/// News

IAPS24 conference from June 27 to July

The next IAPS conference will be held in Lund in southern Sweden in 2016. The young researchers workshop will be held in Alnarp, prior to the conference, from lunch the 26th of June to the afternoon the 27th.
For more information, please visit the conference webpage. Looking forward to see you there!

Nominations to the IAPS board – 2016
The Election Committee of IAPS requested the participation of the IAPS members in the election of the IAPS Board. The IAPS Board currently comprises 12 members – 2 members of the Board will have served their 4 year term by summer 2016 and are therefore due to retire or stand for re-election – Tony Craig and Claudia Andrade – and 2 members have served the full 8 year period and must now retire from the board – Giuseppe Carrus and Kevin Thwaites.

The deadline for receipt of nominations was the 10th March 2016. Voting ballots, a list of candidates and biographical sketches will be mailed to the membership by 31th March 2016.

Call for expression of interest to organise the 2018 IAPS Conference

The IAPS Board is planning the organisation of its biennial Conference in 2018. The decision about who should host the IAPS 2018 Conference, will be considered by the IAPS board, based on a two stage submission process. A final decision will be made at the Board meeting which wil be held in Lund (Sweden) next June 26th. The successful candidate will be announced at the next AGM.

We encourage those IAPS members interested in hosting this exciting and participative conference to submit us their expression of interest following the two stage submission process. Deadline (Stage 1): April 30th, 2016. Please, follow this link to find the submission guidelines.

2016 IAPS policy on supporting the participation of early career researchers in research meetings

The IAPS board has set aside a budget for the year 2016 to provide financial support for a limited number of early career researchers to cover part of the expenses associated with participating in events such as workshops, seminars or summer courses which are relevant for their training in the field of people-environment studies and related to the themes of the IAPS research networks.

If you wish to apply for financial support for attending an event related to IAPS, then read the attached instructions and email the President of IAPS, Ricardo García Mira: ricardo.garcia.mira@udc.es

iapsREN update March 2016, by Sarah Payne and Carlos Galan-Diaz

Continuing IAPS’ interest in the use of images to portray work, each of our newsletters we present a‘restorative environment photo’ taken by one of our members. In addition to providing a potential moment of restoration within your inbox, it is a great way to showcase people within the REN community. We welcome your contributions and look forward to receiving some restorative emails!

iapsREN quarterly newsletters to members and interested parties also keeps people in touch with new journal articles, upcoming conferences, job and PhD vacancies, and news of those who have passed their doctoral vivas relating to restorative environments. If you want to sign up to our REN newsletter or get in touch with the REN team, please visit our contact page on the website.

We are already excited by the Bi-annual IAPS conference where our members have planned a number of restorative environment symposiums. Keeping up with tradition, we will hold a REN meeting during the conference in order to exchange ideas and meet new and current REN members. This is a very friendly space and everyone with an interest in the restorative environment network is welcomed, with the meeting usually followed by a relaxing social drink or meal nearby to the conference centre. Check the conference program schedule for times, in due course.

In the meantime, check out our website and twitter accounts to stay up to date.
Sarah Payne and Carlos Galan-Diaz (REN convenors)

From YOUNG RESEARCHERS: Amanda Nioi and Jong-Eun Song completed their PhD

Amanda Nioi (@mandy_nioi) successfully defended her PhD thesis Evaluation of blue light exposure, illuminance level and the associations with sleep/wake patterns in two populations living with sensory impairment, under the supervision of Professor Jenny Roe, Director of the Centre of Design and Health at the Architecture School, University of Virginia and Assistant Professor Dr Alan Gow, Research Leader and Lecturer in Psychology, in the School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University.
She is currently seeking postdoc and early career fellowship opportunities to develop the research in adolescent with ASD and ‘older people friendly’ lighting systems.

ABSTRACT: Exposure to sufficient light during the daytime is fundamental for the regulation of the sleep/wake cycle, with the blue part of the spectrum most influential. This thesis explores exposure to environmental blue light and level of illuminance in two populations that experience circadian disruption i.e. older people and young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim was to examine associations between blue light exposure, illuminance level and sleep/wake and physical activity patterns. Firstly, an exploratory study was conducted in adolescents with ASD living in a residential school setting aged 13-17 years (n=8). Secondly, a cross-sectional study carried out in two seasons (summer and winter) with a comparative study between seasons of varying light exposure and sleep/wake and physical activity outcomes was conducted in older people aged 72-99 years (n=20). In both studies quantitative measures were used to examine personal light exposure and sleep/wake patterns by use of novel equipment known as an actiwatch.
This research demonstrated that objective measures of sleep/wake and light monitoring could be successfully administered in two populations with complex sensory issues. Preliminary findings from the exploratory study in adolescents with ASD indicated that exposure to blue light prior to bedtime was associated with a delay in sleep onset. The methodology developed for participant recruitment and engagement in a study using body sensors proved to be successful.  Results for the study in older people suggested that between seasons daytime physical activity, blue light exposure and illuminance levels were significantly higher in summer. Correlated component regression (CCR) was used to investigate predictors of sleep parameters, suggesting morning blue light exposure (a predictor of total night-time sleep), daytime activity level (a predictor of sleep efficiency) and visual function (a predictor of minutes awake during the night) may contribute to sleep quality.
The findings from these studies suggested that light exposure and health outcomes, such as physical activity and visual function could be responsible for sleep quality. This has important implications for design and health interventions promoting health and wellbeing, i.e. morning light exposure and time outdoors are important for circadian entrainment and building design and routine should reflect a diurnal light pattern light.

Jong-Eun Song (je0291@hotmail.com) completed his PhD studies at Kyungpook National University (South Korea), defending the thesis “Interpretation of architecture based on sociological ontology” under the supervision of Professor Yong soe Park. Currently he is working as a design director of AU Architecture studying “Architectural Sociology.”

ABSTRACT: The study explores the ontological characteristics of the sociological interpretation of two architectural works based on architectural philosophy and conceptual architecture. The study includes four procedural processes. Firstly, through theoretical consideration of sociological theories of “Architectural Sociology” and architectural theories of philosophy, the thesis examines limits of philosophical ontology in architecture and the meaning of sociological ontology and its architecture using two sociological theories (symbolic Interactionism and, habitus). Secondly, as a preliminary study, the textual analysis of the architectural speeches of three architects (Moshe Safdie, Thom Mayne, and Daniel Libeskind) and the sociological comparative study of architectural works (Le Corbusier and Charles Rennie Mackintosh) by a sociologist examine the social meaning of architectural design thinking. Thirdly, as an empirical study on the perspective of “Sociological Ontology,” the analysis and criticism of two architectural works demonstrates the utilities of sociological theories as the theoretical basis of design thinking and reveals the ontological meaning of the sociological approach to architecture. In the sociological perspective, the paper examines the negative aspects of two architectural works and the architectural design thinking of Louis I. Kahn’s Richards Medical Research Laboratories (1960-75) and Peter Eisenman’s House VI (1972-75) and the characteristics of sociologist Robert Gutman’s reviews of them. The result is that the sociological interpretation of architectural works is based on the understanding of humans who interact with the world including the ego, others, and their own environment and milieu. The sociological interpretation puts architectural design thinking and works as well as architects and users in the social matrix, in which they engage in social interactions with each other as agents and agencies. Therefore, it goes beyond their own logic related to architecture itself and design thinking, like the architect’s architectural philosophy and conceptual architecture, in questioning the raison d´être of architecture and the architect.

