Barbiero Giuseppe

Nature-based interventions (NBI) and Green Prescriptions (GRx) have renewed interest in the relationship between human well-being and ecosystems, yet their implementation often risks reproducing the utilitarian logic underlying environmental degradation. Reciprocity between humans and Nature is increasingly invoked as a promising principle for restoring individual and Planetary Health. However, while appealing, this framework risks falling into a transactional
model rooted in symmetry and apparent equivalence,
obscuring the complexity and nonlinear dynamics of ecosystem functioning. This work explores reciprocity within Nature-based health interventions and ecosystem services, revealing paradoxes and limitations and arguing for a shift from transactional reciprocity toward interconnectedness and relational interbeing. Such awareness is crucial when humans interact with ecosystems to benefit from their restorativeness and therapeutic potential. We discuss how high-biodiversity and ecologically vulnerable environments derive therapeutic potential from their rarity and sensitivity, making unrestricted access for tourism, recreation, or health practices
ecologically untenable. We propose that NBI and GRx must
integrate, alongside clinical protocols, considerations of ecosystem health, carrying capacity, nonhuman life needs, and cumulative pressures arising when therapeutic use overlaps with other human presence. Biocultural perspectives further emphasize relational embeddedness and kinship obligations, aligning with One Health and Planetary Health principles that view human wellbeing as inseparable from ecosystem vitality. We propose that genuine care for Nature may not require “doing more” or “faster,” but doing less and more slowly: exercising self-restraint, reducing pressure on ecosystems, renouncing control, and tempering the human ego to prioritize Nature’s evolved processes over active interventions. Ethical and operational implications include
reframing conservation and ecological management around
self-limitation, intergenerational justice, and recognition of
nonhuman agency, fostering coexistence over compensation.

Biophilic design is an architectural model that offers the possibility to create the Nature-based Innovative Learning Environment (ILE), which might support cognitive processes and stimulate affiliation with Nature. Bracing Biophilia is an exploratory research programme which verifies the effect of Nature-based ILEs on pupils’ attentional performance and affiliation with Nature. We compared a conventional learning environment with two Nature-based environments made according to biophilic design and the Biophilic Quality Index (BQI). The experimental observations spanned three school years; they were carried out within a conventional learning environment in the first year and in a biophilic designed one in the next two. Measurements, that is the administration of the Perceived Restorativeness Scale-children, the Continuous Performance test, and the Connectedness to Nature Scale-children, were deployed at regular intervals at three different times (autumn, winter, spring) of each school year. Results show that learning environments with biophilic design, in addition to being preferred and perceived as more restorative, are more effective in supporting pupils’ attentional performance than conventional learning environments and, over time, strengthen the feeling of affiliation with Nature. A BQI certified biophilic design learning environment turns out to be the best of all indoor environments and just below the outdoor learning environment used as a comparison of biophilic design indoor environment. Although the objective limitation of this study is the number of pupils, the trend appears clear and cannot be attributed to pupils’ cognitive maturation processes. This case study allows us to appreciate the importance of the restorative learning environments with biophilic design capable of supporting the learning process and strengthening the affiliation with Nature.

Introduction. Humans possess an innate tendency towards life which, through fascination, facilitates the restoration of directed attention and stress recovery. Given the increasing urbanization, integrating Nature contact with mindfulness – a practice known for its analogous mental health benefits – is gaining attention. This systematic review investigates whether Nature-based mindfulness (Green Mindfulness) is synergistic, neutral, or antagonistic compared to indoor mindfulness or Nature exposure considered separately.

Methodology. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search on Google Scholar using the string “Nature-based mindfulness” AND (empirical OR experimental) was conducted, yielding 129 results. After screening, twenty empirical studies published in 2023–2024 were included, with only nine featuring a comparator activity in a real natural environment. Participants included adolescents and adults, healthy subjects, and those with mental/physical vulnerabilities. Outcomes included psychological (stress, anxiety, mood, Nature connectedness) and physiological (cortisol, heart rate) measures.

Results. All twenty studies reported positive effects on well-being and health. However, the comparative analysis of the nine controlled studies showed heterogeneous outcomes, indicating that Nature-based mindfulness is not unequivocally superior to comparison conditions, with results being synergistic, neutral, or even antagonistic depending on the variable. Specifically, antagonistic effects and neutral effects were observed for some variables.

Discussion and Conclusions. The field of Nature-based mindfulness is emerging and highly heterogeneous in activity design and reporting. The lack of superior efficacy in some studies suggests that formal, introspective mindfulness may impede the necessary sensory relationship with the environment. An ecopsychological perspective is proposed for future research, advocating for an ecocentric green mindfulness model that includes the locus Naturae (the place as a living presence) and an ecotuner (a specialized facilitator) to better capture and maximize the bi-directional, restorative effects of the human-Nature relationship.

La Progettazione Biofila è un sistema di progettazione basato sull’Ipotesi della Biofilia di Kellert e Wilson. La biofilia è letteralmente ‘amore per la vita’, un sentimento caratterizzato dalla fascinazione che la Natura esercita sugli esseri umani e dall’affiliazione che gli esseri umani stabiliscono con la Natura. La biofilia è un adattamento evoluzionistico che consiste di un insieme di regole di apprendimento innate che danno forma ad uno spettro di emozioni, che vanno dalla biofilia alla biofobia. La biofilia ha subito due ex-adattamenti, in seguito a due momenti di rottura con la Natura: dapprima nel Neolitico e poi con la Rivoluzione industriale, che ha urbanizzato la maggior parte degli esseri umani, disconnettendoli dalla Natura. I progettisti cercano di riconnettere gli esseri umani con la Natura utilizzando la biofilia come guida per la progettazione di ambienti artificiali.
La Progettazione Biofila è chiamata oggi a uscire dall’empirismo, implementando le verifiche sperimentali della Ipotesi della Biofilia.

Biophilic Design is an applied science that takes into account the most recent findings on the relationship between human beings and Nature to render artificial spaces more coherent with innate human biophilia. It is well known that the application of Biophilic Design reduces stress, stimulates creativity and clear thinking, improves physical and psychological wellbeing and accelerates healing. Considering the relentless process of global urbanization, these benefits will become increasingly important in the design of our urban spaces, buildings and interiors. The aim of the present study is to develop a conceptual framework for Biophilic Design, reducing the gap between scientific research and its translation into functional applications.

Built environments that integrate representations of the natural world into façades and interiors benefit occupant psycho-physiological well-being and behavior. However, the biophilic quality of buildings does not de-pend exclusively on “green”, but also upon “organized complexity” in their structure. In this exploratory study we compare quantitative (Visual Atten-tion Software) and qualitative approaches (self-rating scales) in the perception of biophilic design of building façades. Eight façades varying in their degree of biophilic design (High, Medium, Low, No biophilic qualities) were assessed on the Perceived Restorativeness Scale-11, on preference, and on a series of physical aesthetic attributes. The eight façades were scanned with Visual At-tention Software (VAS). These measures show many overlapping points. VAS can be considered a way to operationalize the engagement of attention in the first 3-5 seconds of gaze in exploring building design, and self-ratings assess-ments a measure of to what extent the building is perceived as restorative. Higher perceived restorativeness and preference match a higher degree of bi-ophilic design, which corresponds to a building where vegetation is integrated in an organic structure. Vegetation is not the only biophilic characteristic to be considered in biophilic design and this emerges clearly from self-ratings and VAS. Exploring organized complexity is fundamental for understanding human responses to architecture.

La sempre più rapida diffusione e gravità di malattie infettive e di quelle cronico degenerative ha evidenziato la strettissima  correlazione tra salute umana e alterazioni ambientali provocate dalle attività antropiche, mettendo contemporaneamente in crisi  tutti i Sistemi Sanitari. Ciò ha riattualizzato il concetto di Sindemia, che considera come determinanti di salute le interazioni biologiche, ambientali, sociali ed economiche della popolazione e le politiche sanitarie che la coinvolgono, e quello di salute olistica di One Health. Tali approcci richiedono necessariamente prospettive interdisciplinari dove ciascuna disciplina si integra con le altre per affrontare la complessità dei sistemi sui quali si deve intervenire. Il settore sanitario, che mira a tutelare la salute, è paradossalmente allo stesso tempo uno dei principali emettitori degli inquinanti ambientali che hanno un impatto negativo sulla salute umana mentre, nell’ultimo decennio, la domanda di assistenza sanitaria “verde” risulta in progressivo aumento. Tuttavia, lo sviluppo “verde” e sostenibile del settore sanitario è un fenomeno altamente complesso, integrato e interconnesso, che richiede una leadership clinica ma anche una struttura concettuale e competenze pratiche ancora rare tra gli operatori sanitari, evidenziando l’urgenza di incorporare nella formazione e nella pratica i principi e le tecniche di sostenibilità. Il minor impatto ambientale del settore sanitario, oltre a privilegiare le catene di produzione sostenibili negli ambiti diagnostici e terapeutici, deve puntare sulla prevenzione delle  malattie e sulla prescrizione di interventi efficaci integrativi o alternativi a quella farmacologica. Tra questi sono di particolare importanza gli interventi basati sulla Natura che tuttavia possono avere effetti altrettanto negativi se affrontati in modo opportunistico o unilaterale.

Connectedness to Nature and the ability to perceive the restorative value of places characterised by the presence of natural elements are personal characteristics that, when appropriately measured, make it possible to predict an individual’s attitude towards pro-environmental behaviour. While these characteristics have an innate basis, they are also shaped by personal experiences and various cognitive, affective and sociocultural factors. In this exploratory study in North-eastern Italy, we delve into an interdisciplinary field that explores the relationship between the environment of the residential area and its impact on children’s attitudes toward Nature. To do so, we conducted a comprehensive questionnaire amongst 533 primary schoolchildren, aged 6-11 years, to gauge their connectedness to Nature, their perceptions of restorativeness in surrounding natural settings, and their schoolyard environment. Drawing from optical satellite imageries, we calculated a combined multispectral index to assess the naturalness degree of participants’ residential areas, focusing on their 68 residential areas, located in three administrative Italian Regions (Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto), which were classified into four different classes with respect to their level of presence of natural areas (“coastal,” “low,” “average,” “high”). By performing non-parametric tests for multiple comparisons amongst groups, we detected a significantly higher level of connectedness to Nature amongst children living in areas with high naturalness, compared to those living in areas with average or low naturalness. Perceived restorativeness scores exhibit a similar trend to that of connectedness to Nature, reinforcing the importance of natural spaces in fostering positive attitudes towards the environment. This result confirms that accessibility and the viewability of natural spaces, even semi-natural ones, seemed to play a crucial role in children’s preference for these environments. However, schoolyards were consistently perceived as less regenerative than natural places, regardless of the naturalness of the neighbourhood. These findings raise intriguing questions about the potential consequences of inadequate exposure to Nature on children’s affiliation to the natural world and possible subsequent effects on pro-environmental behaviour in adulthood. By shedding light on the complex interplay between personal characteristics, environment and attitudes towards Nature, our study underscores the significance of fostering a deeper connection with natural spaces to nurture a sustainable and environmentally conscious society.

(1) Background: Connectedness with Nature is a personality trait that influences our relationship with Nature. But Nature is not all the same. Wilderness is Nature in its original form, the form within which human beings have evolved as a species, while what we refer to as domesticated and urban Nature are relatively recent products of our interaction with the environment. (2) Aim: The main purpose of this study was to verify whether the individual trait “connection to Nature” influences the perception of restoration, preference for and familiarity with three types of Nature: wilderness, domesticated and urban. (3) Results: Regardless of the level of connection to Nature, wilderness is always perceived as more restorative than the domesticated or urban environment. Individuals with higher connectedness prefer wilderness more than others, and they are able to recognise the restorative value of domesticated environments more than those with medium or low levels of connectedness. Less connected individuals tend to prefer domesticated environments, although wilderness is more familiar to them. (4) Conclusions: This study shows that, despite our detachment from Nature, wilderness is the prototype of Nature, and this finding offers a plausible evolutionary explanation of solastalgia.

Le Terapie Forestali (TF) sono una pratica di sanità pubblica basata sull’evidenza (Evidence-Based Medicine), che propone attività in ambienti caratterizzati da un ampio range di naturalità. Numerose ricerche sono state condotte per individuare i singoli elementi delle foreste che possono agire sulla salute umana, anche in relazione all’osservata efficacia nei confronti delle malattie croniche. L’approccio riduzionista lineare risulta tuttavia insufficiente per descrivere la complessità  dell’ecosistema forestale, con il quale i sensi e il corpo umano interagiscono da decine di migliaia di anni. Le malattie croniche condividono con le foreste la  complessità e le proprietà emergenti. Per rappresentare l’analisi sistematica dei fattori non genetici che influenzano la salute umana, superando la linearità delle associazioni “una esposizione-un risultato”, è stato introdotto il concetto di esposoma. L’esposoma consente di studiare anche gli effetti della frequentazione delle foreste sull’organismo umano in termini sistemici, superando l’idea che organi e apparati siano indipendenti l’uno dall’altro e che su ciascuno possano essere  efficaci singoli elementi forestali. In ambito medico, le TF possono essere l’ambiente ideale per affrontare alcune malattie croniche. Tuttavia, la prescrizione medica delle TF dipende da una precisa descrizione e comprensione dei diversi ecosistemi forestali e dei loro effetti sulla salute umana, soprattutto nelle Immersioni in Foresta. L’inquadramento sistemico delle TF richiede una collaborazione tra le diverse figure professionali coinvolte in esse, per definire Linee Guida alle quali i medici prescrittori, i conduttori in foresta e gli operatori forestali potranno riferirsi.

Affective ecology is the branch of ecology that deals with the cognitive and emotional relationships that humanity and Gaia establish between themselves. In the last ten years, affective ecology has engaged above all in the experimental verification of the biophilia hypothesis and in defining the two fundamental constructs of biophilia: fascination and affiliation. The definition of such constructs allows us to estimate more precisely the psychological effects of biophilia. Fascination for Nature triggers the restoration of cognitive skills after mental fatigue, while the feeling of affiliation for Nature has a stress-reducing effect. The experimental outcomes allow us to design an ideal biophilic environment, able to stimulate fascination and affiliation for Nature. A biophilic environment is the ideal environment for developing naturalist intelligence. The future perspectives of affective ecology concern the search for high biophilic quality environments, which can be both inner environments, as in the case of Green Mindfulness in ecopsychology, and outer environments as in the case of Biophilic Design in architecture.

Biophilia is a human personality trait described initially by Erich Fromm and later by E.O. Wilson, both of whom agree that biophilia has a biological basis and that it is fundamental to develop harmonious relationships between humans and the biosphere. This review aims at establishing a definition of biophilia as an evolutionary process. To this end, the most significant studies of evolutionary psychology were considered, to outline the fundamental characteristics of a hypothetical biophilic temperament/personality and to reconstruct a plausible history of biophilia as an evolutionary process. This process considers different typologies of Nature (wilderness, rural, and urban) and human cultures (Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Burg) and leads us to consider environmental preference and psycho-physiological recovery in relation to the threshold of time spent in contact with Nature. Unfortunately, modern people, especially children, lack direct and frequent contact with Nature and this can have negative consequences on their physical and mental health. Biophilic design, considering the evolutionary roots of this architectural approach, is an effective way of planning/designing interior and urban environments to stimulate the innate biophilia of the individual.

L’ecologia affettiva è la branca dell’ecologia che si occupa delle relazioni psichiche – emotive e cognitive – che l’essere umano instaura con la Natura. In questi dieci anni l’ecologia affettiva si è impegnata soprattutto nella verifica sperimentale dell’ipotesi della biofilia, in particolare nel definirne i due costrutti fondamentali: la fascinazione e l’affiliazione. La definizione dei costrutti permette di stimare con ragionevole precisione gli effetti psichici della biofilia. È stato dimostrato che la fascinazione della Natura facilita la rigenerazione delle capacità cognitive dopo una fatica mentale, mentre il sentimento di affiliazione per la Natura ha un effetto di riduzione dello stress. Le indicazioni sperimentali permettono di progettare un ambiente biofilo ideale, capace di stimolate la fascinazione l’affiliazione per la Natura. Un ambiente biofilo è l’ambiente ideale per sviluppare l‘intelligenza naturalistica. Le prospettive future dell’ecologia affettiva riguardano gli ambienti ad alta qualità biofila. Ambienti che possono essere sia psichici, come nel caso della green mindfulness in ecopsicologia; sia fisici, come nel caso del biophilic design in architettura.

Genetically modified (GM) crops under open field conditions are a complex and controversial issue. Ecologists are discussing about the possibility that a transgene belonging to GM plants could spread to native populations through a process known as introgression – the stable incorporation of a gene in the host genome able to generate a differentiated population. The ecological consequences of a transgene introgression in plants or bacteria are not yet well understood, but could be significant. In this critical review we consider vertical and horizontal introgression. We analyse the biochemical and genetic constraints, and environmental factors that limit the possibility of transgene spread; meanwhile we show cases in which the natural barriers are overcome. Then we discuss the overall management of GM crops, noting the shortcomings and approximations of risk assessment based on linear thinking typical of the biomolecular approach. Finally we suggest to explicitly weight facts together with values and we encourage the undertaking of an ecological perspective, encompassing the complexity of (non-linear) relations between organisms and the environment.

Sarà il primo Master in Psicologia dello Sport all’università della Valle d’Aosta. E promette il tutto esaurito. Iscrizioni online, a partire dal 21 ottobre, tra pochi giorni, teoricamente fino al 9 gennaio 2025. E poi a lezione nel secondo semestre, da febbraio. Le attività didattiche si svolgeranno il venerdì e il sabato in parte in presenza (con diretta streaming) e in parte in modalità telematica. Il percorso punta a formare psicologi dello sport, specializzati nell’efficacia relazionale nel rapporto con gli atleti relativamente agli sport di squadra e individuali, alle abilità mentali degli atleti, all’analisi psicomotoria applicata allo sport e all’inclusione con e nello sport (multiculturalità, genere, sport sociale e disabilità).

Il Master rappresenta la principale novità per questo anno accademico per il dipartimento di Psicologia, che già da anni è all’avanguardia in particolare per gli indirizzi di Ecopsicologia e Biofilia, l’amore per la vita, che studia la connessione tra individuo e natura. Fino ad arrivare alla cosiddetta Terapia forestale.

Intervista a Giuseppe Barbiero, docente di Ecopsicologia

Che ruolo hanno il contatto e l’esperienza diretta con la natura (ma con il mondo “fuori dalle aule” in generale) sulla mente delle nuove generazioni? Da Nord a Sud nel nostro Paese ci sono esempi di educazione all’aperto che ci fanno riflettere sulla nostra innata biofilia che, però, ha bisogno di essere stimolata e allenata, come spiegano biologi, antropologi e pedagogisti.

Ecologia affettiva è stato selezionato fra i 10 migliori libri di divulgazione scientifica nell’Area di Scienze della Vita e della Salute e concorre per il premio di Divulgazione Scientifica ‘Giancarlo Dosi’

Indice di Qualità Biofilico – depositato in SIAE il 24/01/2017 con il numero di repertorio 2017000273