Events « Therapeutic Landscapes Network

Drs. Ulrich and Donovan: Health Benefits of Nearby Nature

August 27, 2013 | by Naomi Sachs

Portland Memory Garden, Portland, OR. Photo by Patty Cassidy

Health Benefits of Nearby Nature
Drs. Roger S. Ulrich and Geoffrey Donovan
Thursday, September 12, 2013, 7 – 9 p.m.
Portland State University’s Hoffmann Hall
1833 SW Eleventh Avenue, Portland, OR

Many evidence-based researchers, Dr. Roger S. Ulrich among them, have found that purposefully-designed gardens in healthcare settings improve health outcomes for patients. But did you know that there is a quantifiable relationship between the presence of trees and public health? In his research, Dr. Geoffrey Donovan has found that to be the case. Both Ulrich and Donovan will talk on the Health Benefits of Nearby Nature, Thursday September 12 , 2013 at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

Ulrich has found that patients who view “representations” of nature can also find relief from stress and discomfort. For example, heart surgery patients at a Swedish hospital intensive care unit experienced reduced anxiety and less need for pain medication by looking at pictures depicting trees and water. Over the years, Ulrich’s work has received many awards and has directly impacted the design of billions of dollars of hospital construction, and improved the health outcomes and safety of patients worldwide. The Sweden-based professor and former director of the Center for Health Systems and Design at Texas A&M University, developed a Theory of Evidence-Based Design; his theory has become influential as a scientifically grounded guide for creating successful healthcare facilities. Ulrich will discuss his recent work involving the effects of single- versus multi-bed patient rooms on infection transmission; the negative impacts of hospital noise on patients and nurses; and how nature, gardens, and art can lessen pain, stress, and healthcare costs.

Ulrich’s co-presenter, Dr. Donovan, is a research forester with the USDA Forest Service who has quantified a wide range of urban-tree benefits. These have ranged from intuitive benefits— for example, reduced summertime cooling costs—to less intuitive benefits such as crime reduction. His recent findings on the relationship between trees and public health, for instance, show that mothers with trees near their homes are less likely to have underweight babies. He has also shown a connection between trees destroyed by invasive pests and a higher human death rate from cardiovascular and lower-respiratory disease.

EBD Boot Camp – Boot Camp for Evidence-Based Design

August 26, 2013 | by Naomi Sachs

EBD Boot Camp

It’s back to school! On September 12-14, the Texas A&M Center for Health Systems and Design will hold a two-day work session on evidence-based design. EBD Boot Camp is a practical interactive work session that will give design professionals, developers, researchers, and others the practical experience of applying relevant evidence in their work.

Led by Texas A&M experts, the September Boot Camp is the first of four work sessions sponsored by the Center for Health Systems and Design. Another fall EBD Boot Camp session takes place October 24-26; two more sessions will follow in 2014, February 6-8 and March 20-22. The organizers describe the hands-on workshop in this way:

This is not a superficial conference presentation about theory. It is a unique, no-nonsense, limited attendance and hands-on work session using relevant evidence to develop the real project on your desk.

Want to learn how to incorporate evidence-based design into your work? Bring a current project and learn how to use and integrate relevant evidence through a hands-on, interactive work session with expert guides.

WHERE:
Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

WHEN:
September 12-14, 2013 or October 24-26, 2013

REGISTRATION:
$1700 per person, $1450 for each additional person – same firm. Limited to 8 attendees per session.

FACULTY:
D. Kirk Hamilton, FAIA, FACHA, EDAC
Mardelle Shepley, D.Arch, AIA, LEED AP, EDAC
James W. Varni, PhD
Susan D. Rodiek, PhD, NCARB, EDAC
Zofia Rybkowski, PhD,LEED AP
Xuemei Zhu, PhD
Zhipeng Lu, PhD

OPEN TO:
Architects, Landscape Architects, Engineers, Designers, Project Managers, Researchers, Technology Experts, Librarians, Developers, and Building Owners

CERTIFICATE:
Attendees who complete the EBD Boot Camp, perform the assigned work and pass the review exam will receive an Advanced Practitioner Certificate from the Center for Health Systems & Design at Texas A&M University.

