Nature-based biopsychosocial resilience
- Author(s)
- Mathew White, Terry Hartig, Leanne Martin, Sabine Pahl, Agnes E. van den Berg, Nancy M. Wells, Caroline Costongs, Angel M. Dzhambov, Lewis R. Elliott, Alba Godfrey, Arnulf Hartl, Cecil Konijnendijk, Jill S. Litt, Rebecca Lovell, Freddie Lymeus, Colm O'Driscoll, Christina Pichler, Sarai Pouso, Nooshin Razani, Laura Secco, Maximilian Steininger, Ulrika K. Stigsdotter, Maria Uyarra, Matilda van den Bosch
- Abstract
Nature-based solutions including urban forests and wetlands can help communities cope better with climate change and other environmental stressors by enhancing social-ecological resilience. Natural ecosystems, settings, elements and affordances can also help individuals become more personally resilient to a variety of stressors, although the mechanisms underpinning individual-level nature-based resilience, and their relations to social-ecological resilience, are not well articulated. We propose ‘nature-based biopsychosocial resilience theory’ (NBRT) to address these gaps. Our framework begins by suggesting that individual-level resilience can refer to both: a) a person’s set of adaptive resources; and b) the processes by which these resources are deployed. Drawing on existing nature-health perspectives, we argue that nature contact can support individuals build and maintain biological, psychological, and social (i.e. biopsychosocial) resilience-related resources. Together with nature-based social-ecological resilience, these biopsychosocial resilience resources can: i) reduce the risk of various stressors (preventive resilience); ii) enhance adaptive reactions to stressful circumstances (response resilience), and/or iii) facilitate more rapid and/or complete recovery from stress (recovery resilience). Reference to these three resilience processes supports integration across more familiar pathways involving harm reduction, capacity building, and restoration. Evidence in support of the theory, potential interventions to promote nature-based biopsychosocial resilience, and issues that require further consideration are discussed.
- Organisation(s)
- Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology
- External organisation(s)
- Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität (PMU), University of Exeter, Uppsala University, University of Twente, Cornell University, EuroHealthNet, Plovdiv Medical University, Nature Based Solutions Institute, Climate and Health Programme, ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain., University Pompeu Fabra, Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Etifor S.rl., University of California, San Francisco, University of Padova, University of Copenhagen, AZTI
- Journal
- Environment International
- Volume
- 181
- No. of pages
- 19
- ISSN
- 0160-4120
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2023.108234
- Publication date
- 09-2023
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 501030 Cognitive science
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science(all)
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 13 - Climate Action
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/naturebased-biopsychosocial-resilience(db3f2937-2c92-4e35-8736-e2b339ea4717).html