecosystem services, constitute a promising option for pursuing urban sustainability. Despite the scientific evidence of numerous environmental, social, and economic benefits, pilot projects remain the dominant implementation mechanism of NbS in urban contexts. Considering this, the EU policy and scientific community promote scaling NbS, that is, their systematic integration in urban planning and other decision-making processes to impact more people over a longer time frame. This thesis addresses three main scaling mechanisms that can contribute to mainstream NbS in urban areas: the application of NbS in multiple contexts (scaling out), changes in planning regime (scaling up), and new thinking and values (scaling deep). The first part of the thesis assessed the three scaling mechanisms through a qualitative content analysis of policy and planning documents in a real-life Spanish multilevel planning and governance context. Several scaling patterns were identified, upon which planning characteristics that hinder signs of progress on the scaling out, scaling up, and scaling deep of NbS, as well as opportunities, emerged. The rest of the thesis focused on the key challenges of the scaling-out mechanism. The implementation of multiple NbS was simulated stepwise for the case study of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and curves of cumulative impacts were quantified in terms of ES supply and beneficiaries. The non-linear relationships between NbS implementation and impacts served to discuss critical issues for planning NbS scaling-out strategies. The last study of the thesis investigated the design of specific NbS at the local scale for urban stormwater management, considered a determinant issue for ensuring the adaptability and efficiency of scaled-out NbS. A review of the scientific literature identified a broad set of design variables, related impacts on runoff mitigation and stormwater treatment, and assessment indicators. By critically analyzing the relationship between design variables and impacts, the thesis drew some NbS design recommendations for practitioners. The thesis concluded by providing several insights for the NbS planning and design that can facilitate pursuing scaling goals in urban areas. Finally, further research opportunities emerged concerning assessment methods in various urban contexts and how actions across governance levels and sectors, the role of actors’ coalitions, and co-production/co-learning of knowledge can aid in supporting the flourishment of NbS in cities.

No description available.

Over the past decades, the environmental justice movement has developed growing concerns about the unequal distribution of environmental harms and the uneven access to environmental amenities. The movement rapidly became an academic field that has criticised diverse urban sustainability strategies for failing to address environmental justice issues in its three dimensions: recognition, procedure and distribution. Hence, this thesis aims to explore how this concept could be integrated into the planning of Nature-based solutions in cities through advancing conceptual and methodological contributions. Through an extensive revision of academic literature, several setbacks in the inclusion of environmental justice for urban Nature-based solutions are addressed. This information helped operationalise a distributive environmental justice index that could identify intra-urban injustices related to existing and compounding issues such as the overburdening of environmental risk for socially disadvantaged communities and a lack of access to multifunctional green space benefits. Once these injustices are identified, alternative scenarios for implementing Nature-based solutions are assessed by considering relevant urban planning and policy goals. The last part of this thesis focuses on the level of integration of environmental justice in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation. An extensive review of Urban Climate Action Plans in Latin America reveals that environmental justice concerns are rarely translated into concrete climate actions. Moreover, the transformative potential of Nature-based solutions for ameliorating environmental justice conditions in cities is not fully explored. With these results, potential opportunities and recommendations that could enable environmental justice are discussed, especially highlighting that the integration of diverse social perspectives and realities is integral to the process of giving rise to just and sustainable urban futures.

