Restoration in nature: Toward a social ecological narrative

Abstract

Environmental settings contribute to human health and well-being in many ways, including processes of psychological restoration. Research on settings that support restoration has focused primarily on natural settings, or simply “nature,” starting from theories about recovery from stress and attentional fatigue. This development has occurred together with the consolidation of a narrative about the restorative benefits of nature experience. However, over-reliance on this conventional narrative has entailed neglect of other matters important for understanding how nature experience supports restoration. In addressing this neglect here, I adopt a social ecological perspective that opens for a more encompassing and complete account of restoration in nature. I summarize key features of a social ecological perspective on human-environment relations in general and consider components and contents of a general framework for theories about restorative environments and restorative experience. The set of theories provides a basis for a social ecological narrative about restoration in nature illustrated with empirical studies in Sweden. 

How to join

This public seminar is hybrid with the option to attend in-person or online. The webinar link will be published closer to the date.