When was the last time you took a walk in the forest? We all recognise the positive power that being in nature has on our wellbeing and mindset, and some of us also are familiar with the Japanese ‘art’ of Shinrin Yoku, or Forest Bathing. What you might not have known is that there are “NHS Forest” hospitals. In this podcast we discuss whether there is a need for a nature-based health strategy to be included in the corporate built environment, how a an Urban Forest Experience could await you at the next Chelsea Flower Show and how liminal experiences in forests can transform us out of immobilising burnout and other distress. Our editor Dr Vanessa Champion is here in conversation with Amanda Bond, Ecopsychotherapist and certified Forest Therapy Guide and Mentor, she is also co-chair of the ANFT (Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programmes) European Council. If you listen all the way to the end, yo’ll learn that biophilia is more than just aesthetics, it is about reconnecting yourself on a cellular level with nature. Ness also raises the point here again, that EOWilson’s “Biophilia” is more than just bringing in plants into a space, but is about encouraging and recognising our inherent connection to our natural world and all its beauty.

In 1986 NASA was researching the ability of plants to absorb harmful gases. Their research had a huge impact on author and precision mechanic Jørn Viumdal who went on to set up Greentime AS. He contacted NASA and they began to develop the space stations of the future and researched how they could use nature to improve the air quality on board the space stations. Greentime AS was the first in the world to create practical working environments based on research results on the interaction between nature and humans. Jørn was then involved in the practical implementation of pioneering tests under the direction of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, which looked at the practical effects of using plants in typical indoor environments. 30 years on, his company Skogluft, which in Norwegian means “Forest Air” now brings nature inside through an easy to maintain and self-install living wall system. We spend more than 90% of our lives indoors, causing stress, anxiety, fatigue. A lack of nature drains us. We speak to Skogluft’s co-founder, Stine Wettergreen to tell us more about why plants are good for our homes, offices and wellbeing and how they’ve been implemented into Google offices, Oslo airport, schools, hospitals and homes.

Acoustics, planting, colour ways, furniture design, textures, space all have an impact on us. Whether this is at home or in the workplace, how we decide to design these spaces can make a whole difference to our mind set, they can make us stressed and unproductive or they can make us focussed, calm and inspired. We have control on what we create. We have a duty of care to ourselves to make sure we respect each other enough to want to make our homes and offices, hospitals and so on nice places to be. We spend hours and hours inside. So it is refreshing to speak to Danish interior designer Bettina Therese Møller, who instinctively incorporates elements of biophilic design, Feng Shui and Wabi Sabi into her designs for clients, creating interiors with a purpose.

Bettina talks to our editor Dr Vanessa Champion about her love of nature, why we should embrace it in our interior designs, how bringing in shapes, positive and inspired colours, textures from nature, making use of natural light and improving sound quality can make all the difference. She also shares with us, that she too, like us, collects things from nature when she is out on her walk with her dog, and brings them home.