/// Past conference & meetings

Scientific Meeting ARPENV-PSICAMB at the Nîmes University, France, by Ana Loureiro

Last February (4th and 5th) it took place a scientific meeting between the environmental psychology French (ARPENV) and Iberian (PSICAMB) associations.
A group of about 40 participants from different universities in France, Spain and Portugal, joined together at the Nîmes University, France, to share their work and discuss opportunities to develop new research together. Several researchers presented and share their work on different subjects such as climate change perception, sustainable behaviour and beliefs, connectedness to nature and well-being, nature and emotions, environment and quality of life, environmental communication and management, residential environments and attachment, public space and socio-environmental intervention, urban planning and violence and delinquency, environment representations and identities.
The meeting allowed the discussion about opportunities of research financing at both local, national and international level. It was also a very fruitful occasion to work on possible future collaborations between different research groups and several projects and ideas were started to be planned at the meeting. The results of this work are awaited with great expectation.

Ana Loureiro is an Assistant Professor at Lusófona University and a Reseracher at Copelabs, in Lisbon. With a PhD on Social and Environmental Psychology, she studies the psychological processes associated to natural environments, how social values motivate individuals, and how these processes and interactions between them predict well-being and behaviours that impact on environment. She is a board member at PSICAMB-Asociación de Psicología Ambiental.

///New projects

ERASMUS+ Science and Global Education beyond the barriers of learning difficulties – A project participated by Sapienza Università di Roma

• To enhance and disseminate innovative teaching methods such as flipped classroom and spaced learning associated with hands on activities  in order to  foster effective inclusion and science thinking . The prior objective is to reduce the school dropout rate
• To promote scientific and technological excellence in Europe for a sustainable and inclusive growth of society, engaging students in scientific activities which pursue the objectives stated in the Covenant of Mayors
• To develop a multilingual platform where teachers can share best practices, exchange science lessons and have support for a more successful approach to teach sciences and to special educational needs
• To strengthen cooperation between partners and international experts on the project issues in order to improve learning sciences in schools and support professional development
• To create innovative lessons in international groups of teachers

To find out more, please follow: Website of DPPSS / Twitter / Facebook / Google+

‘Place-Making with Older People: Towards Age Friendly Communities’ – A joint research project between UK and Brazil 

Source: Jô Folha, Jornal Diário Popular, Brazil, 18 February 2016

In January 2016, this project won the International Call ‘Cities Health and Social Science of the Food-Water-Nexus Energy’ organized by ESRC-CONFAP-CNPQ. This was a Call to support join research projects between UK and Brazil. The project was recommended for funding at the International Panel meeting in Brasilia during 26 to 29 October 2015 and was ranked in first place. The project will be developed in three years (from May 2016 to May 2019) and is totally funded by ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) from UK. Professor Adriana Portella from Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil is the Coordinator of the Project in Brazil and Professor Ryan Woolrych from Heriot-Watt University is the Coordinator of the Project in UK.

The project involves five in the UK and five in Brazil.
UK Universities: HERIOT-WATT – Heriot-Watt University; MMU – Manchester Metropolitan University; KEELE – Keele University; EDINBURGH – University of Edinburgh; NORTHAMPTON – University of Northampton
Brazilian Universities: UFPel – Federal University of Pelotas; UFRGS – Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul; UFMG – Federal University of Minas Gerais; UNB – University of Brasilia; FURG – Federal University of Rio Grande

This research recognizes that simply changing the built form is not sufficient to create a more inclusive environment for ageing since places are more than physical spaces. Viable environments are articulated through a strong sense of place, defined as the social, psychological and emotional bonds that people have with their environment. Societally, the creation of age friendly urban environments that support sense of place is integral to successful ageing ensuring that older adults can continue to make a positive contribution in old age, delaying the need for institutional care and reducing health and social care costs. The project has three core aims:  (i) to investigate how sense of place is experienced by older people from different social settings living in diverse neighbourhoods in Brazil and the UK; (ii) to translate these experiences into designs for age friendly communities that support sense of place; and (iii) to better articulate the role of older adults as active placemakers in the design process by involving the community at all stages of the research.

///Next conferences, events, and call for papers

Call for papers: The 29th Congress of the Italian National Urban Planning Institute will take place in Cagliari, from 28-30 April 2016, and will organize The town I would like to live. Abstracts submission deadline is March 24 2016.

///Research calls, jobs, studentships, etc

New MSc in Landscape and Wellbeing at the University of Edinburgh

This one-year masters programme will take an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to understanding the importance of the environment for human health and wellbeing.
Delivered by an expert academic team led by Professor Catharine Ward Thompson and Dr Simon Bell, it will draw on the most advanced theories and methods for research in the field and is aimed at academics and practitioners working in landscape architecture, planning, design, geography, public health, psychology, epidemiology, horticulture and ecology.
It is designed to educate students in the evidence base and gaps in our understanding of salutogenic landscapes (those that support and enhance human health and wellbeing), translate research into practice, and guide more effective environmental interventions. Drawing on their prior disciplines, successful graduates will acquire the necessary skills and expertise to promote the value of landscape to support health and wellbeing.
To find out more, please contact the programme director, Catharine Ward Thompson at c.ward-thompson@ed.ac.uk, Simon Bell at s.bell@ed.ac.uk or go to the OPENspace website.
———————————————————————————————————————————
For further information on this release, contact Deborah Reid at deborah.reid@blueyonder.co.uk

///Recent publications

• New paper: Coulombe, S., Meunier, S., Cloutier, L., Auger, N., Roy, B., Tremblay, G., de Montigny, F., Gaboury, I., Bernard, F.-O., Lavoie, B., Dion, H., & Houle, J. (2016, advance publication). Health-promoting residence and workplace neighborhoods: Associations with multiple facets of men’s health.American Journal of Men’s Health.
• New paper: Mouro, C., and Castro, P. (2016) Self-other relations in biodiversity conservation in the community: Representational processes and adjustment to new actions. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, doi: 10.1002/casp.2267.
• New paper: Fornara, F., Pattitoni, P., Mura, M., & Strazzera, E. (2016). Predicting intention to improve household energy efficiency: The role of value-belief-norm theory, normative and informational influence, and specific attitude. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 45, 1-10.
• New paper: Fornara, F., & Caddeo, P. (2016). Willingness To Pay for preserving local beaches: The role of framing, attitudes, and local identification. Psyecology, published on line 8th March 2016, pp. 1-12.
• New paper: Ferreira, I. A., Johansson, M., Sternudd, C., & Fornara, F. (2016). Transport walking in urban neighbourhoods. Impact of perceived neighbourhood qualities and emotional relationship. Landscape and Urban Planning, 150, 60-69.
• New paper: García-Mira, R., Dumitru, A. & Vega, P. (2015). Consumo sostenible en organizaciones: Enfoques multimétodo para estudiar la conducta proambiental en lugares de trabajo [Sustainable consumption in organizations: Multimethod approaches for studying pro-environmental behavior in the workplace], Psico (Dossie: Psicologia Ambiental) 45(3), 350-358
• New paper: Dumitru, A., De Gregorio, E., Bonnes, M., Bonaiuto, M. Carrus, G., García-Mira, R.. & Maricchiolo, F. (2016). Low carbon energy behaviors in the workplace: A qualitative study in Italy and Spain. Energy Research & Social Science, 13, 49-59.