For more information contact Judy Pruitt at(979) 845-7009 or jpruitt@tamu.edu. To register, click here. For more information, read the EBD Boot Camp flier.

HEALTHCARE DESIGN 2013 – Early Bird reg. ends Friday!

August 5, 2013 | by Naomi Sachs

In our earlier post on HEALTHCARE DESIGN 2013, we didn’t list specific sessions because they hadn’t been published yet. So here’s an update, with sessions that may be of particular interest to our Network members. Keep in mind that many other sessions will probably cover access to nature in one way or another; these are just the ones that mentioned it specifically.

First, here’s the HCD13 blurb:

“Shaping the Future of Healthcare Facility Design”
The Healthcare Design Conference is the premier event devoted to how the design of responsibly built environments directly impact the safety, operation, clinical outcomes, and financial success of healthcare facilities now and into the future. With roughly 4000 participants at the 2012 Healthcare Design Conference, this is the industry’s best-attended conference where attendees can earn up to 24 continuing education credits, network with peers, and influence the direction of the industry as it advances into the future.

For more information and to register, visit www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/conference/healthcare-design-conference

Now the sessions:

Facility tour of Nemours Childrens Hospital

TAMU First Look Colloqium—Therapeutic Landscapes: Tools for Successful Design and Outcomes
Naomi Sachs, Founding Director, Therapeutic Landscapes Network; Mardelle McCuskey Shepley, DArch, FAIA, FACHA, EDAC, LEED AP, The Skaggs – Sprague Endowed Chair in Health Facilities Design, Director, Center for Health Systems & Design, Texas A&M University.
Access to nature in the healthcare environment is increasingly accepted by designers, healthcare administrators, staff, and the community as an important element in the environment of care. As demand grows, designers need solid research, specific guidelines, and good existing examples to inform their work. Guidelines with clearly defined metrics can be translated into an evaluative tool for “apples to apples” comparisons. All of these strategies help stakeholders to understand the role and importance of access to nature. This understanding and knowledge ensures that spaces—and elements within those spaces—provide the best possible outcomes for patients, visitors, staff.

(more…)

Center for Health Design ICONS & Innovators Webinar Series

March 9, 2013 | by Naomi Sachs

Therapeutic Landscapes Network Director Naomi Sachs, along with her fabulous colleagues Alberto Salvatore and Jerry Smith, will be part of the ICONS and Innovators Webinar Series next week on the action-packed day of Thursday, March 14. Theirs is one of three webinars that provide an interactive experience with an exclusive line-up of healthcare thought leaders offering fresh perspectives to inform work strategies. All three webinars are listed below:

“Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Wellbeing: Implications for Designing Healthy Spaces for Healthcare Settings”
Dr. Esther Sternberg
Can stress make you sick? Can belief help healing? Does the place and space around you affect your health? These are the questions that Dr. Sternberg explores.
9:00 am PDT/12:00 pm EDT.
For a TLN interview with Esther Sternberg, click here.

“The Case for Access to Nature”
Naomi Sachs, ASLA, EDAC
Alberto Salvatore, AIA, NCARB, EDAC
Jerry Smith, FASLA, EDAC, LEED AP
Discover the proposed revisions to the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities that will allow regulatory agencies to more strongly support the inclusion of meaningful outdoor spaces in future projects.
11:00 am PDT/2:00 pm EDT.

