In a new podcast episode, Sustainable Futures interviews Kathleen Wolf, researcher and social scientist specializing in the intersection of nature and human health and wellbeing. Host Steven Peck, Founder and President of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, engages Dr. Wolf in a thought-provoking conversation about the psychological and social benefits of urban forests, green roofs, and other nearby nature experiences. With three decades of research, Kathleen’s insights bridge disciplines such as public health, urban planning, and environmental design, offering valuable guidance for integrating nature into urban landscapes to enhance human health.
As the climate continues to change, so too must our response in how we address it. Cities in the Pacific Northwest and all across the United States experienced high heat events in summer 2021. The Biden Administration recently published a White House brief to announce immediate actions to protect workers and communities from extreme heat better. This announcement follows a broader administrative pledge towards workplace safety, climate resilience and environmental justice.
Nature and Health researcher Kathleen Wolf, PhD, was a co-author on a report featured in the White House Brief. This project is related to her prior work on urban forestry, health and community design. Dr. Wolf collaborated with colleagues at the USDA Forest Service and American Forests on the 2021 report, Climate Adaptation Actions for Urban Forests and Human Health. The result is a menu of practical ways to use nature-based solutions to reduce climate risks, promote health of urban trees and forests, and create additional co-benefits of improved human health and well-being within communities. The guide lays out nine broad strategies and then provides more specificity by suggesting adaptation approaches and tactics to move from evidence to action.
Kathleen Wolf Research social scientist, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
Specific action opportunities, described as tactics in the guide, include:
Developing local tree planting projects that reflect community and cultural values while addressing local climate impacts and their associated health effects. This will also encourage relationship-building and nurture attachment-to-place by creating community collaboration.
Strategically planting different tree and plant species that better anticipate a local community’s needs as the climate changes (i.e. planting more water-tolerant trees in wetter climates; diverting stormwater runoff to forests, swales or highly vegetative areas; providing ample room for root growth to better withstand extreme winds, etc.)
Engaging engineers, urban planners, sustainability officers and local policymakers to design urban spaces that include trees to shade sidewalks and bike lanes to encourage people to walk, bike or ride public transit more frequently.
In addition to protecting communities from extreme heat, the guidelines are linked to enhancing public health by improving air quality, increasing storm resilience, and promoting mental health and social cohesion.
This actionable report is but one of many initiatives to improve public health amidst climate change that are being developed by federal agencies, including Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and Agriculture; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These new programs also focus on how to identify when heat disproportionately impacts communities of color and how to provide holistic support better to build resilient communities in the face of climate change.
Reciprocity · Growing Old: Tales from an Urban Canopy · May 20, 2020
Featuring Kathy Wolf, Nature and Health researcher
Episode Summary
Explore the role that trees play in human health and urban climate resilience, particularly amid a pandemic. Talk with City of Seattle urban forestry policy advisor Sandra Pinto de Bader, Urban Forestry Commission chair Weston Brinkley, and University of Washington research social scientist Kathy Wolf about the risks facing Seattle’s local trees with regards to climate change, development, and unintended neglect. Discuss the role of reciprocity and care in restoring Seattle’s “emerald” canopy. This is Growing Old.
Podcast Summary
Explore Seattle’s urban forest and the humans that live within it. Imagine what the Puget Sound might look like in the year 2070, if it’s to become a place where both trees and humans grow old. Share in the stories and histories that have shaped the forest we live in: colonialism, assimilation boarding schools, Japanese internment, and regional restoration among them. Follow the story of Chief Seattle Club, as they turn concrete into a Medicine Garden at Eagle Village.
Featuring Gregory Bratman and Kathleen Wolf, members of the Center’s Research Collaborative
One of the biggest puzzles in social science right now involves trying to figure out what kinds of outdoors spaces are best for certain kinds of people. While scientists know that being outside has some benefits for some people, they’re trying to learn more about how and why we’re impacted. In my case, was that city park as positively impactful on my mental health as the alpine lake? And would someone with less anxiety but more depressive tendencies than me respond in the same way to those environments? University of Washington (UW) social scientist Kathleen Wolf and her colleague, Greg Bratman, an assistant professor at the UW College of the Environment, are searching for the answers to those very questions.
Many studies have shown the positive effects of nature on health and well-being, but research suggests that low-income neighborhoods across the U.S. have less green space, on average, than wealthier neighborhoods. Though access does not necessarily equate to use, a study in England suggests income-related health inequality might be decreased with greater exposure to nature.
Over the last decade, advances in big data and computer processing have made analyses of cities and parks more efficient and have indeed shown disparities, according to Dr. Kathleen Wolf, a research social scientist at the University of Washington.
“Now that we know this, you could ask two questions about those disparities: Why has that happened and what do we do about?” Dr. Wolf says. “That is going to be a policy and program approach.”
In a new podcast episode, Sustainable Futures interviews Kathleen Wolf, researcher and social scientist specializing in the intersection of nature and human health and wellbeing. Host Steven Peck, Founder and President of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, engages Dr. Wolf in a thought-provoking conversation about the psychological and social benefits of urban forests, green roofs, and other nearby nature experiences. With three decades of research, Kathleen’s insights bridge disciplines such as public health, urban planning, and environmental design, offering valuable guidance for integrating nature into urban landscapes to enhance human health.
Episode Summary