And finally, a reading suggestion from Chris Watson:

“Many academics are committed to sustainable practices. This includes travel practices and so they refuse to fly (except in special circumstances). Kindly bring this pledge by academics to the attention of IAPS colleagues.”

https://academicflyingblog.wordpress.com/

///News

IAPS24 conference: The deadline for submissions of papers has been extended

The next IAPS conference will be held in Lund and Alnarp in southern Sweden in 2016, from June 27 to July 1, and the deadline for submissions of papers has been extended toJanuary 5th, 2016.
To submit your contribution, or for more information, please visit the conference webpage. 

Again, before the conference, there will be the YOUNG RESEARCHERS WORKSHOP from lunch the26th of June to the afternoon the 27th of June. IAPS YRW invites PhD students of all IAPS-relevant disciplines and provides an opportunity to discuss research proposals and ongoing work with leading academics, while building networks with other PhD students in the field of people-environment studies.
Looking forward to seeing you in Lund & Alnarp next year!

An Award-winning Project of IAPS-Culture and Space Network: The Future is Not What it is used to be in Istanbul as a Palimpsest City
by Hülya Turgut (Co-Coordinator  of IAPS-CS Network)

Picture: A view from the IAPS-CS Network section in the main exhibition of 2nd. Biennial of IKSV

Under the framework of IKSV ‘Istanbul Culture and Art Foundation’ Istanbul Design Biennial, IAPS-CS ‘Culture and Space’ Network has been organizing “The National Culture and Space Meeting Series”  in Turkey since 2012. The aim of organizing these activities is mainly  to focus on architectural issues in urban context using the concept and theories on culture and environment relations based on the environment-behaviour studies. Following this, another important aim is to bring together graduate, postgraduate and PhD students and young researchers by correlating researches and theoretical works with different levels of architectural design education and also to provide a wide range discussion by organizing such an activity on the part of an independent network. At the end of the all steps, to provide symposia as a discussion milieu including all the participants is one of the most important methodological steps of the activities. Within the scope of these activities, the main aim was to analyse the “Palimpsest” [*] state of Istanbul and the discussion of urban palimpsest within a dialectic framework.

IAPS-CS Network with Maltepe University, Architecture and Design Faculty organized a series of activities entitled “The Future Is Not What It Is Used to Be in Istanbul as a Palimpsest City”, within the scope of Istanbul 2. Design Biennial Academic Program between September and December, 2014.  The  activities were a continuation of the activities that are realized within the academy program of the previous biennial. IAPS-CS Network Activities that continued during the biennial, have composed of interrelated steps such as design workshops, article anthology, student competition, exhibition/ colloquium/symposium and publication.
Following the end of the Biennale, this  very comprehensive series of events  was awarded as one of the most succesfull three projects  out of 72 projects at the Academy Platform.

[*] Palimpsest: A manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing, but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form (Oxford Dictionary).

For activities of 2014:
http://iksvakademi-iapscsbe.tumblr.com/
http://www.facebook.com/IapsCsbeNetwork

Hülya Turgut, PhD., is a Professor at Ozyegin  University, Faculty of Architecture and Design Istanbul, Turkey. Email: turguth1@gmail.com

From YOUNG RESEARCHERS: Andrea Gorrini and Raquel Diniz completed their PhD

In February 6th, 2015, Raquel Diniz completed her PhD studies at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil), defending the thesis “Significant life experiences and the formation of pro-ecological commitment”, under the supervision of Professor José Q. Pinheiro. Currently she is working as a temporary professor and as a researcher on Person-Environment Studies Group at the same institution.

Her PhD research investigated the implication of significant life experiences in the pro-ecological commitment (CPE) formation. By CPE we understand the cognitive and affective relationship that people establish with the environment, feeling responsibility for it and taking care of it. Such notion comprises a set of psychological predispositions (e.g., attitudes, beliefs, norms, values, worldviews) which, depending on situational factors, become effective in environmental care practices. Aiming to explore what people have to say in their own words about their own commitment, an interpretive approach was used, with a qualitative basis. Through thematic analysis of biographical accounts and transcripts of 29 interviews with environmentalists, it could be identified distinctions in the CPE formation process on the basis of social and environmental contexts. Some of the significant life experiences identified have been reported by other studies (e.g., contact with nature, family and friends, education, work). However, new experiences were identified, having to do with the Brazilian context, such as contact with traditional cultures (e.g., quilombolas, indigenous), religious syncretism and spirituality (e.g., shamanism, Santo Daime, Culto de Ifá), and also alternative practices (e.g., meditation, yoga), living abroad (e.g., exchange programs). Results made clear the importance of direct interaction with cultural and environmental diversity, the multivalency of “environmental emotions”, and the role of social, historical and environmental contexts in shaping the CPE. The study extends the discussion on the determinants of pro-ecological commitment, serving both the interventional field and the direction of future research.

Last 6 February 2014, Andrea Gorrini has successfully defended his Ph.D. Thesis “Empirical Studies and Computational Results of a Proxemic-based Model of Pedestrian Crowd Dynamics” at the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Milano-Bicocca (Milan, Italy). The research work was based on the empirical investigation of pedestrian crowd dynamics and proxemic behavior by using a cross-disciplinary approach (e.g. Environmental Psychology, Computer Science, Urban Studies). Thanks to the collaboration with the CSAI research center of the University of Milano-Bicocca (Milan, Italy), this was aimed at validating the computer-based simulation platform MAKKSim.

Supervisors
Prof. Stefania Bandini, Complex Systems and Artificial Intelligence research center, University of Milano-Bicocca (Milan, Italy); Prof. Katsuhiro Nishinari, Research Center for Advance Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan) & Prof. Majid Sarvi, Institute of Transport Studies, Department of Civil Engineering, Monash University (Melbourne, Australia)

Abstract
The thesis work is organized in two main parts. The first includes a review of the social science framework about crowd dynamics and proxemics, and the methodological approach. The second part consists of several empirical studies. A summary of the contents is provided as follows. Starting from the pioneering study of Gustave Le Bon (1897), the social science contributions about crowds are reviewed in Chapter 2 (Contagion-Transformation Theory, Elaborated Social Identity Model, Emergent Norm Theory, Affiliative Approach). Chapter 3 presents the Proxemic Theory, with reference to the notion of personal space and the group proxemic behavior in static and dynamic settings. Chapter 4 presents the methodological approach, as composed of: in vivo observation, in vitro experiments and in silico simulations. Chapter 5 proposed the results achieved by means of two observations performed at the Campus of the University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy) and the Vittorio Emanuele II gallery (Milan, Italy). Chapter 6 presents two experiments focused on the combined impact of turning path and grouping on pedestrian crowd dynamics and the size of pedestrian personal space. Chapter 7 presents a simulation campaign performed by using the platform MAKKSim. The results achieved have been compared with the collected empirical data for sake of model validation. The thesis ends with final remarks about the achieved results and future works towards the improvement of the computational model of MAKKSim.