“The Impact of Color – Research Reviewed and Redefined”
Rosalyn Cama, FASID, EDAC
Eve Edelstein, MArch, Ph.D, AssocAIA, FAAA
Sheila Bosch, Ph.D, LEED AP, EDAC.
Become familiar with research about color and lighting with perspectives from the neuroscience of vision, the psychology of perception, and include sociocultural and functional effects that have impact on design and user outcomes.
1:00 pm PDT/ 4:00 pm EDT

TUITION PER WEBINAR:
Individual: $90.00, Organization: $180.00

WEBINAR SERIES DISCOUNTS:
purchase 5 webinars – get 10% off
purchase 10 webinars – get 15% off
purchase 15 webinars – get 20% off

For information and to register for one or all webinars here. Hope you can join us!

ASLA Professional Practice Networks Online Learning

March 3, 2013 | by Naomi Sachs

Budding redbud. Photo from www.henrydomke.com

The first of a bi-annual series of Online Learning webinars hosted by the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Professional Practice Networks (PPNs) starts on Monday, 4/4/13. These distance learning opportunities are scheduled during the same week, creating a “virtual conference.” Future series will focus on a common theme, while this inaugural event allowed each PPN to determine their own topic ideas. Webinars will be recorded for future viewing opportunities, but this live event offers the chance to interact with presenters with Q&A time during each presentation.

Presentations are free to everyone, but space is limited. Recordings will be posted on the ASLA webinar page in April, so check back then to see the presentations that are full.

Professional development hours (PDHs) will be available to registered ASLA members; include your member number on the registration form. Number of PDHs vary for each presentation, so check the descriptions below for details.

PPN Online Learning Series: Spring Kick-off Event
March 4-14, 2013

The following are webinars still open for registration. Others that might be of interest to our Network (such as “Welcome to Planet Earth: Designing Nature into Early Childhood”; “Urban Agriculture – Beyond Community Gardens”; and “How Communities are Embracing Sustainable Site Development”) are already full, but you can check the webinar page (link above) in April to listen.

Bridging the Landscape of Autism

Hosted by the Healthcare and Therapeutic Design PPN
Friday, March 8 at 11:00 am (eastern)
1.5 PDH credits (LA CES/HSW)

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are increasingly present today, and this session will clarify the many related opportunities and obstacles this presents in place-making. It will suggest best-management practices to accommodate and integrate individual needs in private and public spaces during analysis and conceptual design.

Speakers:
Julie Sando, Founder, Autistically Inclined & Natural Play Therapy
Brian Johnston, Founder, Square Root Design Studio
Tara Vincenta, Principle and Founder, Artemis Landscape Architects, Inc.
Vince Lattanzio, President, Carducci Landscape Architects

Partnering for Healthy Communities

Hosted by the Parks and Recreation PPN
Date and Time: Monday, March 4 at 3:00 pm (Eastern)
1.0 PDH credits (LA CES/HSW)

In an economy where resources are limited, joint use agreements are becoming a platform for creating healthy collaborations. Establishing joint use agreements between schools, parks and other local organizations allow facilities to be utilized by more members of the community and provide community members with increased opportunities for physical activity. These partnerships provide mutual benefits to all parties involved and improve community livability; however these partnerships do require work in resolving differences.

Speakers:
Craig D. Bronzan, Director City of Brentwood Parks and Recreation
Patty Boyd, RD MPH with the Tri-County Health Department in Greenwood Village, CO

Soak it up: Placemaking through Sustainable Water Strategies in the Desert Southwest

Hosted by the Water Conservation PPN
Date and Time: Friday, March 8 at 1:00 pm (eastern)
1.0 PDH credits (LA CES/HSW)

Focusing upon urban environments in the desert southwest, this presentation will discuss water’s influence upon land and people through time, modern development’s disconnection from natural water systems and how sustainable water harvesting can reinforce the importance of this vital resource our ecosystems and future are dependent upon. Various water sources will be identified and passive and mechanical harvesting methods will be demonstrated both for irrigation and water feature elements.

