Greenness, public health and adapting to climate change

This summer was one of the hottest on record - especially in Canadian cities - and the accelerating rate of climate change means future summers will be hotter for longer, leading to increased heat-related deaths and health issues. By the middle of the century, the number of days over 30℃ will double in Canada. One of the key ways cities can respond to climate change and mitigate the effects of extreme heat in cities and promote better health is to create more green space, which cools the air and promotes better physical and mental health.

This webinar will:

1. Review the physical and mental health impacts of green space
2. Discuss how green space can help cities adapt to the effects of climate change
3. Explore policies and investments cities could enact to accelerate the expansion of green space

About the speaker:

Matilda van den Bosch is an Associated Researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain and an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia.

She investigates how environmental exposures, for example urban green spaces, can influence various aspects of human health and how we can create healthier cities.

Activities in her lab include regulating urban ecosystem services, such as heat reduction with an impact on heat related morbidity and mortality, as well as cultural services from urban nature, for example increased physical activity and stress recovery. Much of the research focuses on linkages between various types of land-use data and health mediators or outcomes. Another project is looking at mental health impacts of deforestation in low-and middle income countries.

As co-leader of the greenness team within the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) she is part of a team developing greenness metrics across Canada for linking to various health cohorts.

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