/// Past conferences & meetings

Seminar on “Sustainability and time use for a forward-looking Europe” at Brussels, Belgium (November, 2015)

The GLAMURS project on Sustainable lifestyles and Green Economy is already reporting results. Last November 12th the GLAMURS consortium, in which 11 universities are involved (most of them affiliated to IAPS), organised the workshop “Sustainability and time use for a forward-looking Europe” in which a group of researchers of this consortium -Adina Dumitru and Ricardo Garcia Mira (University of A Coruña, Spain), Gary Polhill (James Hutton Institute, UK), Jaco Quist (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands), Sjak Smulders (University of Tilburg, The Netherlands), and Giuseppe Carrus (Universitá di Roma Tre, Spain) – discussed these results with directors of the Directorates of Research and Innovation, Environment and Climate from the European Commission, as well as with other representatives of civil society organizations (CSO), on the determinants of elections people do about our lifestyles. The “input” from the policy side or CSOs is critical to ensure an efficient implementation of the project results in the active policies.
The European GLAMURS project (Green Lifestyles, Alternative Models and Upscaling Regional Sustainability) aims to explore transitions to more sustainable lifestyles and greener economies in Europe. Involving a team of world-leading psychologists, economists, transition researchers and modellers from Spain, the UK, Norway, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Austria, GLAMURS is examining how existing sustainable lifestyle initiatives can be scaled up. This workshop demonstrated the latest findings from GLAMURS and seeked feedback on policy recommendations for the last phase of the project. It has been organised in three sessions:
· What makes people choose and change their lifestyles?
· Making time for sustainability
· Simulating future human scenarios
Click for more information on the project or on the workshop (programme, participants, and presentations)

SCOPE’s Seminars on ‘Healthcare Facilities and Evidence-based Design’ and ‘Intergroup contact and time-geography of segregation’ at Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL)

Last November 5, the SCOPE (Sustainable Communities, Organizations and PlacEs) thematic line, at CIS-IUL (ISCTE-IUL), Lisbon, Portugal, organized a seminar with Professor Ann Sloan Devlin (Connecticut College, US), where she presented her work on ‘Healthcare Facilities and Evidence-based Design’. A lively interdisciplinary discussion followed, including questions about how to strengthen collaborations between research and design in creating supportive healthcare environments.
Previously, on September, Professor John Dixon (Open University, UK) came to Lisbon to discuss his work on ‘The Belfast Mobility Project: Intergroup contact and the time-geography of segregation in everyday life spaces’ with CIS-IUL researchers and PhD Students.

SCOPE is a thematic line that gathers researchers interested in investigating people-environment relationships by applying socio-psychological approaches to social and societal issues related to the environment, and to citizenship and sustainability. The group’s work is characterized also by trans-disciplinary collaborations (with e.g., sociology, anthropology, architecture, biology, ICT) that allow creating new synergies between different fields. For further information and/or to join SCOPE mailing list, contact: Carla Mouro (carla.mouro@iscte.pt) and Cláudia Andrade (claudia.andrade@iscte.pt)

/// Next conferences, events, and call for papers

Conference: The 11th International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics IFKAD 2016: “Towards a New Architecture of Knowledge: Big Data, Culture and Creativity” will take place in Dresden (Germany), fromJune 15th to 17th, 2016. A special session on “Architecture under demographic change: Interdisciplinary research as a key factor to create elderly-friendly healthcare environments” will be organized by Arts of Business Institute, Technische Universität Dresden, Institute of Knowledge Asset Management and University of Basilicata. Abstracts submission deadline is 25 January 2016.

/// Research calls, jobs, studentships, etc

There are two new PhD positions in the Environmental Psychology group at the University of Groningen, with the focus on public acceptability of energy sources, systems, and policies. For more information clickhere.

/// Recent publications

• New paper: Bain, P., Milfont, T., Kashima, Y., Bilewicz, M., Doron, G., Garðarsdóttir, R. B., …, Saviolidis, N. M. (2015). Co-benefits of addressing climate change can motivate action around the world, Nature Climate Change. Advance online publication.
• New paper: Batel, S.,Devine-Wright, P., Wold, L., Egeland, H., Jacobsen, G., Aas, O. (2015). The role of (de-)essentialisation within siting conflicts: An interdisciplinary approach, Journal of Environmental Psychology, 44, 149-159.
• New paper: Castro, P., Mouro, C. (2015). ‘Imagining ourselves’ as participating publics: An example from biodiversity conservation. Public Understanding of Science, Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1177/0963662515581303
• New paper: Devlin, A. S., Andrade C.C., Carvalho, D. (2015). Qualities of inpatient hospital rooms: Patients’ perspectives. HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1177/1937586715607052

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has just published the following two reports

by Clare Twigger-Ross and her colleagues at Collingwood Environmental Planning together with colleagues from the Universities of Lancaster, Sussex and Kingston

Community resilience to climate change: an evidence review

Clare Twigger-Ross, Katya Brooks, Liza Papadopoulou, Paula Orr, Rolands Sadauskis, Alexia Coke, Neil Simcock, Andrew Stirling and Gordon Walker

The concept of community resilience to climate change in the UK has a diverse range of meanings and associated activities. This review of evidence and practice explores this varied and contested field to build the evidence base and help support the development of community resilience to climate change.The report shows the variety of actions being carried out across the UK that can be classed as improving resilience of communities to climate change; the barriers and facilitators to improving resilience to climate change for communities; the value of a framework to understand resilience of communities to climate change that emphasises existing capacities of communities, engagement and empowerment of citizens, and multi-level governance; and examples of innovative actions to improve resilience of communities to climate change with a focus on four case studies, which are further explored in a separate report.

Case studies of community resilience to climate change

Katya Brooks, Alexia Coke, Paula Orr, Rolands Sadauskis, Neil Simcock, Liza Papadopoulou, Andrew Stirling, Clare Twigger-Ross and Gordon Walker

This report presents four case studies, which focus on capacities, community engagement and governance in the context of community resilience to climate change. It is supplementary to Community resilience to climate change: an evidence review, which draws on the case studies for illustrative examples.The report shows: four case studies covering flooding, place making, energy and Transition; how resilience of communities to climate change manifests in a number of different ways;the core roles of engagement and community capital in improving resilience of communities; and the interrelationship between different capacities for resilience, e.g. between institutional and infrastructure resilience.

Click here for full reports:  https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/community-resilience-climate-change

And finally, a recipe for Mulled Wine sent by Clare Twigger-Ross

Mulled Wine is what it is called in the UK but very similar to Gluhwein from Germany and mountainous places!

Ingredients
1 bottle red wine
60g/2oz demerara sugar
1 cinnamon stick
grated nutmeg
1 orange, halved
1 dried bay leaf
60ml/2fl oz sloe or damson gin (optional)

Preparation method
1. Put the wine in a saucepan with the orange, sugar, bayleaf and the spices.
2. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Taste to see if you want the wine sweeter, and add more sugar to taste.
3. Off the heat, stir in the sloe or damson gin if you are using it.
4. Strain into heatproof glasses and serve at once.

Eat with mince pies…

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Have you noticed our new header?
Recently we have challenged IAPS members to send us new images for the newsletters’ headers. Our colleague Adriana Portella was kind to accept our request! Thanks Adriana!
Here Adriana describes in her own words the inspiration behind these images:
“As IAPS is an international association that focuses on studies that investigate how built and natural environment influence the way we feel, think, and interact with the world and vice versa, the idea for the new headers for the email newsletters addresses images of cities and natural landscapes. The propose is to explore images of cities and villages from different countries, as IAPS is an international association, allowing that members send photos to build this gallery that will represent the newsletters. The idea is something interactive, that everybody feels part of the design. I’ve added few images to our initial gallery including photographs of research trips that I did in the last years to collect data and participate of Conferences. Initially, we have images from Scotland, England, Germany, Romania, France, Belgium and Brazil. I hope you enjoy the initiative, and contribute to build this participatory gallery of research sites.”

Adriana Portella is a Professor at Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil & a Post-doc in Planning at University College London, UK; PhD in Urban Design at Oxford Brookes University, UK.
E-mail: adrianaportella@yahoo.com.br

/// News

IAPS24 conference in Sweden
The next IAPS conference will be held in Lund and Alnarp in southern Sweden in 2016, from June 27 to July 1, under the topic “The human being at home, work and leisure – Sustainable use and development of indoor and outdoor spaces in late modern everyday life”. To submit your contribution visit the conference webpage www.iaps24.se where you will find the call and instructions for submitting an abstract. Deadline for submitting abstracts is 15th December 2015. Again  there will be the YOUNG RESEARCHERS WORKSHOP. For more information, visit the conference webpage.

