Dave Kendal

Speaker and Panel Member

Senior lecturer in Environmental Management UTAS.
Geography, Planning, and Spatial Sciences

Speaking on: The new National Environmental Science Program (NESP)

NESP is a long-term research program funded by the federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. There are four hubs within the program, Marine and Coastal, Climate Systems, Resilient Landscapes, and the Sustainable Communities and Waste (SCaW) hub. The University of Tasmania (UTas) is a research partner in all four hubs. Our UTas Healthy Landscapes research group is part of the SCaW hub, with Landcare Tas, NE Bioregional Network and Conservation Volunteers Australia as key partners. We will be codesigning a research plan with partners over the next 6 months, exploring the research needs and priorities of our partners. Some of the topics raised so far in our theme include nature-based solutions, improving people’s connection to nature and people-species interactions. We hope to better understand the positive impacts that nature-based programs have on their participants.

Panel on: Healthy landscapes: enabling human wellbeing through healthy interactions with nature

Healthy landscapes can support healthy people and communities. But are some landscapes better at enhancing health and wellbeing than others? This panel will explore some of the varied connections between nature and human wellbeing. Our interdisciplinary team will share stories of the possible ways that human social, mental, physical, microbial and economic wellbeing can benefit from being, working and recreating in natural areas. We will then follow with an interactive audience discussion about the ways to support health-enhancing environments and healthy interactions.