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The concept of "environment" is ambiguous in social theory. Sometimes it is wielded like a "tyrant" which moulds subjects as if they were a simple reflection of its environment; other times it is treated as if the environment is a "slave" of subjects whose agency can transform it. This paper reflects on the complex interaction between people and their environments. Social theory cannot establish a univocal, abstract, final explanation of the influence of the environment on people's behaviour and identity. Each environment will have a situational configuration that will have different consequences depending on other biological and cultural traits of the subject. Each specific situation must be analysed empirically to understand this complex interaction. The subject-environment mismatch creates "social folds" — that is wrinkles which open new social spaces and enable freedom. The modulation between environment and subject creates risks to freedom, but also liberating opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article grapples with the tragic deaths caused by extreme weather events in Buffalo, New York, while pondering the looming climate crisis and its potential impact on the celebration of the 1623 Shakespeare First Folio's centenary. It examines the fragile intersection of humanity's survival, literature's endurance, and the threats posed by climate change, musing on the uncertainties surrounding the fate of literature and art in the face of potential global catastrophe.

Organizations are increasingly designing workplaces that offer employees opportunities to incorporate nature into their professional lives. Despite the extensive study of work design, the scope and effects of employees' contact with nature have rarely been considered as a meaningful element of the work context. This is an important oversight, given the significance of the biophilia hypothesis, which proposes that humans have an innate desire to connect with nature, and research showing that individuals benefit from contact with nature. Moreover, prior research has largely focused on the positive effects of nature on individuals, and it is unclear whether these effects will remain positive in organizational settings, or whether biophilia at work can sometimes have negative implications. In this paper, we draw on the biophilic design literature to identify contextual characteristics of work design that influence the extent to which employees have contact with nature while on the job. In addition, we describe how contact with nature affects employees' cognitive, emotional, prosocial, and physical reserves of energy. Finally, we explain how the effects of biophilic work design on employees' potential energy is enhanced, reduced, or even reversed by situational and individual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the importance of familial capital, both biological and chosen family bonds, for the success of queer Latino men in higher education. Topics include the varying relationships these students have with their biological families, the significance of supportive peer groups and student organizations, and the need for practitioners to address within-group marginalization within campus communities to create a more inclusive environment.

Copyright of Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae is the property of Uniwerystet Kardynala Stefana Wyznskiege w Warzawie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae is the property of Uniwerystet Kardynala Stefana Wyznskiege w Warzawie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae is the property of Uniwerystet Kardynala Stefana Wyznskiege w Warzawie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Gümüshane Üniversitesi Saglik Bilimleri Dergisi is the property of Gumushane University, Faculty of Health Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses about the play "Riders to the Sea" written by John Millington Synge in 1902. It examines the hostile relationship between humans and the elements. It reflects the ecophobic prejudices of human beings toward the elements as an inexorable consequence of the collapse of the primordial bond between human and the nature.