IAPS website redesigned
We are pleased to report that the IAPS website has been completely redesigned, and we are currently in the process of moving the content from the old website over to the new website.  Please contact Tony Craig (tony.craig@hutton.ac.uk) if you have any que

stions about the new website.

Last IAPS Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The IAPS board had its first meeting of the IAPS board after the last elections, last June, 23rd, 2015, in the city of Granada, during the Spanish Conference on Environmental Psychology, which took place in the Faculty of Psychology.

IAPS book “Urban Sustainability”
The IAPS Networks book “Urban Sustainability” was presented last July 3rd, at the Galician Association of Architects in Spain. There was an interesting discussion between architects and psychologists who created an exciting interdisciplinar space for understanding more sustainable cities. Speakers: Ricardo Garcia Mira and Adina Dumitru (Editors), Amparo Casares (author), Roberto Costas (President of the College of Architects).

/// Past conferences & meetings

Childhood and pro-environmentalism: Research lines and implications for environmental education programs, by Silvia Collado

Last June many researchers in the Environmental Psychology field gathered at the XIII Environmental Psychology Conference organised by PSICAMB (Granada, Spain). The growing interest in the study of children´s pro-environmentalism was notable within this conference, with a specific session dedicated to this topic. In addition, I had the pleasure of organizing a symposium in which researchers from 4 different universities debated about children´s pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors, suggested new lines of research and tried to establish applicability guidelines. Within this inspiring session, Camila Bolzán (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil) showed that children´s concept of nature is associated with positive feelings, and that place of residence does not seem to influence children´s conceptualization of the natural world. Pablo Olivos (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain), demonstrated the importance of considering culture when examining children´s pro-environmental identity and Angela Castrechini (Universidad de Barcelona, Spain) showed how pro-environmentalism shifts with age, finding the lowest peak during adolescence. In the fourth contribution Blanca Fraijo (Universidad de Sonora, Mexico) presented findings showing that children´s pro-sustainability orientation differs from that of adults, and stressed the need of designing instruments aimed at registering young populations’ pro-environmentalism. My conclusion was that the developmental patterns of young children’s pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours remain very important but presently underdeveloped areas for pro-environmentalism research, with many issues to be taken on.
The high attendance that the symposium had, the quality of the 4 presentations and the stimulating debate that took place during the session and afterwards show the growing interest in research on children´s pro-environmentalism. The effort put by the symposium speakers, together with the attendees, to establish research priorities and applicability guidelines is certainly a step towards advancing the research in this area. For more information about the conference, please visit this link.
by Silvia Collado (Postdoctoral researcher, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain)
E-mail: silvia.collado@uab.cat

IAPS members organize successful Kick Off Meeting of PACMEX in Mexico City

On the 7th of September 2015, several IAPS members met at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) to initiate a timely research project known as PACMEX (Percepción y Acción Comunitaria para la reducción de riesgos de desastres y adaptación al cambio climático en México).
PACMEX addresses the urban vulnerability of communities at risks and aims at delivering context centred solutions to improve planning in hazard prone settlements established along the deep gully of ‘Barranca Mixcoac’ which extends over 82,471 hectares north west of the capital.

The project is coordinated by IAPS members Dr. Patricia Ortega from the Faculty of Psychology and Dr. Nathalie Jean-Baptiste associated with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in Germany. PACMEX also combines the expertise of architects, GIS experts, sociologists and psychologists in an integrated research effort. The project not only will conduct prospective studies to assess multiple risks and vulnerabilities but will also address risk perceptions as well as attitudes to risk. The PACMEX team will attempt to search for appropriate design and technologies that can influence adaptive capacities and reduce the risk of climate changed induced hazards such as floods and landslides. Findings from PACMEX will be presented in the upcoming months.
Dr. Jean-Baptiste will work in close collaboration with PACMEX researchers as a visiting scholar at the UNAM. Her stay of 4 months sponsored by DGAPA involves conducting research at the Faculties of Architecture and Psychology as well as giving 2 keynote lectures at the University. She will also take the opportunity to strengthen activities within the IAPS Housing Network as well as the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) through a series of exchange with different experts on housing and informal settlements in the region.

PACMEX Faculty of Psychology – UNAM From left to right: Dr. Cesáreo Estrada-Rodríguez, Dra. Nathalie Jean-Baptiste, Dra. Patricia Ortega-Andeane, Lic. José Antonio Campos Gil, Mtro. Octavio Salvador-Ginez

TEAM PACMEX From left to right: Dr. Cesáreo Estrada-Rodríguez, Dra. Nathalie Jean-Baptiste, Dra. Patricia Ortega-Andeane, Dra. Gemma Verduzco-Chirino, Dr. Alejandro Marambio, Mtro. Octavio Salvador-Ginez

STEP3 –  THE THIRD SUMMER SCHOOL ON THEORIES IN ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY – Alghero (Sardinia, Italy) 29 June – 4 July 2015

Organized by CIRPA together with University of Sassari, Faculty of Architecture at Alghero (Italy) and Fondazione IFEIT (Switzerland). Director Prof. Marino Bonaiuto and Deputy Director Prof. Ferdinando Fornara. 60 participants (selected from about 80 applications) represented 19 nationalities and encompassed 37 institutions world-wide.

It featured five plenary keynote lectures (one per day) delivered by each workshop scientific leader and five workshops (held in parallel sessions in the second half of each morning and in the afternoon). Each workshop team featured 1 leader (one of the keynote speakers), 12 students, 1 CIRPA representative, 1 technical expert (from either Sassari or Cagliari University), and 1 stakeholder or group of stakeholders.
Prof. Linda Steg on “Encouraging durable pro-environmental actions”
Prof. Wesley Schultz on “A social psychological approach to conservation”
Prof. Fabio Babiloni on “To get answers without submit the questions: the use of cognitive neuroscience in industrial and environmental applications”
Dr. Cláudia Campos Andrade on “Healthcare Environments: A Closed Case for Environmental Psychology?”
Prof. Marino Bonaiuto on “Environmental psychology for biodiversity conservation and ecology education”
Both scientific and social feedback from STEP3 had been enthusiastic, from all sides: participants, stakeholders, keynote speakers, staff. A quantitative survey had been realized in order to measure in detail such a feedback and its results will be shortly reported on STEP3 website. All STEP3 info and details (including a summary video and final slide presentations from all five workshops) are available:https://sites.google.com/a/uniroma1.it/step3/ while just a brief summary can be offered here. For any further info please refer to STEP3 website or contact info@cirpa.it.

Due to the increasing success of STEP events, from the next STEP the summer school will take place every two rather than every three years. STEP4 will be organized in Dublin, at the University College (UCD), by Geertje Schuitema in 2017!

Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology (BCEP) awards young researchers

More than 300 environmental psychologists attended the Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology in August in Groningen, the Netherlands. Among the many presentations given during the conference, one highlight were the inspirational talks by Gabriel Muiñoz, Bernadette Süttelin and Geertje Schuitema.
Besides the keynotes and other interesting and inspiring presentations, 140 PhD students introduced their research in the form of a poster or a presentation to the audience, or submitted a recently published paper or PhD thesis prior to the conference. Four committees rated these posters, presentations, papers and PhD theses based on specific criteria and announced the winners after long discussions during the award ceremony at the end of the conference. Gregory Thomas from the University of Bath won the Unilever Best Dissertation Award with his dissertation “Exploring alternatives to rational choice in models of behaviour: An investigation using travel mode choice”. The article “Acting green elicits a literal warm glow” by Danny Taufik from the University of Groningen was awarded as the best paper. Heidi Bruderer Enzler from the ETH Zurich is the winner of the best presentation award and Ursula Pool from the University of Central Lancashire is the winner of the best poster award. Congratulations to the winners! For more information please visit http://bcep2015.nl/.
by The organisational team – the Environmental Psychology group at the University of Groningen

Symposium on “Health care environments: Contributions from the dialogue between Psychology and Architecture” at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte

On the last September 18th the Group of Studies Person-Environment (GEPA), at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil, promoted a session of debate on the topic: “Health care environments: contributions from the dialogue between Psychology and Architecture”.
The interdisciplinary set of presenters included PhD Cláudia Andrade (ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute), Professor Gleice Elali (Postgraduate Program in Psychology and Postgraduate Program in Architecture and Urbanism – UFRN) and Professor Luciana de Medeiros (Department of Architecture – UFRN). They discussed the interface between Psychology and Architecture with regard to health care environments, focusing on contributions from their professional and scientific practice. The audience was mostly formed by Psychology and Architecture students – undergraduate and graduate levels –, from UFRN and other local institutions. It was a wealthy opportunity for exchanging knowledge and interdisciplinary experiences between Brazilian and Portuguese scenarios. 

/// Next conferences, events, and call for papers

Study day: The 9th Study Day of INU – Italian National Institute of Urban Planning – will be mainly devoted to the “Green and Blue Infrastructures, Virtual, Cultural and Social Networks”. It will take place in Naples, Department of Architecture – University of Naples Federico II, next December, 18-19 2015.

Conference: The Portuguese conference on Health Psychology includes the topic of “Healthy and sustainable environments” (Ambientes saudáveis e sustentáveis), and will take place in Lisbon, at ISCTE-IUL, from January 26th to 29th, 2016.

/// Recent publications

Research report: Elizabeth Grant, Michael Colbung & Ian Green have recently completed a Post Occupancy evaluation on Australian children’s centres for Aboriginal children. It is the first study of its type and hence. The report is entitled ‘Architecture for Aboriginal Children and their Families: A post occupancy evaluation of the Taikurrendi, Gabmididi Manoo and Ngura Yadurirn Children and Family Centres’, and the full report is available for free on the link.

New paper: Luís, S.; Pinho, L.; Lima, M.L.; Roseta-Palma, C.; Cardoso Martins, F.; & Betâmio de Almeida, A. (2015). Is it all about awareness? The normalization of coastal risk. Journal of risk research. Advanced online publication. doi: 10.1080/13669877.2015.1042507

New paper: Benages-Albert, M., Di Masso, M., Porcel, S., Pol, E., Vall-Casas, P. (2015). Revisiting the appropriation of space in metropolitan river corridors. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42, 1-15.

New paper: Clayton, S., Devine-Wright, P., Swim, J., Bonnes, M., Steg, L., Whitmarsh, L., & Carrico, A. (2015, July 6). Expanding the Role for Psychology in Addressing Environmental Challenges. American Psychologist. Advance online publication.

New paper: Clayton, S., Devine-Wright, P., Stern P.C., Whitmarsh, L., Carrico, A., Steg, L., Swim, J., Bonnes, M.(2015). Psychological research and global climate change. Nature – Climate Change, vol.5 (July), 640-646. Online publication: 24 June 2015. doi:10.1038/NCLIMATE2622.

New book from Tomasz Malec: JEWISH ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM IN THE YEARS 1495-1815: THE JEWISH CITY IN CASIMIR, CRACOW

New book: Schools for the Future. Design Proposals from Architectural Psychology edited by Rotraut Walden, with contributions by Jeffery A. Lackney, Henry Sanoff, Simone Schalz, Rotraut Walden, Kaname Yanagisawa. Foreword by Henry Sanoff (USA) and comments by Peter Hübner (Germany) and Friedensreich Hundertwasser (New Zealand). Translation of three revised chapters by Thorbjoern Mann (Florida/USA).

Chapter: Bonnes, M. (2014). Psychologie environnementale: héritages et perspectives. In Marchand, D., Depeau, S. & Weiss, K. (Eds.), L’individu au risque de l’environnement: Regards croisés de la psychologie environnementale. Paris: Éditions In Press.

/// Call for Research Partners Dealing with Sustainability Culture, from Robert Marans

Like many other universities and corporations, the University of Michigan (U-M) is working to bring about a change in the culture of sustainability on campus. A culture of sustainability requires individuals, households, organizations, and cities 1) to understand the short term and long term consequences of climate change on humans and ecosystems, 2) to understandthe means of addressing these challenges, 3) to commit to more sustainable lifestyles, and 4) to adjust behaviors so as to effectively deal with the challenges.

But unlike other universities, U-M is unique in its efforts to measure and monitor progress in making the change.  The measuring and monitoring program is referred to as SCIP–the Sustainability Cultural Indicators Program. SCIP refers to a broad set of indicators that are being tracked annually. The indicators are derived from annual surveys of its students, faculty, and staff in order to tap their thoughts, understanding, degree of commitment, and behaviors with respect to energy reduction, waste prevention, environmental protection, and consuming healthy foods. These topics stem from the University’s broader sustainability goals dealing with climate action, waste prevention, healthy environments, and community awareness.  Furthermore, the program is examining the degree to which the built environment and sustainability outreach programs influence what people say and do.

We strongly believe efforts similar to U-M’s program aimed at bringing about cultural change and measuring and monitoring it should be replicated in other settings if the broader goal of societal change is to be accomplished. Not only would such efforts be beneficial to each university as it strives to become more sustainable, reduce it operating costs, and greenhouse gas emissions, but it could create wonderful opportunities for local teaching and cross-cultural collaborative research. Specifically, we dream of a large scale comparative environment-behavior research program dealing with sustainability culture across the globe.

If anyone is interested in sharing this dream, check out the University of Michigan website at: http://graham.umich.edu/leadership/scip or contact Robert W. Marans (marans@umich.edu) or John Callewaert (jcallew@umich.edu)

/// News

Next IAPS Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The next annual general meeting (AGM) of IAPS will be held in the city of Granada (Spain), next Wednesday, June 24th, 2015, at 17:00, during the XIII Environmental Psychology Conference organised by the PSICAMB Association. The venue for the AGM will be the Grade’s Room (Salón de Grados) at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Granada, located at the campus of La Cartuja.

IAPS Bulletin is now open access
Those interested in obtaining a copy of the IAPS bulletin 42, can connect to the IAPS website to access it online, or click here to download the pdf.

IAPS24 conference

…is underway. The next IAPS conference will be in Lund and Alnarp in southern Sweden in 2016, from June 27 to July 1, under the topic “The human being at home, work and leisure – Sustainable use and development of indoor and outdoor spaces in late modern everyday life”. The conference webpage will be launched soon (www.iaps24.se) and the contact info is info@iaps24.se.

From Young Researchers: Etienne Bailey and Sreetheran Maruthaveeran completed their PhD

Etienne Bailey has successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled: ‘Understanding local public responses to a high-voltage transmission power line proposal in South-West England: investigating the role of life-place trajectories and project-related factors’. His external examiner was Prof. Maria Lewicka of the University of Warsaw, Poland. His supervisors were Prof. Patrick Devine-Wright and Dr. Susana Batel.

