Hans Keune

University of Antwerp | UA

Background Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are vital for addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, yet their benefits are often unequally distributed. This study introduces the Environmental Health Citizen Interview Tool, aiming to inclusively capture diverse perspectives on environmental wellbeing using qualitative research methods. The princi...

Introduction Integrated nature-based interventions in healthcare facilities are gaining importance as promising health and biodiversity promotion strategies. This type of interventions combines the restoration of biodiversity in the vicinity of the healthcare facility with guiding patients in that natural environment for health outcomes. However, q...

Individual actors and actor groups are vital catalysts of transformative change as they are able to initiate bottom-up interventions that nurture and protect biodiversity. This paper analyses biodiversity-focused practices across the civil, market and public spheres to identify the modes of intervention that actors in Europe utilise when they seek...

Background: Evidence consistently shows that the distribution of benefits Nature-based Solutions generate for human health are dependent on several individual characteristics such as gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity and disability. As a result, the distribution of Nature-based Solutions can perpetuate existing inequalities and even create new ineq...

Evidence consistently shows that the benefits Nature-based Solutions generate are determined by several individual characteristics such as gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity and disability. As a result, Nature-based Solutions can perpetuate existing inequalities and even create new inequalities partly because diverse minority and marginalized people...

Introduction Implementing integrated nature-based interventions that simultaneously serve human health and the restoration of biodiversity in healthcare facilities is considered a promising strategy. As an emerging field of research and practice in healthcare, identification of quality criteria is necessary to support desired outcomes related to bi...

Biodiversity underpins the functioning of ecosystems and the diverse benefits that nature provides to people, yet is being lost at an unprecedented rate. To halt or reverse biodiversity loss, it is critical to understand the complex interdependencies between biodiversity and key drivers and sectors to inform the development of holistic policies and...

Title of the poster : 'General practitioners' use of physical activity on prescription (PAP): the case of Belgium'. Related abstract was published in Oct 2023, the European Journal of Public Health 33(Supplement_2). DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckad160.1406

Background Physical activity (PA) reduces 19.5% of the attributable burden of chronic diseases (CDs), i.e. healthy life years lost due to morbidity and mortality. In addition, 29.5% of Belgians self-declared having at least one chronic disease. Moreover, almost 30% of the population above 15 years old is at health risk due to physical inactivity. E...

Green space matters for mental health but is under constant pressure in an increasingly urbanising world. Often there is little space available in cities for green areas, so it is vital to optimise the design and usage of these available green spaces. To achieve this, experts in planning, design and nature conservation need to know which types and...

Background: The GoGreenRoutes project aims to introduce co-created nature-based solutions (NBS) to enhance environmental quality in six medium-sized cities (Burgas, Lahti, Limerick, Tallinn, Umeå, and Versailles). We estimated the mortality and economic impacts attributed to suboptimal exposure to green space and air pollution, economic impacts, a...

For reasons of human health and sustainability, there is a growing interest in the potential of integrated nature-based interventions in healthcare. However, it is not clear which quality criteria underlie these interventions. Here, we develop a study protocol for a scoping review to explore potential quality criteria relating to the design, implem...

Background This paper aims at analysing the impact of partial non-response in the association between urban environment and mental health in Brussels. The potential threats of the partial non-response are biases in survey estimates and statistics. The effect of non-response on statistical associations is often overlooked and evidence in the researc...

Scientific research on the relationship between nature and health/wellbeing has increased dramatically in recent years. Contact with nature during childhood, both within formal and informal learning contexts, has diverse demonstrated positive effects on young people. In this chapter, we present the results of an interdisciplinary systematic literat...

This report was developed as part of task 3.4: “Prepare, Design and Implement a ‘seedbed’ intervention in each of the Cultivating Cities” in the research project “GO GREEN: Resilient Optimal Urban natural, Technological and Environmental Solutions (GO GREEN ROUTES)”, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme. It Includes diverse ac...

