Overcrowding, noise and air pollution, long commutes and lack of daylight can take a huge toll on the mental well-being of city-dwellers. With mental healthcare services under increasing pressure, could a better approach to urban design and planning provide a solution? The restrictions faced by city residents around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought home just how much urban design can affect our mental health - and created an imperative to seize this opportunity. Restorative Cities explores a new way of designing cities, one which places mental health and wellness at the forefront. Establishing a blueprint for urban design for mental health, it examines a range of strategies - from sensory architecture to place-making for creativity and community - and brings a genuinely evidence-based approach that will appeal to designers and planners, health practitioners and researchers alike - and provide compelling insights for anyone who cares about how our surroundings affect us. Written by a psychiatrist and public health specialist, and an environmental psychologist with extensive experience of architectural practice, this much-needed work will prompt debate and inspire built environment students and professionals to think more about the positive potential of their designs for mental well-being.

This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to our understanding of infrastructure, and it's influence on happiness and wellbeing, by examining the concept from economic, human development, architectural, urban planning, psychological, and ethical points of view. Providing insights from both research and practice the volume discusses how to develop happier cities and improve urban infrastructure for the wellbeing of the whole population. The book puts forth the argument that it is only in understanding the true nature of infrastructure's reach - how it connects, supports, and enlivens human beings - that we can truly begin to understand infrastructure's possibilities. It connects infrastructure to that most elusive of human qualities - happiness - examining the way infrastructure is fundamentally tied to human values and human well-being. The book seeks to suggest novel approaches, identify outmoded undertakings, and define new possibilities in order to maximize infrastructure's impact for all people - with a focus on diversity, inclusion and equity. In seeking to define infrastructure broadly and examine its possibilities systematically this book brings together theory and evidence from multiple disciplinary perspectives including, sociology, urban studies, architecture, economics, and public health in order to advance a startling claim - that our lives, and the lives of others, can be substantively improved by greater adhesion to the principles and practices of infrastructure design for happiness and wellbeing.

This book takes an interdisciplinary approach to our understanding of infrastructure, and it's influence on happiness and wellbeing, by examining the concept from economic, human development, architectural, urban planning, psychological, and ethical points of view. Providing insights from both research and practice the volume discusses how to develop happier cities and improve urban infrastructure for the wellbeing of the whole population. The book puts forth the argument that it is only in understanding the true nature of infrastructure's reach - how it connects, supports, and enlivens human beings - that we can truly begin to understand infrastructure's possibilities. It connects infrastructure to that most elusive of human qualities - happiness - examining the way infrastructure is fundamentally tied to human values and human well-being. The book seeks to suggest novel approaches, identify outmoded undertakings, and define new possibilities in order to maximize infrastructure's impact for all people - with a focus on diversity, inclusion and equity. In seeking to define infrastructure broadly and examine its possibilities systematically this book brings together theory and evidence from multiple disciplinary perspectives including, sociology, urban studies, architecture, economics, and public health in order to advance a startling claim - that our lives, and the lives of others, can be substantively improved by greater adhesion to the principles and practices of infrastructure design for happiness and wellbeing.

Overcrowding, noise and air pollution, long commutes and lack of daylight can take a huge toll on the mental well-being of city-dwellers. With mental healthcare services under increasing pressure, could a better approach to urban design and planning provide a solution? The restrictions faced by city residents around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought home just how much urban design can affect our mental health - and created an imperative to seize this opportunity. Restorative Cities explores a new way of designing cities, one which places mental health and wellness at the forefront. Establishing a blueprint for urban design for mental health, it examines a range of strategies - from sensory architecture to place-making for creativity and community - and brings a genuinely evidence-based approach that will appeal to designers and planners, health practitioners and researchers alike - and provide compelling insights for anyone who cares about how our surroundings affect us. Written by a psychiatrist and public health specialist, and an environmental psychologist with extensive experience of architectural practice, this much-needed work will prompt debate and inspire built environment students and professionals to think more about the positive potential of their designs for mental well-being.

God did not create people to just lounge around in a garden, nap in the sun, and pop grapes. We were made to be active agents in creation, God's ambassadors to the world Designed to be used for students ages twelve to sixteen, this theologically-rich curriculum-updated by CBE's African partners to be relevant to an African context-traces the missional meta-narrative woven throughout Scripture, from creation and the call of Abraham to Christ's revolutionary kingdom and the Spirit-empowered church. Students will be equipped with practical ideas on how to live purposefully as part of the body of Christ, and challenged to go "all in," developing their gifts and pursuing God's calling on their life, regardless of gender. Each session contains: A Bible reading. A narrative overview of the Bible reading, focusing on the session's theme. Discussion questions to facilitate conversation-no "yes or no" questions or fluffy fill-in-the-blanks. A hands-on group activity for tangible learning. Focus on God's missional call regardless of gender.

God didn't create people to just lounge around in a garden, napping in the sun and popping grapes. We were made to be active agents in creation, God's ambassadors to the world This theologically-rich curriculum traces the missional meta-narrative woven throughout scripture, from creation and the call of Abraham, to Christ's revolutionary kingdom and the Spirit-empowered church. Students will be equipped with practical ideas on how to live purposefully as part of the body of Christ, and challenged to go "all in," developing their gifts and pursuing God's calling on their life. Each session contains: A short video. A Bible reading. A narrative overview of the Bible reading, focusing on the session's theme. Discussion questions to facilitate conversation-no "yes or no" questions or fluffy fill-in- the-blanks. A hands-on group activity for tangible learning.

Over the last few decades research has shown how natural environments can promote opportunities for psychological restoration - particularly mood, attention fatigue and stress recovery. However, little is known about how restoration varies amongst different people and whether urban settings can also offer restorative opportunities. This study, therefore, provides new insights into how restoration varies across different settings, and how the process varies in different sections of the population. It offers six studies: two exploring short term restoration in adults and teenagers with good and poor mental health, one exploring longer term restoration ('instoration') in teenagers with behavioural difficulties, and three further studies exploring teenagers' relationships with place and the associated opportunities for health and wellbeing. Offering a range of innovative methods for restorative environment research, this study will be of interest to environmental psychologists, health geographers, landscape architects and those from other design disciplines, as well as health professionals.

This book is a fun and focused approach to teaching communication, language and literacy in an inclusive early years setting. The author provides a wide range of activities to encourage the development of children's key skills. The activities will include: key vocabulary; resources needed; a description of the activity; development stages towards early learning goals defined for different learners recognising a breadth of learning abilities; how to assess - inspired from the 'look, listen and note' approach suggested in the EYFS; Discussion ideas; and, Differentiation - ideas for both challenging children and meeting lower ability children including those with English as a second language. This book is a must for early years practitioners.