His PhD employed a mixed-methods approach to investigate the role of people’s varieties of people-place relations across the life course and project-related factors (procedural and distributive justice) in shaping local residents’ views to a transmission power line proposal in South-West England.

Abstract: With a projected increase in electricity demand and low-carbon energy generation in the UK, expansion of the existing transmission grid network is required. In going beyond the NIMBY concept, Devine-Wright (2009) posited a place-based approach that highlights the roles of place attachment and place-related symbolic meanings for understanding public responses to energy infrastructure proposals.
This PhD research investigated two overarching and interrelated research aims. The first sought to enlarge our understandings of the processes of attachment and detachment to the residence place by investigating the dynamics of varieties of people-place relations across the life course (people’s ‘life-place trajectories’), thus addressing the limitation of studies adopting a ‘structural’ approach to the study of people-place relations. This research, in a second instance, sought to better understand the role of people’s life-place trajectories and a range of project-based factors (i.e. procedural and distributive justice) in shaping people’s responses to a power line proposal. This research focussed on the Hinckley Point C (HPC) transmission line proposal and residents of the town of Nailsea, South-West England.
A social representations theory framework was usefully applied to this research by acknowledging that people’s personal place relations and their beliefs about proposed place change, are situated and embedded within wider social representations of place and project. A mixed methods approach was employed comprising three empirical studies. The first consisted of twenty-five narrative interviews, the second a set of five focus group interviews, and the third a questionnaire survey study (n=264) amongst a representative sample of Nailsea residents. Triangulating findings across the three studies produced a novel set of key findings.
By elaborating five novel ‘life-place trajectories’, this PhD research moved beyond structural approaches to the study of people-place relations and made a novel contribution to our understandings of the processes and dynamics of attachment and detachment to the residence place across the life course. This research further confirmed the existing typology of people-place relations and revealed a novel variety termed ‘Traditional-active attachment’.
Life-place trajectories were instrumental in informing divergent representations of the nearby countryside which were more or less congruent with objectified representations of the HPC project. Future studies investigating place and project meanings should be sensitive to these trajectories. Interestingly, place as a ‘centre of meaning’ rather than a ‘locus of attachment’ (or non-attachment) emerged as particularly salient for understanding responses to the project.
Project-based factors were salient in informing participants’ responses toward the project. A perceived imbalance between high local costs and an absence of local benefits was seen to result in distributive injustice and opposition toward the project. However, improved perceived procedural justice following the grid developer’s announcement of siting concessions in the spring of 2013, was seen to ameliorate local trust in the developer and project acceptance.

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Last 29 May 2015, Sreetheran Maruthaveerancompleted his PhD at University of Copenhagen, with a thesis entitled “A Socio-ecological Approach of Fear of Crime in Urban Green Spaces — A Case of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia”. He works at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) as a researcher on urban green space management. Currently he is seeking for funds to pursue his postdoctoral fellowship in the field of environmental psychology particularly studies related to urban green spaces.

Supervisors
Professor Cecil C Konijnendijk van den Bosch, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Associate Professor Dr. Arne Arnberger, Institute for Landscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.

Abstract: This PhD project studies the topic of perceived fear of crime in urban green spaces in a Malaysian context. The overall aim of the PhD study has been to gain deeper understanding of how Malaysians (particularly from the capital city of Kuala Lumpur) perceive fear of crime in an urban park setting. This PhD study comprises of three main components: a systematic review of the literature, a survey at selected urban parks in Kuala Lumpur by using 12 manipulated photographs as stimulus and in-depth interview with park users and non-users. This study revealed that theories and findings from Western studies on fear of crime can be generalised to a Malaysian context, in spite of cultural and other differences. This holds important implications for the understanding of fear of crime in Malaysia and possibly also other countries. It is pertinent to further investigate the interactions of the attributes (e.g., dense vegetation, graffiti, presence of drug addicts) which evoke fear of crime in urban green spaces. Although it is important to investigate how physical / environmental aspects such as vegetation character, density and maintenance may evoke fear of crime in urban green spaces, it is important to be aware that these attribute do not as such cause fear. Rather, fear is evoked by a complex interaction of the environment with other attributes (e.g., prior information on crime, previous crime experience). Therefore, a more in-depth understanding of the cumulative effect on fear of crime in urban green spaces should be studied in future research on fear of crime in urban green spaces.

Update from IAPS Restorative Environments Network (REN), by Carlos Galan-Diaz and Sarah Payne

We wanted to take this opportunity to share with the IAPS community some of the recent activity from theREN. This year members have highlighted 22 publications they have contributed to in the last year, along with congratulations to two individuals for becoming Drs with their restoration research. Additionally, we have shared plenty of conference opportunities where research relating to restorative environments was present. There are also two current ongoing calls for special journal issues dedicated to work that includes significant restorative environments content:

Deadline: 31st July 2015
Special edition title: Therapeutic Value of Natural Environments in a Changing World
Journal: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM)
Guest Editors: Yoshifumi Miyazaki, Kalevi M. Korpela, Alan Logan, Won S. Shin, & Qing Li
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/si/370689/cfp/

Deadline: 31st October 2015
Special edition title: Green-Blue Space and Health: Advances in Methods, Technologies and Applications
Journal: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH)
Guest Editors: Jenny Roe & Agnes van den Berg
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph/special_issues/green-health

The REN community has maintained it’s presence over time and we have 197 people who have signed up for the REN newsletter (http://tinyurl.com/p5f4f3r). Our community has contributed 110 publications, and growing, to a public REN database hosted in Mendeley on restorative environments research (https://www.mendeley.com/groups/2620291/restorative-environments/papers/).  For quick dissemination in-between newsletters, we use Twitter and to date we have sent around 200 tweets about restorative environments and accumulated 118 followers (including individuals, think tanks, NGOs, publishers, other networks and learned societies).
Our network success relies on the contribution from the REN members and is a true team effort that includes Femke Beute and Kathryn Colley (dissemination), Adam Day and Kayleigh Wyles (information technology) and Kevin Thwaites (liaison link to IAPS). Most importantly, we would like to thank the iapsREN community who contribute content and who make REN the exciting network that we have grown to feel at home with. Please keep contributing and if you haven’t done so, follow us on twitter @iapsREN and sign up for our newsletter (http://eepurl.com/p1-R5).

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/// Congresses, events, and call for papers

Exhibition opening and symposium: The REBUILD BY DESIGN MUNICH exhibition opening and symposium take place in Munich, Germany, on June 17th and 18th. The event approaches disaster recovery and climate adaptation in the built environment in an interdisciplinary way by presenting and discussing core aims, facts, and terms. The aims of the exhibition and symposium are: to present current planning and design initiatives that deal with rebuilding after disaster, adaptation, and “building back better”; to illustrate international case studies that indicate why “context matters”; and to discuss the core themes of risk reduction, climate adaptation, resilience and vulnerability. More information on dates, venues and guest speakers.

Conference: The 2016 Environments for Aging (EFA) Conference will take place in Austin, from April 9th to April 12th, 2016. Call for presentations is now open.

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/// Recent publications

IAPS Bulletin 42: This issue of the IAPS Bulletin includes papers on:
– Urban green space, distribution and accessibility in Berlin, Germany (N. Kabisch)
– Sense of Place as the major variable that influences user responses in social housing states (A. Portella)
– International Orientation, Cultural Values, and Pro-environmental Attitudes: A Brief Progress Report (D. D. Kerkman)
– The mindfulness practice to foster environmentally relevant behavior (A. Panno, F. Maricchiolo, G. Carrus)
– Cartography of a festive state. The agreement of Cans (J. C. Andrade, I. C. Patiño, A. A. Blanco).