The built environment can have a major impact on people's economic prospects, health and wellbeing, and affect their everyday lived experiences. Additionally, due to their high costs, construction investments, which shape the built environment, involve high opportunity costs for society. Following from an increasing awareness of these issues, social value has become a rapidly growing area of research and practice in the built environment, accompanied by policy interest. Despite its popularity, theoretical engagement with the concept of 'social value' has been very limited. Particularly, so far, the politics emerging from subjectivity of value(s) have been either ignored or mentioned in a broad-brushed manner. However, the politics need to be considered at the core of any debates relating to social value due to the tensions between different views involved in conceptualising/analysing, creating/implementing and realising/experiencing social value. To address this gap, this paper introduces three types of politics of social value: analytical politics, participatory politics and lived politics. By clarifying these types of politics that are key to any social value consideration in the built environment, this will allow a deeper and more democratic engagement with the concept of social value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era we live in, humanity is faced with numerous problems that transcend national boundaries and affect all of humanity. These issues include global climate change, warfare, terrorism, epidemics like Covid19, immigration, and income inequality. However, most of these problems are the result of human actions, which means that they can be resolved by human beings. Active citizenship, by its very nature, entails individual responsibility. However, shirking or ignoring this responsibility allows these problems to persist and worsen. Such indifference and avoidance not only undermine the hard-fought rights of the past but also inflict irreparable damage upon nature and humanity as they exist today. This has significant implications for democracy and life itself. Supporting formal education in developing these competencies is of utmost importance. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) also play a crucial role in providing the necessary support for formal education to meet these expectations. The aim of this study is to examine NGOs operating in the field of biology education in Germany. The research employs document analysis as a qualitative research method, utilizing descriptive analysis for data analysis. The research findings indicate that NGOs operating in biology education in Germany play a vital role in promoting educational equality of opportunity. It is believed that German NGOs can provide valuable insights into the biology education activities of NGOs in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae is the property of Uniwerystet Kardynala Stefana Wyznskiege w Warzawie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses post-COVID strategy for the International Institute of Administrative Sciences. Topics include COVID crisis came at a time when IIAS was emerging from another survival crisis whose causes were internal rather than external: revenues had been decreasing for several years; operational expenses were steadily increasing; and the institute governance was in question.

Although models of social vulnerability to environmental hazards are commonly developed to support policy interventions in emergencies and disasters, their utility is hindered by a lack of contextual information on individuals exposed to and affected by hazards. We develop a novel approach to model social vulnerability that couples individuals and their varying forms of protective capacity with the social fabric of the communities in which they reside. The backbone of our model is the Public-Use Microdata Sample (PUMS), a product of the U.S. Census Bureau that preserves a representative sample of completed responses to the American Community Survey (ACS). The PUMS enables us to understand the full range of individual protective capacities against a hazard in an exposed area, which we term individual vulnerability profiles (IVPs). In this case, we examine IVPs in the Coney Island-Brighton Beach section of New York City, which suffered severe impacts during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. To manage the large number of unique IVPs in Coney Island-Brighton Beach, we perform a segmentation analysis to generalize them into thematic cohort vulnerability profiles (CVPs) representing a typology of vulnerable people in Coney Island-Brighton Beach during Sandy. From synthetic populations of CVPs, we then estimate how individuals in varying housing types were coexposed to Sandy at the census tract level by classifying these areas into community social vulnerability profiles (SVPs). Our results provide a topology of social vulnerability that simultaneously links individual, community, and population-wide concerns, enabling a more holistic understanding of resources and interventions beneficial to human security during events like Sandy than is attainable with area-level metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studia Ecologiae et Bioethicae is the property of Uniwerystet Kardynala Stefana Wyznskiege w Warzawie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research that examines lived experience and how emerging adults seek to create wellbeing in their daily lives through nature is limited. This paper addresses this gap by providing unique insights into how emerging adults perceive and experience nature as a beneficial resource for their wellbeing. Data were collected using photo-elicitation interviews, where 18 emerging adults took photographs that represented their views on and experiences of wellbeing, and during the follow-up interviews discussed the meaning of their photographs. Without