Nature health environment, the conference "Park and one health, challenges and alliances for well-being and sustainability" was held in Rome, at the Campus Bio-Medico

Bird: green spaces mitigate the effects of stressful events by 50%.

Sammuri: moving in the parks reduces the risk of heart attack, diabetes and depression by 30%.

Barela: University ready to face the “Green new deal” discussed by the European Union

Gubbiotti: share strategies for the environment, well-being and sustainability

Rome, 18 December 2019. Parks constitute the optimal meeting point between man, the animal world and nature, providing, even in urban contexts, opportunities for well-being as well as prevention and treatment for numerous pathologies. Focusing on the relationship between health and ecosystems with the role that protected natural areas play is the aim of the meeting organized by Federparchi, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and the RomaNatura Regional Authority, which took place today atUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, near the Decima Malafede Nature Reserve, entitled “Park & ​​One Health. Challenges and alliances for well-being and sustainability”. 

During the conference, the concept of "OneHealth" was explored, an approach recognized by WHO, FAO, OIE and by the European Union and the United States, which promotes the application of a multidisciplinary method which considers the close correlation between human health and environmental context.

The theme of the overall management and vision of the territory, the use of green areas and the enhancement of natural areas was also addressed, also in relation to the well-being of the citizen and the community with positive effects on services and on the redevelopment of the suburbs.

Dr William Bird, President of intelligent health, illustrated, in his report, how physical activity and contact with natural environments have positive effects on people's health and well-being. “Physical activity – Bird said – lengthens the telomeres (the 'tailors' of the DNA chromosomes) in all human cells; this slows down the aging processes and is significantly more consistent if physical activity is carried out in contact with nature and not indoors. Furthermore, the presence of trees in urban spaces has positive effects on cognitive performance. Exercising in green spaces stimulates the functions of the hippocampus, the area of ​​the brain which is the center of behavior and learning. It has also been demonstrated – continues Bird - that the relationship with nature and green spaces reduces the effects of stressful events by 50%, especially on children and teenagers.”.

On the same wavelength the president of Federparchi Giampiero Sammuri: “It may seem obvious to say that contact with nature is good for physical and mental health – claimed -  but is not so. We need to grasp its significance, understand the strength of the added value that "green" can offer for people's well-being. According to Europarc data, a brisk thirty-minute walk in the countryside five days a week reduces the risk of heart attack by 20-30%; of diabetes by 30-40%; of depression or dementia by 30%. These numbers – continues Sammuri - they tell us that contact with nature has enormous healing and prevention power. On this ground, a common strategy must be pursued that brings together protected natural areas, the scientific medical world and experts in the environmental sector."

“The degree course in "Chemical Engineering for Sustainable Development" as well as the new departmental Faculty, recently activated, in "Sciences and Technologies for Man and the Environment" confirm the vocation of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma as a University focused on health and well-being seen in close relationship with the environmental context - the president said of the Campus Bio-Medico University, Felice Barela - Our Campus has the good fortune, from the university classrooms to the Policlinico, to be a true "university park" immersed in a protected nature reserve such as the regional one of Decima Malafede. It is therefore logical that we meet with Roma Natura and Federparchi to deepen and disseminate these important issues, which will also be increasingly present in the programs of the European Union, with its "Green new deal" ".

“After decades dedicated to the protection and conservation of nature, a job done particularly well, today parks must also meet social challenges, be closer to people's needs and improve their quality of life. – says the president of RomeNature Maurizio Gubbiotti - It is with these convictions that we have promoted this public moment with Campus Bio-Medico and Federparchi, which we want to be useful for a better understanding of the fundamental relationship between the environment and health, which passes from the need to restore a balanced relationship between man and the environment. The Parco&OneHealth conference is part of a consolidated collaboration process with the Bio-Medico Campus and its University, within the Decima Malafede Nature Reserve, and aims to be – concludes Gubbiotti - a new contribution in showing and sharing through a shared commitment, strategies and actions between the environment and sustainable well-being to manage resources, productive activities in fragile ecosystems, and to improve people's quality of life and health."