Prof. Giovanna Calogiuri
Prof. Giovanna Calogiuri
Professor of Health Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway
Keynote Speech: Promoting health and wellbeing through virtual nature: Enable, Reconnect, Augment (a new ERA)
Biography:
Giovanna Calogiuri is a professor of health sciences at the University of South-Eastern Norway and chair of Drammen Municipality. She earned her Ph.D. in Physical Activity & Sport Sciences from the University of Milano and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Occupational Sciences, focusing on the critical role of natural environments in promoting health and well-being. Currently, she is affiliated with the Centre for Health & Technology at the University of South-Eastern Norway, where she leads the "Health Promotion and Sustainability" research area.
Prof. Calogiuri’s research spans pivotal themes such as sleep-wake patterns, health-enhancing physical activity, and human-nature interactions. In recent years, her work has concentrated on immersive virtual nature as a tool for enhancing well-being and fostering nature connectedness among different population, including students, nursing home residents, and individuals with mild to moderate depression.
A key contributor to several high-impact European Union-funded projects, Prof. Calogiuri is instrumental in initiatives like GoGreenRoutes, where she leads a team developing an itinerant virtual nature installation to raise awareness of urban environmental challenges, highlight the benefits of human-nature interaction, and strengthen citizens’ connection to their local environments. In the Drammen City – Zero Emission 2030 project, part of the NetZeroCities – Pilot Cities Programme, she leads efforts to examine how the city’s "nature-first" regeneration strategy enhances residents' well-being and satisfaction, leveraging digital innovations such virtual nature experiences.
Prof. Calogiuri on virtual nature at TEDxDrammen:
Abstract:
Political, health, and research institutions are increasingly recognizing the importance of human-nature interactions in addressing major societal challenges. As some examples from the past decade, the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services has promoted nature-based recreation as part of the national public health strategy, the World Health Organization has published a white paper on the health benefits of urban green spaces, and the European Commission has launched different calls call specifically dedicated to nature-based solutions and nature-based therapy. However, challenges remain regarding the methodological limitations of studies investigating the health benefits of human-nature interactions and the limited accessibility to restorative natural environments among some population sub-groups. In this context, immersive virtual nature (IVN) has been proposed as a potential game-changing tool within environmental research and nature-based interventions. Based on virtual reality technology, IVN provides the illusory perception of being enclosed within a natural environment.
This keynote speech highlights current and future applications of IVN as a means of health promotion at three different levels: facilitating access to nature experiences (“Enable”), eliciting nature connectedness and reinforcing emotional attachment to natural places (“Reconnect”), and enhancing human-nature interactions through savoring and elicitation of anticipated emotional benefits (“Augment”). Additionally, concerns and limitations related to virtual nature experiences will be explored. For Particularly, the extent to which IVN can provide benefits equivalent to those of actual natural environments, as well as the risks of devaluing real-life human-nature interactions by fostering unrealistic aesthetic expectations, will be explored. Finally, practical examples from ongoing projects will be presented.