a priori mention, 14 participants identified contact with various elements of nature as important resources in supporting their wellbeing. It is the results of these 14 interviews that are discussed in this paper with a focus on (i) the elements of nature which these emerging adults identify as important resources for their wellbeing, (ii) experiences and the perceived pathways between these elements of nature and wellbeing. Thematic analysis revealed four distinct perceived pathways connecting nature to wellbeing, including symbiotic nurturing, building social glue, maintaining a positive outlook, and centreing yourself. Four elements of nature facilitated these pathways: domesticated fauna, domesticated flora, wild fauna and wild surrounding nature. The findings help build understanding of how emerging adults perceive elements of nature as resources for wellbeing and can inform the development of nature-oriented interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim was to investigate the association between distant green space and physical activity modified by local green space. Methods: Information about physical activity, demographic and socioeconomic background at the individual level was extracted from the New South Wales Population Health Survey. The proportion of a postcode that was parkland was used as a proxy measure for access to parklands and was calculated for each individual. Results: There was a significant relationship between distant green space and engaging in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at least once a week. No significant relationship was found between adequate physical activity and distant green space. No significant relationships were found between adequate physical activity, engaging in MVPA, and local green space. However, if respondents lived in greater local green space (=25%), there was a significant relationship between engaging in MVPA at least once a week and distance green space of =20%. Conclusion: This study highlights the important effect of distant green space on physical activity. Our findings also suggest that moderate size of local green space together with moderate size of distant green space are important levers for participation of physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Environmental Education is the property of Canadian Journal of Environmental Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Inspired by growing trends of reevaluating ancient literary works in the light of current environmental crises, this study offers a rereading of a pastoral classic, Virgil's Eclogues. It discusses the work's occurrences of 'pathetic fallacy' regarding their ecocritical merit. While traditional understandings of this literary device determine it to be primarily a (mis) attribution of human emotions to natural objects, this article argues that, through the lens of material ecocriticism, its productivity lies elsewhere: it informs the reader about conceptions of human-nonhuman connectedness while encouraging affective attunements between humans and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An architect trying to predict the spatial effect of their design on its inhabitants often faces a dilemma. Their professional experience and personal feeling allows them to intuit its effect. Such intuition, however, might lack legitimacy in the dominant design practice. For over a century, the question of the felt space in architecture has been a topic of theoretical discussion, which led to the insight that the answer might lay not so much in studying the architectural structures, but rather in studying the bodies that inhabit them. And still the dominant architectural practice follows the outdated dualistic (mis-)understanding of the felt space. Another historical development took place in dance. Here, since the 1960s,the traditionally formalistic and objectifying understanding of dance has been strongly influenced by techniques of bodily sensitization, stemming from the field of somatics. In themselves rather diverse, these techniques have been institutionally delineated through the principles of somatic movement education. One of their characteristics is that somatic techniques are constantly re-emerging - not from a priori knowledge but from the study of one's own body and its interactions with the environment. This article envisages how such principles might be applied to architectural design practice and give rise to new embodied design practices - which might foster architects' sensory expertise and thus legitimize the felt knowledge in professional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient and facile synthesis of spirooxindole derivatives bearing pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole moiety has been achieved using deep eutectic solvent (DES) promoting a four-component reaction. The protocol avoids the use of costly and toxic catalysts and organic solvents which encounters many side effects on the environment and human beings. The simplicity and versatility of this eco-friendly green method is described. Deep eutectic solvent (DES) promoted eco-friendly synthesis of spirooxindole derivatives involving a four-component reaction is described in this article. This procedure is highly sustainable because of the involvement of readily available and biodegradable deep eutectic solvent as a reaction medium and promoter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People are exposed every day to a variety of bioaerosols, including airborne bacteria, which can lead to both beneficial and detrimental effects to the environment and human beings. This study was conducted in July 2019 to investigate the air quality at a government premise in Selangor, Malaysia. The sampling sites were selected randomly at the same building. One of the samples was collected outdoors (garden), while the others were collected indoors which include the