EFI Biocities new webinar series: Healthy cities by nature on 3 June
EFI Biocities is launching a new webinar series exploring how cities can integrate nature into urban development. Bringing together leading international experts and examples from pioneering cities, the series aims to support policy makers, city administrations, urban planners and practitioners, researchers, and health professionals in creating more sustainable, resilient, and liveable cities.
The first webinar, Healthy cities by nature: integrating public health and the environment, will take place on 3 June (11:00–12:30 CEST) and will be led by Simone Borelli, EFI Biocities senior expert. It will look at how natural spaces support physical and mental wellbeing, and how cities can better reflect these benefits in policy and urban planning. Using examples from research, policy, and real cases from cities, the session will highlight how solutions can be adjusted to fit different local realities.
The session features:
• Mònica Ubalde (Researcher, ISGlobal, Barcelona), who will provide a European overview, sharing evidence from cities in Spain, Austria, and Italy, and highlighting how local conditions shape health outcomes.
• Liisa Tyrväinen (Research Professor, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Luke), who will present Finland’s experience in linking nature with public health policy and social care.
• Päivi Sieppi (Environmental Advisory Manager, City of Lahti), who will outline how Lahti, in Finland, has been applying these approaches in practice through its Nature Step to Health programme for more than a decade.
Together, the speakers will demonstrate how to move from science to policy, and from policy to action at city level. The 90-minute session includes three presentations followed by a live Q&A, giving participants the opportunity to engage directly with the speakers.
This webinar targets professionals engaged in urban policy, planning, research, and health, who are interested in advancing healthier, sustainable, and more liveable cities.
About EFI Biocities
EFI Biocities is a global reference in generating and communicating relevant scientific knowledge on the potential of the circular bioeconomy concept to rethink urban areas, particularly based on forest-based solutions.
Opened in Rome in 2022, EFI Biocities is a leader in developing a new and holistic conceptual framework for the use of green infrastructures and biobased solutions in urban environments, to tackle climate change and other global challenges.
