Resources - Healthy in Nature

Benefits of restoring ecosystem services in urban areas.

Author(s): Elmqvist, T et al

Organization: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

Date Published: June 1, 2015

Cities are a centers of demand for ecosystem services and with projected doubling of urban populations there will be an accelerating demand of these services. Rapid expansion of urban areas present fundamental challenges but there are also opportunities to restore ecological functions to design more liveable, healthy and resilient cities.We present estimates of benefits from urban ecosystem services based on comparison of 25 urban areas in USA, China and Canada.Our results show that across these 25 urban areas, investing in urban ecological infrastructure may often be economically advantageous.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343515000433

Best Practices and Policies: Events in Downtown / Urban Parks

Author(s): Elizabeth Fritshaw

Organization: St. Catharines, City

Date Published: October 1, 2014

This document is the result of telephone research by Elizabeth Fritshaw, Community Relations Coordinator for the City of St. Catharines, into practices and policies related to events in downtown / urban parks that hold festivals / events and that have residential neighbourhood surrounding them. It includes data on Usage Frequency, Park Maintenance, Noise Bylaws, and Rental Rates.

Section One presents a summary of the data on the most comparable parks for this research in various municipalities. Section Two provides additional details on each, including contact information.

Separate links are included below for several of the policies referenced in this document.

http://lin.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/best-practices-policies-parks-final.pdf

Bio Blitz – Get to Know

Organization: Get to Know http://www.get-to-know.org/

Date Published: January 7, 2013

“A BioBlitz is a short (usually one-day), intense team effort to discover as many different life forms as possible in one location. This often involves researchers and the general public working together to identify as many species as possible in a 24 hour period. The Get to Know BioBlitz puts a fun new spin on this concept, by offering short, youth-focused events that are all about connecting with nature through fun and educational activities.”

http://www.get-to-know.org/bioblitz/

Bird Week Events and Stories — Vancouver Park Board and Vancouver Bird Advisory Committee

https://hin.bcrpa.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/formidable/6/Bird-Week-Events-and-Stories-from-Vancouver-Park-Board-and-Vancouver-Bird-Advisory-Committee.pdf

Building Healthy Places Toolkit: Strategies for Enhancing Health in the Built Environment

Author(s): Urban Land Institute

Organization: Urban Land Institute

Date Published: April 1, 2015

Urban Land Institutes Building Healthy Places Toolkit: Strategies for Enhancing Health in the Built Environment outlines evidence-supported opportunities for enhancing health outcomes in real estate developments.

Developers, owners, property managers, designers, investors, and others involved in real estate decision making can use the report’s recommendations and strategies to create places that contribute to healthier people and communities, and to enhance and preserve value by meeting growing desires for health-promoting places

http://uli.org/research/centers-initiatives/building-healthy-places-initiative/building-healthy-places-toolkit/

Built Environment Resources

Organization: National Collaborating Center for Environmental Health

Date Published: October 1, 2012

This web resource contains over 200 articles, reports, case-studies, and other publications relating to the built environment. It contains a searchable interface that allows interested parties to filter by the type of publication, as well as the population of interest (children & youth, general population, seniors, and vulnerable populations). The most recent update was completed in October 2012.

National Collaborating Center for Environmental Health