OBJECTIVE: Loneliness and social isolation are pressing issues that can seriously impact the mental health and well-being of older adults. Interacting with nature can stimulate a feeling of connectedness. However, for older adults, access to nature is often troublesome because of physical limitations and mobility restrictions.METHODS: In the present mixed-method study, 37 older adults (62-99 years old) with varying care needs and mobility restrictions watched a video presenting a walkthrough of a simulated digital nature landscape.RESULTS: Quantitative results show a significant increase in social connectedness scores and enhanced peacefulness after experiencing a digital nature. Qualitative results stress the importance of variations in nature scenery and highlight the influence of contextual and person-related factors including nature experiences throughout the life span and mobility constraints that older adults may face.CONCLUSION: These findings testify to the potential of using digital nature as a complementary strategy when interactions with outdoor nature become increasingly difficult due to old age.
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Feelings of disconnectedness and social isolation among older adults are increasingly recognised as important challenges of our times. Interestingly, nature interaction can stimulate social connectedness and enhance perceived social support, indicating that nature can contribute to social wellbeing. However, nature may not always be around or accessible for older adults. In such cases, digital nature could provide an alternative means for enjoying nature's benefits. To identify limitations and restrictions that older adults experience with respect to nature interaction, and to explore preferences with respect to digital nature and their potential for influencing social wellbeing, two studies are reported: a qualitative study comprising focus groups with Dutch care centre residents (N = 26) and a subsequent quantitative study (N = 200) testing effects of digital landscapes on social wellbeing measures. Findings from the focus groups indicate that opportunities for nature interaction and preferences for digital nature vary with mobility restrictions, whereas findings from the quantitative study testify to the potential of digital nature for enhancing social wellbeing and related emotions. These findings extend research on how (digital) nature interventions can contribute to the social wellbeing of older adults and pinpoint essential nature characteristics important for doing so.
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Digital nature can provide a substitute for real nature for those who have limited access to green space, or are confined to their homes, for example during the worldwide COVID-19 lockdown. In a large-scale online survey, respondents (N = 1203) watched videos of digital nature, varying in terms of type of nature (wild versus tended nature) and spaciousness. Results show a significant increase of feelings of connectedness to the community after watching digital nature. Furthermore, tended nature scenes elicited more social aspirations than wild nature scenes. A multiple regression model further shows that living further away from nature was a significant predictor for loneliness scores, while number of nature interactions during a week was not. Results of this study confirm the importance of nature interaction for mental and social wellbeing for the general population and stress the potential of digital nature as a complementary strategy. These findings are of particular relevance to those who lack access to nature due to old age and related mobility constraints or a lockdown.
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The program is structured in five tasks, of which three are technical by nature and two are on integration and enabling aspects. The technical tasks are infrastructure, offshore and large-scale storage of hydrogen. The enabling task is safety, standardization and regulation, which is a key boundary condition for the successful development of a hydrogen infrastructure. As overarching task the aspect of upscaling and system integration is analysed. Both the enabling and overarching tasks are strongly linked to the technical tasks and require active interaction between those tasks to be successful. Our consortium enables productive interactions by facilitating knowledge sharing, joint research projects, technology transfer, policy advocacy, public engagement, and standardization efforts. These interactions not only enhance the research and development outcomes within the consortium but also contribute to the broader societal and economic benefits of a hydrogen-based energy transition.
Socio-economic pressures on coastal zones are on the rise worldwide, leaving increasingly less room for natural coastal change without affecting humans. The challenge is to find ways for social and natural systems to co-exist, co-develop and create synergies. The recent implementation of multi-functional, nature-based solutions (NBS) on the sandy Dutch coast seem to offer great potential in that respect. Surprisingly, the studies evaluating these innovative solutions paid little attention to how the social and natural systems interact in the NBS-modified coastal landscapes and if these interactions strengthen or weaken the primary functions of the NBS. It is not clear whether the objectives to improve coastal resilience and spatial quality will be met throughout the lifetime of the intervention. In the proposed project we will investigate the socio-bio-physical dynamics of anthropogenic sandy shores applying a Living Lab approach, documenting and analyzing interactions between evolving anthropogenic shores (Sand Motor and Hondsbossche Duinen, Fig.1) and people that use and manage these NBS-modified landscapes. Socio-bio-physical interactions will be investigated at various scales, and consequences for the long-term functionality of the NBS will be assessed, by coupling an agent-based social model and a cellular automata landscape model. By studying the behavior of the coupled system we aim to identify limits to, and optima in, multi-functionality of the NBS design, and will study how various stakeholders can influence the development of the NBS in desired directions with respect to primary NBS functions, including social and ecological goals. Together with consortium partners from public and private sectors we will co-create guidelines for management and maintenance of multifunctional NBS and design procedures and visualization tools for intervention design.
The Sustainable Rivers Management (SRM) research group (HAN/VHL Universities of Applied Sciences) and the Smart Rivers Foundation (SRF) have identified an added value for collaboration in order to educate the professionals of the future. There they want to set up a joint research programme to link capacity building efforts amongst professionals with higher applied education. This project will boost the strategic partnership between the SRM group at HAN/VHL, SRF and its strategic partners. Smart River Foundation and Bureau Drift have identified the DNA or intrinsic nature of various river systems in the Netherlands (NL) using 20 years of expert knowledge. This approach is now increasingly being adopted by practitioners and policy makers in NL. The DNA of a river can only be determined after having analysed all the landscape factors involved and the interactions herein. These factors or layers are multidisciplinary and relate to the water system, abiotic and biotic variables and anthropogenic impact. However, a clear methodology for identifying the DNA of a river system is lacking. This project aims to develop this methodology and to test it internationally. A method for identifying the DNA of a river will support technical managers of Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Hoogwaterbeschermingsprogramma (Flood Protection Program, HWBP) projects in the Netherlands to realise spatial quality in their projects. Moreover, the Smart Rivers approach also becomes applicable to other river systems around the world. This will provide a sound basis for supporting existing and new international partnerships.