pantry, toilet, staff rooms, store rooms, meeting room, prayer room, exhibition hall and training room. The 11 sampling sites differ from each other in terms of the presence of personnel, windows, air conditioning system, water source, organic substrates and flooring material. For bioaerosol sampling, the Andersen impaction method was applied using a Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA) non-selective media plate. Three units of SKC biological air sampler (SKC Quick Take 30, USA) with setting of 2 min sampling time and volume flow rate of 28.3 L/min were used in each sampling location. The plates were incubated at 35 °C for 24 h, before the bacterial colonies were observed and segregated into different groups based on their morphology, such as colours, shapes and sizes. The selected bacterial colonies were then serially subcultured using the streaking method in order to obtain the pure colonies for identification purposes using a Biolog microbial identification system (Biolog Gen III Technology, USA). The isolates were from four genera, which were Bacillus, Staphylococcus, Micrococcus and Pseudomonas. Thirteen bacteria were identified at species level. The most dominant species was Bacillus marisflavi, which was found in all the indoor sampling sites. Meanwhile, for the outdoor sampling site, only Bacillus pumilus was found. In conclusion, airborne bacteria presence could possibly originate from outdoor sources, with human activities as the main vector of the contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the association between the physical and social environment and physical activity (leisure-time and transport-related) in a population-based sample of adults. Methods: Cross-sectional study including 972 adults (20-69 years) living in the urban area of Pelotas, Brazil. Physical activity was measured using the long International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Environmental variables were assessed using a modified version of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale. Results: 69.8% (95% CI = 66.9-72.7) and 51.9% (95% CI = 48.8-55.1) of the subjects did not reach 150 min/wk on leisure-time and transport-related physical activity, respectively. Subjects living near green areas were more likely to be active in leisure-time, as well as those who reported to live in safe neighborhoods. Transport-related physical activity was higher among individuals living in areas with garbage accumulation, and was lower among those living in neighborhoods which are difficult to walk or cycle due to traffic. Social support was strongly associated with leisure-time physical activity. Conclusions: Safety investments, which are urgently required in Brazil, are likely to have a desirable side effect at increasing physical activity at the population level. Building enjoyable and safe public spaces for physical activity practice must be prioritized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disarticulation of the human being with nature, has produced the greatest challenge that living beings have to face, be it extinction and that of other living organisms that share the planet. The capitalist production system considers economic development as the basis that governs decision systems; generating an explosive industrial development and a high level of consumption of goods, without considering eifects and solutions. The objective of the study starts from the ecosystem relations, in relation to human existence and analyzes their interaction; its development, adaptability and positioning of the human being in the search for subjective well-being. Heidegger's philosophical thinking, resilience and margins of life are analyzed. Theories of ecosystems, landscape perception towards consciousness from the theory of sensation are reviewed. The man-nature relationship is disjointed and arises from the Subjective Wellbeing Theory. Theories of this human-nature disengagement are analyzed: Darwinist, Complex Systems and Gaia theory. The dimension of the human vision is discussed before the impacts that it maintains against Nature and the urgent need to work towards a change that involves modification of individual attitude, to enable changes in the collective sphere. It is necessary and urgent to rethink a new culture of self-subsistence, changing patterns of self-destruction; complex and possible work, considering the foundations and legacies of self-subsistence cultures, which in our country demonstrate having conserved and restored ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the humanity's relation to the rest of the created world through the microcosmic vision as propounded in the later Medieval thought. Topics discussed include the philosophical question of how the human participates in nature, how human governed by the same natural forces that affect the nonhuman environment and the book De planctu naturae by Alan de Lille.

Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the knowledge and create awareness among schoolchildren about soil pollution. Background: The term soil pollution refers to the presence in soils of chemicals that are either out of place or at higher than normal concentrations. Such contamination may be produced by mining and industrial activity or by sewer and waste mismanagement and has led to major societal concern. Hence, it is important to create awareness among school students regarding soil pollution. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire was self-formulated and was delivered by hand and collected on completion. The medium of answering the questionnaire was English. All the responses were kept anonymous. The questionnaire contained 16 questions which were framed to assess the knowledge of school students about the soil pollution. The questions were related to causes of soil pollution and effects on human beings and environment. 