Urban landscapes homogenize our world at global scales. This sameness contributes to "extinction of experience", where people feel increasingly disconnected from native ecosystems and the services they provide. Numerous approaches have been proposed for combatting extinction of experience, all of which require community support to be successful. Because comparative assessments are relatively rare, however, it is difficult to say which options are most supported. We addresses this knowledge gap using human subject surveys and multi-criteria decision analysis to evaluate landscape preferences and their implications for three approaches recommended to combat extinction of experience: ecosystem conservation, turf replacement and nature-based solutions. Our study focuses on universities in Southern California, where native ecosystem remnants, nature-based solutions, lawns, and ornamental gardens co-exist, which is necessary to compare community support for transitions among them. Our results suggest that conservation of native ecosystems, particularly sage scrub (top ranked landscape overall), is well supported by campus communities, as are turf replacement programs (lawns ranked lowest overall). Support for nature-based solutions was more intermediate (and variable), which may reflect their relative newness, both on university campuses and in urban spaces more generally. Not all university populations preferred the same landscapes; preferences differed with degree of pro-environmentalism and university status (undergrad, graduate student, staff). Even so, all groups exhibited landscape preferences consistent with at least one approach for combatting extinction of experience. This suggests we have a viable set of tools for increasing native ecosystem exposure on university campuses, and ultimately, in the next generation of urban homeowners. / Master of Science / Urban areas around the world are more like one another than the natural landscapes they replace. This can make people feel more at home in a city far away than they do in the landscapes that belong in their home state. Changing urban areas to reconnect people with nature requires community support to be successful. Whether this support is available, however, is not well understood. This study focuses on evaluating community support for three actions intended to bring people closer to nature. These include 1) protection of natural landscapes, 2) replacing lawns with natural plants, and 3) using nature instead of pipes and channels to manage the water that runs off paved surfaces during storms in urban areas. The community we focus on is university students and staff because they have access to all the different landscape types involved in the three actions described above. Our approach was to survey people on four campuses in Southern California and rank their landscape preferences to determine if they are likely to support these actions. We found that people tend to be supportive of protecting native landscapes and replacing turf grass with native plants. Support for nature-based alternatives to pipes and channels was more variable. This may be because they are presently uncommon, and people don't know how they feel about them yet. Not everyone on campus preferred the same landscapes, but most people's preferences were consistent with at least one approach for connecting people with nature. This suggests that there may be strong support for changing campus landscapes in ways that bring people closer to nature.

Recent studies and research demonstrate the importance of play and play-based learning. There are many articles that have shown that play is an essential component of a child's development. Play-based learning is even more important for children with disabilities. Without play, special needs children may develop learning deficits that complicate the disabilities they are already experiencing. The benefits of play are inextricably related to the environments in which it occurs. Play environments need to be carefully designed to ensure that children are able to realize the full benefits of play. In the United States, public play areas are abundant. However, do these play areas stimulate the development of children? Have they been designed to be inclusive to those with special needs? The need to have play areas that are truly accessible is further amplified by recent statistics, which show that there is an upward trend in the number of U.S. students with disabilities. Consequently, there is a significant need for play spaces that are stimulating and inclusive to children of all abilities. This paper highlights the importance of play, play environments, and disability play. It provides an overview of disabilities in children and their effects on play. It critically examines the current state of play in America. Based on literature review, historical information, and critical analyses of existing play areas, this paper advocate for nature-based playgrounds. Through the design of a play landscape that is nature-based and inclusive to children with Autism, this paper demonstrates significant advantages of nature-based inclusive play space design and advocates for such play spaces over traditional play spaces designed with man-made materials. / Master of Landscape Architecture / Play is often dismissed as something that children engage in when they are young. Play is actually extremely important to a child’s development. Play contributes to physical, cognitive, emotional, and social well-being of children. This paper highlights the importance of play for all children, including those with disabilities, and underscores the significance of a well-designed play environment in a child’s development. Play areas are abundant in the United States. The goal of this research is to understand whether such play areas are designed to help children realize the full benefits of play, and whether such play areas are inclusive and accessible for children with disabilities. Given the rising prevalence of autism in children, a nature based playground design that is inclusive for children with Autism is presented in this paper. The framework and design considerations presented here can be replicated to any generic play site to create a much more stimulating and inclusive play environment.

Yes / The health and well-being benefits of outdoor nature-based activity are increasingly recognised, but older people with cognitive impairment face significant barriers to access. The ENLIVEN project aims to promote access by gathering evidence and coproducing guidance for activity providers. As part of this project, we conducted a scoping review to characterise the types of outdoor nature-based activity for older people with dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment for which research evidence is available and the range of outcomes is examined. The protocol is available online. We systematically searched relevant databases from 1st January, 2009, to 20th October, 2022, and screened articles against the following criteria: participants were older people aged 65 and above with cognitive impairment arising from dementia or another health condition. The study described the formal provision of outdoor nature-based activity away from the person’s usual place of residence, and at least one outcome of participation in the activity was evaluated. Twenty-eight articles met inclusion criteria, all focused on people with dementia. In most cases, participants were attending day care or living in residential care, and sample sizes ranged from 4 to 136. Activities fell into three groups: green day care (fifteen articles), equine-assisted interventions (seven articles), and community nature-based activities (six articles). Outcome domains explored were connection with nature, activity engagement, impacts on clinical symptoms, functional ability, physical, psychological and social health,, and quality of life. Outdoor nature-based activity can be offered as an opportunity for meaningful occupation to enrich daily life, as a framework for day care provision, or as an intervention to address clinical needs. The evidence base for green day care is relatively established, but the potential for addressing specific clinical needs remains to be explored. The paucity of evidence regarding community provision, especially for those not attending formal care settings, suggests the need for effective knowledge exchange to stimulate initiatives in this area. / UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Healthy Ageing Challenge and UKRI/Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) through Grant ES/V016172/1.

