Climate Change and Environmental psychology: How do we get people to interact with the natural world? And how do we get people to think differently about how they interact with the world?

I have been interested in these questions for a long time. Then I came across The International Living Future Institute. Perfection! This is it! This is what I’ve been looking for – the crossing of human health, well-being, happiness and the natural environment in a built environment world.

The Institute has a challenge – The Living Building Challenge! “What if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place?”. Yes! Exactly! And to clarify, a living building is a building that doesn’t use any nasty chemicals, uses locally sourced materials to cut down on transportation fuel pollution, produces it’s own electricity, gathers it’s own water – it’s amazing.

Then there is biophilic design which is amazing and beautiful designs you can see throughout the world that incorporates nature into the built structure. Think of Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay with its Silver Garden Super Trees. Apply this to buildings.

Then there are cities that are trying to cut down on fuel pollution and the damage that extracting fossil fuels cause. They are promoting walkable neighborhoods, towns, and cities. They are creating bicycle paths or even better – favoring bicycle paths over cars. The Netherlands is really the leader in this area. See a You Tuber called Not Just Bikes if you want an amazing breakdown of this topic. Here is a sampling:

I’m going to continue to explore this topic weekly and see where it leads. Feel free to join me. I will try to post something every Monday. Let me know if you have any thoughts on the topic. Maybe if enough people start thinking differently, we can make a change for the better.