Several scientific communities and international health organizations promoting an interdependent human-nature health perspective are calling upon healthcare professionals (HCP) to integrate this vision into their practice and become role models. However, rising cases of stress, burnout, and depression, among this group jeopardize this potential an...

One Health recognises the interdependence between the health of humans, animals, plants and the environment. With the increasing inclusion of One Health in multiple global health strategies, the One Health workforce must be prepared to protect and sustain the health and well-being of life on the planet. In this paper, a review of past and currently...

The healthcare sector has proven to be supportive in stimulating health through contact with nature (Robinson and Breed, 2019; Kondo et al., 2020). Despite the positive practice examples, we see several challenges. There is no clear consensus or common understanding on quality assurance and health impact assessment of green care: there still is a w...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health threat to humanity, animals, plants and the wider environment. The intrinsic complexity and interconnectivity of human, animal and environmental factors has now been globally acknowledged and warrants a One Health approach. International communities launched guidelines to support the development and...

The GoGreenRoutes project (Horizon 2020/869764) aims to introduce co-created nature-based solutions (NBS) as interventions to enhance access to green space in six medium-sized European cities (Burgas, Lahti, Limerick, Tallinn, Umea, and Versailles). We analyzed the spatial distribution and health impacts associated with unequal exposure to air poll...

Over fifty years of global conservation has failed to bend the curve of biodiversity loss, so we need to transform the ways we govern biodiversity. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity aims to develop and implement a transformative framework for the coming decades. However, the question of what transformative biodiversity governance entails an...

Over fifty years of global conservation has failed to bend the curve of biodiversity loss, so we need to transform the ways we govern biodiversity. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity aims to develop and implement a transformative framework for the coming decades. However, the question of what transformative biodiversity governance entails an...

Over fifty years of global conservation has failed to bend the curve of biodiversity loss, so we need to transform the ways we govern biodiversity. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity aims to develop and implement a transformative framework for the coming decades. However, the question of what transformative biodiversity governance entails an...

Background Recent studies showed that air pollution might play a role in the etiology of mental disorders. In this study we evaluated the association between air pollution and mental and self-rated health and the possible mediating effect of physical activity in this association. Methods In 2008, 2013 and 2018 the Belgian Health Interview Survey (...

In epidemiological studies, assessment of long term exposure to air pollution is often estimated using air pollution measurements at fixed monitoring stations, and interpolated to the residence of survey participants through Geographical Information Systems (GIS). However, obtaining georeferenced address data from national registries requires a lon...

Burnout is, besides a global, complex phenomenon, a public health issue with negative consequences on personal, organizational, social, and economic levels. This paper outlines the co-design of a novel Nature-based Burnout Coaching intervention, called NABUCO. Due to the complexity of burnout, we propose a One Health approach in healthcare, educati...

Visiting nature is positively associated with physical and mental well-being. The role of nature became more pronounced during the coronavirus outbreak in the spring of 2020. Countries all over the world implemented confinement measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. These included but were not limited to the cancelation of public events,...

Background Mental health disorders appear as a growing problem in urban areas. While common mental health disorders are generally linked to demographic and socioeconomic factors, little is known about the interaction with the urban environment. With growing urbanization, more and more people are exposed to environmental stressors potentially contri...

Urbanization is increasingly putting pressures on biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services. Evidence indicates that green and blue spaces can support the mental health of urban residents. Policy makers, city planners, other decision makers, healthcare professionals, and land managers now face a major challenge to maintain and enhance natural...

Green spaces have been put forward as contributing to good mental health. In an urban context, space is a scarce resource while urbanisation and climate change are increasingly putting pressure on existing urban green space infrastructures and increasing morbidity caused by mental health disorders. Policy makers, designers, planners and other pract...

Mental well-being in cities is being challenged worldwide and a more detailed understanding of how urban environments influence mental well-being is needed. This qualitative study explores neighborhood factors and their interactions in relation to mental well-being. Individual semi-structured walking interviews were conducted with 28 adults living...

Ebola and COVID-19 are textbook emerging diseases influenced by humans. Ebola is often considered a result of exotic nature threatening health. Conversely, COVID-19, emerged in an urban environment, entails risks worldwide. Geographical, virological and demographic differences influence risk perceptions and responses to both diseases. Because ecolo...

Background In environmental epidemiology, air pollution exposure is often estimated at the population level. To avoid the risk of exposure misclassification, one possibility is to interpolate air pollution measures at the residence through Geographical Information Systems. However, this might imply cumbersome administrative procedures. Data on air...

Integrated approaches to health address health challenges arising from the intertwined spheres of humans, animals and ecosystems. This eBook is the product of an interdisciplinary effort to establish how One Health, EcoHealth and other integrated approaches to health are conceptualized, framed, implemented and evaluated today. It supplements the ha...

Nature's contributions to human health (NCH) have gained increased attention internationally in scientific and policy arenas. However, little attention is given to the role of the health care sector in this discussion. Primary health care (PHC) is a vital backbone for linking knowledge and practice within the organization of health care. The object...

There is growing evidence of the inter‐relationships between ecosystems and public health. This creates opportunities for the development of cross‐sectoral policies and interventions that provide dual benefits to public health and to the natural environment. These benefits are increasingly articulated in strategy documents at national and regional...

Increasing recognition of interdependencies of the health of humans, other organisms and ecosystems, and of their importance to socio-ecological systems, necessitates application of integrative concepts such as One Health and EcoHealth. These concepts open new perspectives for research and practice but also generate confusion and divergent opinion,...

Introduction Mental health issues appear as a growing problem in modern societies and tend to be more frequent in big cities. Where increased evidence exists for positive links between nature and mental health, associations between urban environment characteristics and mental health are still not well understood. These associations are highly compl...

Relational values are values of desirable relationships between people and nature and among people (through nature). We report on the approach to capture relational values of nature’s contributions to people in the regional assessment for Europe and Central Asia of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services...

Various studies have been conducted on the relationship between exposure to the nature and human health and well-being. Simultaneously, the heterogeneity of objectives, theoretical frameworks, and research methods make the comparison of results and establishment of overall messages difficult. Research on the relationship between urban green and blu...

Originating in medical and veterinary spheres, the One Health concept stands as an open call for collaboration also between these disciplines or professions and those of environmental and social science. However, the communities of practice in question show uneasy or under-developed collaborations, due to a variety of factors. We argue that an impo...

The key findings and key messages from the regional assessment for Europe and Central Asia of the interlinkages between health and biodiversity are given in this background paper, as an overview of the main conclusions in this field. In addition, this paper highlights the links between biodiversity and health at various spatial and temporal scales,...

The key findings and key messages from the regional assessment for Europe and Central Asia of the interlinkages between health and biodiversity are given in this background paper, as an overview of the main conclusions in this field. In addition, this paper highlights the links between biodiversity and health at various spatial and temporal scales,...

Research and policy processes in many fields, such as sustainability and health, are increasingly relying on transdisciplinary cooperation among a multitude of governmental, nongovernmental, and private actors from local to global levels. In the absence of hierarchical chains of command, multistakeholder governance may accommodate conflicting or di...

Attention to the importance of nature and human health linkages has increased in the past years, both in science and in policy. While knowledge about and recognition of the importance of nature and human health linkages are increasing rapidly, challenges still remain. Among them are building bridges between relevant but often still somewhat disconn...

Integrated approaches to health address health challenges arising from the intertwined spheres of humans, animals and ecosystems. This eBook is the product of an interdisciplinary effort to establish how One Health, EcoHealth and other integrated approaches to health are conceptualized, framed, implemented and evaluated today. It supplements the ha...

Science-policy interface organizations and initiatives (SPIORG) are a key component of environmental governance designed to make links between science and society. However, the science­policy interface literature lacks a structured approach to explaining the impacts of context on and by these initiatives. To better understand these impacts on and i...