100 school students were randomly selected to complete the questionnaire. The responses to each of the questions were entered into the Microsoft Excel Sheet and summarized through the pie chart. Results: Most of the students stated that soil and air pollution is the major pollution affecting their locality. 63% of the students said that the reason for this is improper disposal of waste. On the other hand, students were not aware that accidental spills and nuclear wastes are the causes of soil pollution. More than half of the population stated that there is an unofficial garbage dump in their locality, which has led to soil pollution in their area. More than half of the students were unaware that soil pollution can lead to alteration in climate pattern. There was also unaware that soil vapors and skin absorption are the routes of intake of soil pollutants in humans. Conclusion: This survey shows that schoolchildren have a fairly rough knowledge about the causes and effects of soil pollution. Yet, some children are unaware about the recent causes of soil pollution such as nuclear wastes and accidental spills. Hence, it is important to educate them regarding all the causes and effects, thereby creating awareness and preventing the further destruction caused by soil pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in muscle and liver tissue of Haemulopsis axillaris and Diapterus peruvianus from the Eastern Pacific in Mexico and to assess the health risk to consumers. Fish were collected as bycatch on the continental shelf between the coasts of Sinaloa and Guerrero (Eastern Pacific). Cd and Pb were quantified in muscle and liver tissue using graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (GF-AAS). Concentration of Cd was greater in muscle tissue than in liver tissue; with Pb, however, the opposite pattern was found. The highest concentration of Cd (0.177 μg g−1) was found in muscle tissue of H. axillaris from Sinaloa. For Pb, the highest level (0.692 μg g−1) was found in the liver tissue of H. axillaris also from Sinaloa. Levels of Cd and Pb in muscle tissue were both below Mexican Guidelines (0.5, 1.0 μg g-1 wet weight for Cd and Pb respectively) and International Guidelines. The hazard index (HI) for both metals in the edible portion of studied considering metal levels in the edible portion and the rate of fish consumption by the Mexican population (in adults and children) was less than 1 (HI < 1), values which do not represent a health risk to consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social theories tend to present ecological awareness as a more or less contemporary phenomenon. Therefore, they paint a simplified picture of an opposition between an ecologically aware present to an ecologically ignorant past. The example of the French anarchist and geographer Elisee Reclus (1830-1905), however, shows that the destructive relationship between humans and nature was already critically discussed in the second half of the 19th century. In his work he departed from supposedly deeply rooted western ideas of an ontological separation between society and nature. By connecting Reclus' scientific work to his political ideas and experiences, this article further identifies alternative conceptions of progress that were far from uncritically endorsing the linear narrative of industrial modernity. As a conclusion, this article argues for a politicization of the past that considers the present environmental change not as the result of ignorance, but as the consequence of multiple social and political conflicts over the way humans should connect with the natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between humans and nature are understood to be beneficial for human well-being. In cities, urban green spaces are believed to provide many benefits to urban populations in terms of mental and emotional well-being. Through a case study of 60 urban green spaces in Birmingham, United Kingdom, this article investigates the spatial and temporal variation of the emotions experienced by individuals whilst using urban green spaces. Using a dataset obtained from Twitter as the basis for emotional explorations, sentiment analysis was performed on over 10,000 tweets to ascertain the positivity/negativity of individuals. Positive responses were more common than negative responses across all seasons, with happiness and appreciation of beauty being the common positive emotions identified. For the negative responses, fear and anger were present in similar amounts, with fewer tweets indicating sadness and disgust. Our findings show that Twitter data is a viable source of information to researchers investigating human interaction and emotional response to space in cities. Such information has implications for urban planners and park managers, enabling the creation of evidence-based spaces which enhance positive outdoor experience. Limitations in using Twitter data are discussed and these should be considered in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the existing platforms for Environmental health have been created from the point of view of only one of the actors. These approaches are mostly based on proprietary tools and do not integrate all the components associated with environmental health. This paper describes the design of a platform based on free software for environmental health called PSAM. Several actors were included during the design, including environmental and health authorities, community leaders, and community members. PSAM comprises diverse modules to collect data using mobile devices, analyze the collected information and predict the appearance of H. Pylori. Finally, PSAM allows sending SMS to the community for community empowerment. The proposed architecture and learned lessons can serve as the basis for other implementations in the field and can also contribute to Colombia's government development of a platform for environmental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telecoupling