Title: To accelerate the economic and social impact of NERC science within human health and wellbeing, by improving and targeting knowledge exchange.
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council

Abstract: What is the main aim? It is to bring businesses, scientists and health professionals together to share their knowledge, and to form a new project partnership. That project will simultaneously provide new insights in the value and management of nature, and improve people's health. This is done in the context of the broader objective of increasing the social and economic impact of natural science research. What research? Some relevant topics include: ecology; the ways in which evolution and co-evolution occur; the function of microbes in the soil; the ways in which animals behave; and the ways in which nature provides 'services' like flood defence, pest control and carbon storage. If it's about environmental research, then why focus on health? Health is central to our happiness and to our economy. 10% of UK GDP is spent on health and social care; the sheer scale of this means that there are business opportunities for those who can find ways to reduce overall costs. Saying that we know nature can improve health is not enough; we need to know how and why, for ecological reasons as well as social or economic ones. What will the project actually involve? The precise form will be defined as the work proceeds, but the term 'green prescriptions' covers a whole range of possible interventions where doctors - GPs and clinicians - get patients to engage with nature and monitor the effects. It can be understood as a course of treatment, or a preventative activity. Why involve natural scientists? The answer is in three parts. Firstly, people engaging with nature, - either just on their own or through organisations, is an everyday occurrence. But increasingly people involved in health are looking at 'green prescriptions' as a course of treatment. They need to know, from research scientists, what works best. The health benefit of nature is the result of a subtle and complex relationship, and it does not derive merely from being in it, but by understanding it, and from interacting within it in different ways. Secondly, vice versa; those natural scientists who model and calculate the value to health from nature need to understand this complexity to improve their studies. So expertise needs to be transferred in both directions. Thirdly, there is another dimension to this which has not been looked at much; what are the ecological impacts, the changes to ecosystems and the 'services' they provide, of increasing green prescriptions? Are there risks or possible problems? The assumption is that it is 'all good', and in both science and policy, assumptions need to be challenged. How would, or could, people interact with nature differently? Again it's important to let ideas run freely at this initial stage, but this might involve such things as: working with scientists; outdoor counselling and therapy; and nature apps tied to exercise monitors. What examples are there, and what is the business potential? At the moment we have examples of GPs using the 'Natural Health Service' to put patients in touch with community resources. It is ad hoc, and the impact - whether on nature or on health - is not well captured. Nearly all conservation volunteering does not involve either scientific or health input. By closing the circle and using insight from scientific researchers (and only natural science, but also social and medical science; we want to join up across disciplines as much as possible), as well as from doctors, there is scope for improving the business of existing providers, and even creating new economic activity, for example through the opportunities created by mobile electronic devices and digital media. For example, Surfers Against Sewage are creating an app that provides health researchers with epidemiological data on hepatitis infections in real time. This is the kind of activity that natural scientists could benefit from


Research activity codes: 8.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE