Jun
13
Our special issue of Landscape Architecture of May 2024 on nature-based intervention has recently been published. It has been very well received in the Chinese academic and professional area of Horticultural Therapy and Therapeutic Horticulture, with more than 1,500 readings within a week, and more than twice the number of visits in the previous issues over a few months, which shows that the topic of nature-based Intervention is becoming a hot topic in China. We would like to share with you all the full papers in this issue, and look forward to receiving extensive positive feedback and corrective comments and suggestions.
The rise of nature-based intervention(we use NBI as an umbrella term for all kinds of natural therapies) in different countries around the world is due to a similar background. Rapid urbanization and economic and social development have dramatically changed the urban environment and people's lifestyles. Problems such as environmental pollution, sedentary behaviors, and excessive stress in life have made city dwellers face chronic diseases, psychological problems, and sub-health, which have become major factors affecting the well-being of individuals and families, as well as the harmony of society. The resulting medical costs have become a heavy burden for the state, families, and individuals, and people are eager to find a cheap and convenient way to cope with aging and various public health problems or to prevent epidemics, so natural healing has rightly become an attractive and ideal choice for the future.
Research on nature-based intervention systems mainly involves the training of therapists, the design of healing environments, the analysis of therapeutic populations, and the formulation of therapeutic plans, as well as the implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of various types of natural healing programs. In North America, Australia, Japan, and South Korea, people more likely adopt the American horticultural therapy system as a means of treatment; in Northern Europe, it is usually called nature-based therapy or nature-based rehabilitation program; in China, based on the nature-based intervention theories of various countries, an unique national certification system for forest gardening and recreation practitioners have been developed, which is a comprehensive nature-based intervention system that embraces a wide range of schools of thoughts and connotations in the world in the related areas, and has shown a broad prospect for development.
Currently, in the international academic field, nature-based intervention has shown an interdisciplinary and multi-system development trend, and has been constantly changing and innovating based on the main lines of clinical evidence, evidence-based assessment, and service expansion, expanding the breadth and depth of theoretical exploration and practical application, and updating the knowledge content and theoretical models. However, as an emerging professional and industrial field, there are still many bottlenecks in the research on nature-based intervention. Multidisciplinary integration, especially the characteristics of medical-industrial cooperation, increases the difficulty in the formation of the theoretical paradigm and knowledge chain; the complex health impact mechanism also restricts the validation of the scientific and evidence-based efficacy of nature-based intervention; and the dispersed and independent explorations of related theories and practices increase the risk of knowledge fragmentation. It is urgent to establish an international exchange and cooperation mechanism to promote the integration of knowledge and technological innovation, and to promote the quality and sustainable development of natural healing systems.
For this reason, we have organized this special issue, and are honored to have invited the well-known experts and scholars in the field of nature-based intervention in the world to contribute, including tenured Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA, co-founder of the American Horticultural Therapy Association and the International People and Plant Council, and Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science, Ms. Paula Relf; Ms. Elizabeth Diehl, Director of the Department of Horticulture at the University of Florida, Horticultural Therapist-Master of AHTA, Former editor in chief of the American Horticultural Therapy Association's ‘Therapeutic Horticulture’; Ms Anna Maria, Associate Professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences(SLU), and member of the Research and Development Strategy Committee of the Alnarp Rehabilitation Garden; Claudia Kam Yuk Lai, honorary professor in the School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Wang Kefang of the School of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Shandong University; Prof. Li Shuhua of Tsinghua University; Associate Prof. Liu Yuelai of Tongji University. The renowned experts invited have carefully prepared academic papers on horticultural therapy, therapeutic horticulture, and nature-based rehabilitation, the topics covers from the perspectives of theoretical exposition, type analysis, to practical exploration, offering an unique interpretation and weaving of a panorama of theoretical framework, technical support, and practical expansion of nature-based intervention.
I would also like to thank Professor Paula Relf, who at the age of 80, out of her love for horticultural therapy/therapeutic horticulture, has written a paper of nearly 20,000 words, which has helped scholars, teachers, students, and practitioners from all over the world to clarify the nuances of the many schools of nature-based intervention, and looked into the deeper issues of the long-term development of horticultural therapy, which is very admirable and appreciated.
We are grateful to the Journal of Landscape Architecture for providing a platform for high-end academic exchanges and a valuable opportunity to invite renowned scholars in the field of nature-based intervention from different countries contribute their articles. I would like to thank the editor-in-chief, Prof. Zheng Xi, for writing a wonderful foreword for the topic, which is full of strong Chinese ancient classics flavor, and I would like to thank all the editors for their rigorous checking and my students for their excellent work, which guaranteed the smooth publication of this topic.
I also hope to receive the valuable support of President Lana and all the Board Directors of AHTA to continue the ongoing research and exploration of horticultural therapy-related topics. Thank you very much!
