Research has shown that spending time in natural environments had a range of benefits, including better physical health and psychological well-being.

In this talk, Prof Viren Swami looks at the history of using nature to improve well-being before describing what contemporary research has shown. But understanding why those benefits occur is more complex: Prof Swami describes different theories that have been proposed to explain the impacts of nature on well-being. He’ll also discuss what we can all do to reap the benefits of spending time in nature.

Viren Swami is Professor of Social Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University and Director of the Centre for Psychological Research at Perdana University. His research is focused on body image and human appearance. He is the author of over two hundred academic papers and three books, including Attraction Explained (now in its second edition) and The Psychology of Physical Attraction.

Event presented as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.