The purpose of this review of literature is to explore the effects of interventional and environmental auditory stimuli on the adult critical care population. Current research has yet to compare and contrast the effectiveness of various interventional auditory stimuli on stress relief, an oversight this thesis aims to remedy. Modern day critical care settings demand the identification of the most therapeutic interventional auditory stimulus and the most stress-inducing environmental stimuli, so that interventions can be made to optimize patient stress levels and improve outcomes. Suggestions will be made on how to simultaneously reduce harmful or stress inducing auditory stimuli in the critical care setting and implement the optimal stress-relieving interventional auditory stimuli.

Bakgrund: Naturens positiva inverkan på hälsa har belysts sedan antiken. Forskning kring naturbaserad terapi har ökat de senaste decennierna och terapiformen har gett positiva effekter för flertalet patientgrupper. Mer än en tredjedel av EU:s befolkning lider av någon form av psykisk ohälsa och många går utan adekvat behandling. Omvårdnad vid psykisk ohälsa ska enligt riktlinjer innefatta ett personcentrerat förhållningssätt och utformas utifrån kunskap om vårdmiljöns betydelse. Syfte: Att beskriva betydelsen av naturbaserad terapi för personer med psykisk ohälsa. Metod: En allmän litteraturstudie med systematisk ansats genomfördes. Artikelsökning gjordes i PubMed, Cinahl, AMED, PsykInfo och Scopus. Valda artiklar kvalitetsgranskades och analyserades utifrån kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Den naturbaserade terapin hade en positiv inverkan på hälsa för personer med psykisk ohälsa. Resultatet baserades på 17 artiklar och speglades i fyra kategorier: naturen som tillflyktsort, betydelsen av social kontext, förändrad syn på livssituation samt symtomförbättring och dess konsekvenser. Konklusion: I studien framkom att naturbaserad terapi kan ha stor betydelse för tillfrisknande och daglig funktion för personer med psykisk ohälsa. Studien visar även att omvårdnad som utgår ifrån ett salutogent perspektiv i en terapeutisk naturmiljö bidrar till en förbättrad psykisk hälsa. / Background: The positive impact of nature on health has been highlighted since ancient times. The scientific research about nature-based therapy has increased during the last decades and has presented positive effects for patients with different diagnoses. More than one third of the European Union population suffers from some kind of mental illness and many lack adequate treatment. Nursing care of mental illness should according to guidelines include a person-centered approach and knowledge about the significance of the care environment. Aim: To describe the impact of nature-based therapy for people with mental illness. Method: A general literature study with a systematic approach was conducted. The search for articles was made in PubMed, Cinahl, AMED, PsykInfo and Scopus. The quality of the selected articles were examined and analyed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Nature-based therapy had a positive impact on health for people with mental illness. The result was based on 17 articles and four categories were identified: nature as a refuge, the importance of social context, altered view of life situation and improvement of symptoms and its consequences. Conclusion: The findings conclude that nature-based therapy can have an impact on recovery and daily function for persons with mental illness. The study also revealed that nursing care with a salutogenic approach in a therapeutic nature environment leads to an increased mental health.

Throughout the twenty-first century, the lowering cost and increased availability of travel options has resulted in virtually uninterrupted economic growth of the international tourism sector. While financially beneficial, the increased movement of people has also been shown to have a negative impact on the environment, leading to the growth of a more environmentally-friendly approach to travel called nature-based tourism. One country at the forefront of the nature-based tourism movement is Iceland, and while the sector has grown significantly in the country over the past decade, the way in which information concerning environmental issues is communicated to tourists has not been widely researched. Being the case, the aim of this study was to examine the extent to which environmental issues are communicated to the general public through the use of the ecosystem services framework. Four popular nature-based tourism activities were selected for analysis; a whale watching tour, a horse riding tour, a boat tour of a glacial lagoon and a spa experience in a geothermal hot spring. A literature review concerning how the ecosystem services framework related to each of these tours was carried out and findings were compared to observatory data gathered through participation in said tourism activities. Results showed that while scientific publications could be found for each tour/ecosystem service combination, information concerning environmental issues was not widely communicated to participants in the nature-based tourism activities using the ecosystem services framework.