UfM / WHO Webinar on Urban Nature, Green Spaces and Health

Online format, 21 March, from 10:00 to 11:30 CET. Urbanization, competing land usages, global trade and industrialization have led to profound and negative impacts on nature, biodiversity and ecosystems across the world. The ongoing depletion of natural resources not only affects environmental conditions but also has an enormous impact on the health, mental well-being and security of societies. At the same time, the demand for green and blue spaces in the urban environment by city residents is growing. In the face of this resource depletion, environmental degradation, a changing climate, changes in biodiversity and new and emerging diseases, the need to act on urban nature is becoming increasingly acute and urgent.

Embedding nature and green spaces in urban settings is a promising opportunity to achieve healthy communities and healthy cities and support sustainable and resilient urban development, but also provides opportunities for nature protection and conservation through e.g. nature-based solutions.

The webinar, jointly co-organized by the Union for the Mediterranean and the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe,  is targetting the members of the UfM Working Group on Urban Transformation and is also open to all participants interested in green spaces and urban nature, and the related health and wellbeing impacts. It will be an opportunity to: 

·         take stock of the latest evidence on the impacts of green spaces on human health, including mental health;

·         exchange views on policy opportunities, emerging approaches and good practices to design and implement policies that promote health through investments into the protection of nature and green spaces in urban settings;

·         highlight urban tools on nature and health in support of policymaking.

The meeting will consist of the following presentations of approx 15 min each:

·         Urban green spaces – an introduction and actions, Mr Matthias Braubach, WHO ECEH (more info here)

·         Green spaces and mental health – a review of the evidence, Dr Sjerp de Vries, Wageningen Environmental Research (more info here)

·         Increasing green space will improve urban health, Prof. Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (more info here and here)

·         Examples of promotion of green spaces in cities, IUCN (TBC)

The working languages of the meeting will be English, French and Arabic.

Participants can already register at the following link: