About
Healthy Parks Healthy People (HPHP) Central has evolved out of the International Healthy Parks Healthy People Congress 2010, to maintain global momentum for better understanding the links between nature and human health.
HPHP Central will serve as a resource for the HPHP global community to learn about and share the latest research, case studies, programs and innovations that focus on the health benefits of human contact with the natural world.
What is Healthy Parks Healthy People?
Healthy Parks Healthy People seeks to reinforce and encourage the connections between a healthy environment and a healthy society. Australian park agency Parks Victoria, created the Healthy Parks Healthy People brand in 2000. They then commissioned Deakin University to do a literature review which analysed more than 200 journal articles on research into the human health benefits of contact with nature.
Healthy Parks, Healthy People - Research Paper
Evidence in the 2002 review (updated in 2008) came from fields as diverse as ecology, biology, environmental psychology and psychiatry, and showed that access to nature plays a vital role in human health, wellbeing and development. The research indicated that humans are, among other things, dependent on nature for psychological, emotional and spiritual needs that are difficult to satisfy by any other means.
Healthy Parks Healthy People seeks to encourage divergent sectors to come together to build healthier communities and tackle the issues facing our planet. The approach encourages those from the health, environment, parks, tourism community development and education sectors to work together to provide a better outcome for all.
In 2010 Parks Victoria hosted the first International Healthy Parks Healthy People Congress, which brought together 1,200 participants from 37 nations to explore the many ways nature and parks significantly contribute to our health and wellbeing. The Congress has ensured the Healthy Parks Healthy People philosophy is now on the radar for government, education and business sectors globally.
Learn more about Healthy Parks Healthy People
Introducing Healthy Parks Healthy People
This ‘prospectus’ document provides an introduction to the Healthy Parks Healthy People philosophy. It includes background, research and case studies inside and outside the parks sector.