refers to socioeconomic and environmental interactions between distant coupled human and natural systems, and has become more extensive and intensive in the globalized era. The integrated framework of telecoupling examines flows of information, energy, matter, people, organisms, and other things such as financial capital and goods and products around the globe. It pinpoints causes and effects arising from engagement of diverse agents in the global sphere. This first special feature on telecoupling includes 16 articles that explore diverse telecouplings including trade, migration, tourism, information exchange, and transnational product certification schemes. Here we synthesize the articles by describing eight overarching lessons learned. These include the impact of physical, social, and institutional distance on telecouplings, key roles of agents and their inter-relationships, and the important function of telecoupling in enhancing information signals over long distances. Several lessons directly apply to global sustainability challenges, such as the importance of recognizing trade-offs between local and global sustainability and the need for multi-level management and governance solutions. We also suggest five areas of future research to help propel this nascent field forward and further cement its applicability to addressing global sustainability challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of the environment of a simulated shelter in a gymnasium on sleep were investigated in 20 healthy school-aged children. Measurements were obtained during a one-night stay in a school gymnasium during the summer (C). Activity levels were monitored using a wrist actigraph, and temperature and humidity of the bedrooms in the subjects’ homes were monitored from 3 days before to 3 days after C. The subjects were asked to provide information regarding subjective sleep estimations and thermal sensations. The results for the days before C (BC), C, the first day after C (A1), and the second day after C (A2) were compared. The bedroom temperature was significantly lower on BC than on the other nights. No significant difference was observed in bedtime, whereas wake-up time was significantly earlier on C and later on A1 than on the other nights. Total sleep time was significantly decreased on C (3.6 h) and increased on A1 when compared to the other nights. Daytime nap was significantly increased on A1 when compared to the other days. Subjective estimation of sleep quality was decreased and sweat sensation before sleep was increased on C when compared to the other nights. The main reason for sleep disturbances on C was heat. These results indicate that the environment of the simulated shelter in the gymnasium severely disturbed sleep in children. The resulting loss of sleep was compensated for by increased nocturnal sleep time and daytime napping on the next day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient urban environmental design considers appropriate thermal comfort condition, shaded space, and activity intensity. Physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) and visible sky, i.e., the sky view factor (SVF), are usually used as indicators to determine the outdoor thermal comfort and amount of shaded space, respectively. The activity intensity in urban parks, which is dependent on culture and micrometeorological conditions, was represented inappropriately by attendance density in Taiwan. To optimize the park design and improve the park utilization rate in Taiwan, several environmental factors such as sound pressure levels and numbers of park visitors were measured, and PET values and SVF values were calculated from primary micrometeorological data such as wind speed and globe temperature. This study proposed equivalent continuous sound pressure level (Leq) as a novel indicator to represent park activity intensity and investigated the correlation between Leq and SVF at different PET values. Leq was more appropriate than was attendance density in representing the park activity intensity in Taiwan. In addition, Leq was highly negatively correlated with SVF when visitors felt that the outdoor thermal comfort condition was hot or very hot. In other words, a lower degree of shading in the park resulted in lower activity intensity. Park visitors tended to engage in activities in the shaded regions because of more favorable thermal comfort conditions (i.e., neutral PET). The established quantitative relationships among Leq, PET, and SVF can serve as a reference for park planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing body of research that, under the banner of ‘green exercise’, considers the additional physical and psychological benefits that may be accrued by those who exercise in ‘natural’ environments. This essay considers the implications of how this research has been conducted to date and argues that it may be usefully enriched by a fuller examination of how exercise and environment come together in less controlled conditions. After outlining some ideas and approaches commonly found in this field, we contend that there are two problems here: firstly, the focus on ‘green’ – in so far as this defines the experience in certain visual terms – and, secondly, the focus on ‘exercise’ – in so far as this downplays diversity in physical experiences. In response, we argue that studies centred on how various environments are inhabited by various groups of exerciser could provide fresh ideas about how best to promote the benefits of green exercise. We make this argument because the implied vision of positive landscape design currently associated with this field is typified by flat surfaces that allow exercisers to visually consume vegetation without other stimulation. With reference to qualitative work on recreational running, we contend that this is not always the way to go. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]