Speaker:
Todd Briggs

Multicultural Design: Creating Landscapes that Welcome and Serve Everyone Equally

Hosted by the Women In Landscape Architecture PPN
Date and Time: Tuesday, March 5 at 1:00 pm (eastern)
1.0 PDH credits (LA CES/HSW)

Research shows that visitors’ cultural and economic background impact how they experience landscapes. Yet, most landscape architects in America design for a single ‘universal’ experience that reflects white middle class culture. What would change if paths, picnic tables, lawns and groves were designed from a diversity of cultural and class perspectives. Could we create parks as diverse and rich as America itself?

Speaker:
Steve Rasmussen Cancian

Environments for Aging Conference 2013

December 22, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Annual Environments for Aging Conference meets in New Orleans

APRIL 6 – 9, 2013 | The Roosevelt Waldorf Astoria Hotel

The annual Environments for Aging Conference meets in New Orleans, April 6-9, 2013. The three-day event offers the latest strategies and ideas for creating attractive and functional living environments that meet the needs of our aging population. Register now in order to receive early bird discounts.

Professionals attending — architects, design professionals, government officials and aging experts – will come together to share common goals in the areas of building, architecture and design. The conference offers networking opportunities with peers and myriad workshops in the latest innovations and best practices in the design of long-term and residential care settings.

(more…)

“Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life”

October 18, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

A documentary on the biophilic approach to designing cities, suburbs

A new film takes viewers on a journey from our evolutionary past and architecture’s origins to the world’s most celebrated buildings in a search for the architecture of life. The documentary, “Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life” by Stephen Kellert and Bill Finnegan will be featured October 23 at New York City’s AIA Center for Architecture.

Kellert and Finnegan’s film explores innovative ways of designing the places where we live, work, and learn, and will be introduced by Stephen Kellert. As one reviewer put it: “The film plainly states that bad design is part of the cause of environmental degradation and that good design is part of the solution.”

The producers describe their film in this way:

“Biophilic Design is an innovative way of designing the places where we live, work, and learn. We need nature in a deep and fundamental fashion, but we have often designed our cities and suburbs in ways that both degrade the environment and alienate us from nature. The recent trend in green architecture has decreased the environmental impact of the built environment, but it has accomplished little in the way of reconnecting us to the natural world, the missing piece in the puzzle of sustainable development.”

The film screening, followed by a panel discussion, is co-sponsored by the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and the Yale Alumni Association of New York. For a sneak peek of the film, view the trailer now. If you have questions, please contact Georgia Silvera Seamans or visit this film screening site.

The book, Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science, and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life, edited by Kellert, Judith Heerwagen, and Martin Mador is also excellent.

What: Documentary, “Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life”

When: Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 12:15 – 2:45 p.m.

Where: AIA Center for Architecture, Hines Gallery, 536 LaGuardia Place, NYC

ASLA 2012 – Several events related to health and well-being

July 13, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Banner Good Samaritan Health Center. Photo by Brice Bradley

Time flies, and it seems to fly even faster in the summer. Fall is just around the corner, and seems to be a big conference season, so stay tuned for more blog posts on events. Many thanks to Filiz Satir who has been helping with these events postings.

Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in the number of education sessions, tours, and even keynote speakers (e.g., Dick Jackson AND Esther Sternberg in 2010) at ASLA conferences (and Healthcare Design, and Environments for Aging, etc.). I think it’s an encouraging indication of the growing interest in landscapes for human health and well-being, and also a credit to leaders and members of ASLA’s Healthcare and Therapeutic Design Professional Practice Network.

(more…)

Nature and Well-Being: Lecture series at the Bloedel Reserve

June 8, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Reflecting pool, Bloedel Reserve. Photo by Henry Domke, http://henrydomke.com

Reflecting pool, Bloedel Reserve. Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

During June, Puget Sound’s Bloedel Reserve will put the spotlight on nature and well-being by hosting a series of lectures. Throughout the month, experts from diverse disciplines will explore the unique relationship between nature and humans, and the healing and therapeutic qualities of landscapes and gardens.

