Introducing Symbiotica

Americans spend 90% of their time indoors. We are more disconnected from nature than ever before, and ecopsychologists say this disconnection from nature plays a role in the current mental health crisis and in our failure to protect the planet.

Already, more than five million extra deaths a year can be attributed to climate change — a number that is estimated to rise to 83 million by 2100 if we don’t take advantage of the narrowing window of opportunity to protect our planet.

Research shows us that simple nature-based solutions can bolster both human wellbeing and the health of our planet. Indoor plants improve air quality and reduce stress, depression, and negative emotion. Looking out your window at a green roof for just 40 seconds boosts attention and green roofs help the environment. Living near a park or a tree in a city helps people live longer, healthier, happier, and safer lives and trees help to cool the air, reduce noise, and promote biodiversity. Gardening improves a wide range of health outcomes, and tending an urban garden or tree pitcan reduce biodiversity loss and help trees live longer, which is helpful because older trees store more carbon and filter more air pollution.

We know by now that spending time in nature improves our health. Time spent in nature also strengthens our connection to nature, and, crucially, people who feel more connected to nature do more to protect it.

Symbiotica will explore the connections and co-benefits at the center of the health and environment conversation. Exploring everything from how forests influence what we eat to why promoting biodiversity might improve your business, Symbiotica will help you make sense of the natural networks (and sometimes surprising systems) that support both human and planetary health.

Here are some of the topics we’ll cover:

· Nature-based interventions related to ageing, longevity, and lifestyle.

· Biophilic design and its impact on happiness and productivity.

· The compelling research that connects nature, mental health, and wellbeing.

· The global Sustainable Development Goals and the concept of planetary health.

· Nature-based solutions that support environmental justice, equity, and social cohesion.

· The importance of incorporating nature into urban planning and urban living.

· The co-beneficial relationship between biodiversity, human health, and environmental sustainability.

· Nature prescribing and its impact on mental health the pharmaceutical industry.

· The influence forests have on food systems, climate change, and public health.

· The emerging field of ecopsychology and what this means about the state of our mental health.

· The circular economy and natural capital accounting and their importance in the urban public health and city planning conversation.

Who Are We?

My name is Kelly Baldwin Heid, and I’m a global urban health professional interested in nature-based solutions to some of the most difficult public health challenges facing our world today. I’m in the middle of a PhD focused on nature prescribing and its possible influence on urban biodiversity, human wellbeing, and planetary health at the University of Freiburg.

I’ve won awards for my research and eyerolls for my urban tree pit gardening obsession. Though I’m new to Medium, most of Symbiotica’s contributers are not.

Get Involved

Are you a Medium writer who covers public or planetary health, sustainability, mental health and wellbeing, urban planning, biophilic design, ecopsychology, climate change, biodiversity, or nature-based solutions? If so, we’d love to work with you and to publish your stories in Symbiotica.

We’re a Medium-partnered publication with links to the global urban health community. Symbiotica is also one of the publications eligible to nominate stories for Medium’s new Boost feature. That means if you write for us, we’ll recommend your stories to Medium for a Boost. If they’re approved, you’re likely to get an additional 500 views; we’ve seen boosted stories take off and reach thousands of views.

Email [email protected] or leave a Response on this story if you’re interested in writing for us.

Excited about what we’re doing, and want to get on board?

· Follow Symbiotica to get updates on our latest stories

· Share this story or one of our stories on social media to help us spread the word

We’re excited about the support Medium is giving Symbiotica and the important topics it covers. We’re looking forward to building the Symbiotica community and bringing you information about nature-based solutions that can improve lives and might just save the planet.

Thanks for being here.