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New European Union level scenarios have been developed in the FP7 project OpenNESS to fill a thematic gap in existing broad-scale environmental scenarios to assess the uncertainties and risks of different drivers of change for natural capital and ecosystem service provision. The scenarios are aiming at applicability for science and policy-making at...

Chapter 2 of the Regional Assessment Report of IPBES Europe and Central Asia

One Health is an approach that integrates perspectives from human, animal and environmental health to address health challenges. As the idea of One Health is grounded in achieving sustainable outcomes, an important aspect is the contribution of One Health to social sustainability. In this chapter we ask, what social sustainability is, what the indi...

Ecosystem services frameworks effectively assume that nature's contributions to human well-being derive from people receiving benefits from nature. At the same time, efforts (money, time, or energy) for conservation, restoration or stewardship are often considered costs to be minimized. But what if caring for nature is itself an essential component...

BACKGROUND The majority of scientific publications on linkages between nature and health do not seem to focus on the role of the health care sector. Primary health care (PHC) is often the first point of contact people have with the health care system and provides comprehensive, accessible, community-based care that meets the health needs of individ...

Background: International overview reports and the majority of scientific publications on interlinkages between nature and human health (NHI) do not seem to focus on the role of the health care sector. Primary health care (PHC) is often the first point of contact people have with the health care system and provides comprehensive, accessible, and co...

Challenges calling for integrated approaches to health, such as the One Health (OH) approach, typically arise from the intertwined spheres of humans and animals, and the ecosystems constituting their environment. Initiatives addressing such wicked problems commonly consist of complex structures and dynamics. The Network for Evaluation of One Health...

To address the pressing problems associated with biodiversity loss, changes in awareness and behaviour are required from decision makers in all sectors. Science-policy interfaces (SPIs) have the potential to play an important role, and to achieve this effectively, there is a need to understand better the ways in which existing SPIs strive for effec...

We share many of the views of de Groot et al. on the relevance of ecosystem services (ES) and the constructive role they have played in highlighting the importance of nature to people. Here we aim to further clarify how the concept of Nature’s Contribution to People (NCP) contributes to science and policy

A major challenge today and into the future is to maintain or enhance beneficial contributions of nature to a good quality of life for all people. This is among the key motivations of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), a joint global effort by governments, academia, and civil society to ass...

As the ecosystem service concept has become more widely recognised, so the number of biophysical, socio-cultural and monetary methods available to assess ecosystem services has increased. There is relatively little guidance on how to select and combine these methods into hybrid approaches that address policy purposes. Based on experiences from 27 c...

Elaborating from the European One Health/Ecohealth (OH/EH) workshop that took place in fall 2016 and aimed to bring together different communities and explore collaborative potential, the creation of European networks focusing on the development of important OH/EH perspectives was a direct output from discussions at the end of some sessions, in par...

This research note illustrates how European national delegates to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) perceive the challenges, needs, gaps and opportunities related to the policy implementation of “Nature’s contributions to people (NCP)” in their nation. Until now, only little information has been available...

Understanding uncertainties and risks can be considered to be the main motivation behind environmental scenario studies to assess potential economic, environmental, social or technical developments and their expected consequences for society and environment. The scenario study presented in this paper was designed to contribute to the question of ho...

In this chapter we will mainly focus on biodiversity challenges in relation to human health. We will do this from a science-society interface perspective. What are the important challenges regarding this topic when aiming for policy and society practice relevant reseaerch and action? First, we will briefly introduce the main biodiversity-human heal...

Nature is perceived and valued in starkly different and often conflicting ways. This paper presents the rationale for the inclusive valuation of nature’s contributions to people (NCP) in decision making, as well as broad methodological steps for doing so. While developed within the context of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosy...

The practice of mapping ecosystem services (ES) in relation to health outcomes is only in its early developing phases. Air purification by vegetation and the resulting avoided respiratory disease burden is a health-related ES that is currently mapped for several areas in the world. Another example is the attenuation of ocean waves by marine ecosyst...