Our founder Prentice Bloedel was fascinated with the relationship between people and plants, often writing eloquently on the subject, as he designed the gardens and landscapes of The Reserve. In June, we are bringing together experts from many disciplines to explore the unique relationship between nature and humans, and the healing and therapeutic qualities of landscapes and gardens.

The Bloedel Reserve is a public treasure that sits on 150 acres of natural woodlands and landscaped gardens just a short ferry ride away from downtown Seattle. In addition to interconnected paths, a Japanese garden, a moss garden, and a reflection pool, visitors will find the Bloedel’s former estate home. The Reserve was created by Prentice and Virginia Bloedel who resided on the property from 1951 until 1986. A man ahead of his time, Prentice Bloedel had an abiding interest in the relationship between people and the natural world. The primary mission of The Reserve is to provide a tranquil, restorative and emotionally evocative experience of nature.

See this past Guest TLN Blog Post by Sally Schauman for more on The Bloedel Reserve as a Therapeutic Landscape.

For more information on this month’s Lecture Series, visit The Bloedel Reserve web site. Summer hours are extended for June, July and August: Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am-4pm; Thursday through Sunday, 10am-7pm. A short description of the lecture series follow. For a complete description of the talks and other classes at The Reserve, see the summer bulletin. To register for all the lectures that range from $10 to $15 per session, call 206-842-7631, or click on the Brown Paper Tickets.

The Bloedel Reserve Lecture Series for June is as follows:

Friday, June 8 at 4:30pm
Every Step a Healing Step (lecture & guided meditative walk)
Carolyn Scott Kortge, author, The Spirited Walker & Healing Walks for Hard Times

Sunday, June 10 at 2:00pm
The Restorative Power of Plants
Patty Cassidy, RHT, Horticultural Therapist & Gardener for Legacy Health Systems, Portland

Wednesday, June 13 at 10:00am
Healing Garden Designs
Daniel Winterbottom, RLA, FASLA, professor, Landscape Architecture, University of Washington

Thursday, June 14 at 2:00pm
Landscaping for Privacy: Innovative Ways to Turn Your Outdoor Space into a Peaceful Retreat
Marty Wingate, author & garden designer

Saturday, June 16 at 4:30pm
Therapeutic Design Adaptations for the Home Garden
Mark Epstein, registered landscape architect

Sunday, June 17 at 4:30pm
Art in Nature: The Therapeutic Effects of Nature Photography-A Personal Story
Charles Needle, photographer

Tuesday, June 19 at 10:00am
Leave No Child Inside: Reconnecting Children with Nature
Martin LeBlanc, founder, Children & Nature Network; Sr. VP, Islandwood

Friday, June 29 at 7:30pm
“Echoes of Creation” (Video screening & talk)
Jan Nickman, film & television director & cinematographer

Saturday, June 30 at 3:00pm
Restoration & Celebration — The Created World Around Us (lecture & guided meditative walk)
Christie Lynk, professor of psychology, Seattle University

Seattle is home to EDRA’s 43rd Annual Conference

May 17, 2012 | by Naomi Sachs

Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, WA. Photo by Henry Domke, http://henrydomke.com

Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, WA. Photo by Henry Domke, www.henrydomke.com

EDRA Annual Conference: “Emergent Placemaking”
May 30 – June 2, 2012
Seattle, WA

Can mankind embrace a more enlightened commitment to human ecology? Do we know how to design and create communities in which human potential, in harmony with nature, can be fully realized?

These are questions that Denis Hayes, CEO of the Bullitt Foundation in Seattle, will pose at the 43^rd annual Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) conference in Seattle, May 30 to June 2. Hayes will present the keynote address, “Urban Design to Nurture Human Potential” at the four-day, session-packed conference. The conference theme, “Emergent Placemaking,” speaks to both the potentiality and continuity in our cities, communities and neighborhoods. In addition to several plenary talks, the conference features workshops, paper presentations and mobile sessions to such Puget Sound destinations as Bloedel Reserve, a 150-acre estate devoted to offering the public “a tranquil and refreshing experience in nature.”

(more…)