New book: Schools for the Future. Design Proposals from Architectural Psychology edited by Rotraut Walden, with contributions by Jeffery A. Lackney, Henry Sanoff, Simone Schalz, Rotraut Walden, Kaname Yanagisawa. Foreword by Henry Sanoff (USA) and comments by Peter Hübner (Germany) and Friedensreich Hundertwasser (New Zealand). Translation of three revised chapters by Thorbjoern Mann (Florida/USA).

New book: Fostering Reasonableness: Supportive Environments for Bringing Out Our Best edited by Rachel Kaplan and Avik Basu. The Reasonable Person Model (RPM) offers a simple framework for considering essential ingredients in how people, at their best, deal with one another and the resources on which we all rely. RPM is a hopeful and engaging framework that helps us understand and address a wide diversity of issues.

New paper: Rollings, K.A., Wells, N.M. & Evans, G.W. (2015). Measuring physical neighborhood quality related to health. Behavioral Science, 5, 190-202. doi: 10.3390/bs5020190

New paper: Clayton, S., Devine-Wright, P., Stern, P., Whitmarsh, L., Carrico, A., Steg, L., Swim, J., & Bonnes, M. (in press). Psychological research and global climate change. Nature Climate Change. doi:10.1038/nclimate2622
Appearing online June 24. This paper resulted from a workshop in October of 2013, funded by the Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, which also benefitted from the input of Carol Werner and Jim Taylor.

Special issue: A changing world: coping with environmental, social and economic risks / Un mundo en cambio: afrontando riesgos ambientales, sociales y económicos – edited by Fátima Bernardo, Rui Gaspar & Vivianne Visschers, and published by Psyecology, Volume 6, Issue 1, February 2015.

Today’s complex and systemic nature of risks has increasingly dissipated the traditional boundaries between risk assessment, risk perception and social coping mechanisms (Renn, 2008). Individuals and societies are now faced with multiple risks in their everyday lives that although being different in nature – environmental, social, economic, … – may demand integrated individual and social responses to cope with. For the scientific community, in particular, these challenges demand new scientific approaches for comprehensive and integrative problem solutions (Lahsen et al., 2010). With this goal in mind, this special issue aimed at providing examples of different perspectives and methodologies to investigate how people cope with various risks. This included for example: an empirical testing of the relationship between an event and coping with that event, either when faced with a stressor in the surrounding environment (e.g. rising waters in nearby villages, after a dam was built) or in anticipation of future and emerging risks (e.g. associated with the use of private vs. public transportation); the validation of an instrument to measure coping with ambient stress; the development of a conceptual framework on coping with risks, that provides an agent based model that can allow for new data analysis methods on emerging risks and crisis appraisal and coping, such as social media analysis, for example.

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/// A message from Robert Gifford for Environmental Psychologists: 2015 Global Census

Hello,
Back in 2007, one of my goals as President of the Environmental Psychology division of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) was to create a global census of environmental psychologists. The first version was created then, in 2007. It was updated in 2011, and it currently includes about 1100 people from around the world. Now it is time to update the census again, for 2015.
What is the value of this census? It is a connecting and networking tool. It is open and completely searchable. You can find others who share your interests globally, or in your country, region, or city who identify, at least in part, as an “environmental psychologist.”  Researcher? You might find potential grant partners. Student? You might find a potential supervisor. You might find interesting simply to browse.
How to join if you were not in the 2011 census
Go to this link to add your information.
Please also think of others who might not be in the census. See the Invite new people section below.
How to update your information if you were in the 2011 census
Check your entry in the census and update it if any of your information has changed. To do so, go hereand find your entry. If all of your information is still true, you are done…except please think of others who might not be in the census; see the Invite new people section below.
If some of your information has changed, you will want to update it. Unfortunately, information cannot be edited directly on that page. So, go here.
and fill in all the blanks again (sorry, I am not sure why the system requires that). If you prefer to keep any element of your information private, you may un-check that element before you submit the form.
Be careful to use the exact same form of your name. If you use a different spelling or name, two entries will be created, one under each variation of your name. The system is not smart enough, for example, to detect that Kim Smith is the same person as Kim J. Smith. If you save your information with exactly the same name, the system will over-write your 2011 entry and you will have just one, correct, 2015 entry. However, if you have changed your name since 2011, enter your new name, and send me an email (see below) and I will have your 2011 entry manually deleted.
Invite new people
Over the last four years, new people have entered the field, and perhaps not everyone who was already in the field was included in the 2011 census. Please think of others who should be in the census, such as new, current, or recent graduate students, or others who may have been missed in 2011 (you can search the census for their names). Please send such people this message, to invite them into the 2015 census.
Questions? Comments? I am here: rgifford@uvic.ca
Security concerns? Just Google me or email me to verify this information and message.

Environmentally yours,
Robert Gifford
Professor, Department of Psychology and School of Environmental Studies
University of Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

/// News

From Young Researchers: Émilie Pinard completed her PhD

Last December, Emilie completed her PhD at Université Laval, Canada, with a thesis entitled “Building its future”: Housing production and the transformation of gender relations in Pikine, Senegal. She is currently pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg. She is working on the development of embedded solutions to support local housing production, through a research by design project in Maputo, Mozambique.

“Building its future”: Housing production and the transformation of gender relations in Pikine, Senegal
Université Laval, Canada
Dir. Denise Piché
Co-dir. Marie France Labrecque

Abstract: This thesis examines informal housing production and its contribution to the empowerment of Senegalese women. It documents the everyday practices, norms and social relationships involved in the construction of houses “from below”, through a detailed analysis of women owners and their houses in four unplanned neighbourhoods of Pikine, in the periphery of Dakar. Considering housing as a dynamic and multidimensional process, this study sheds light on people’s interactions over resource transactions and space, while paying attention to negotiations and inequalities associated with these processes and their consequences for daily life in the city. It describes the strategies through which women owners produce their house and secure a place for themselves and their family in the urban agglomeration, and the spatial and social consequences of these processes. In-depth interviews and life stories with women owners and their families were conducted in combination with architectural surveys of their houses, interviews with key actors involved in land subdivision and housing production, and surveys on land transaction and housing conditions. The thesis shows that women need to draw on a wide range of networks to access resources and at the same time continually negotiate and protect the space of opportunity they have created for themselves; in doing so, they resist and transform social and spatial norms. These results question the usual interpretation according to which obtaining a finished house is the main objective of house construction: for women, the production process itself represents a path towards greater security, but also towards an array of new social and economic possibilities, that are often more significant than the (sometimes never reached) final result.
The thesis is available (French version).

Most downloaded paper
“Personality predicts perceived potential for attention restoration of natural and urban scenes“, published in Psyecology by Gary Felsten, was among the most downloaded articles published in Routledge Behavioral Sciences journals in 2014. The collection features the top three most downloaded articles that were published and downloaded in 2014 in each Routledge Behavioral Sciences journal.
This and other articles will be freely available until the 30th June via the collection homepage here: http://bit.ly/behavioral-sciences-most-read

IAPS 24 has a new logo
IAPS 24 in Sweden, the 24th Conference of the International Association for People and Environmental Studies, will be held in Lund / Alnarp in the south of Sweden between the 27th of June and the 1st of July, 2016, under the topic “The human being at home, work and leisure – Sustainable use and development of indoor and outdoor spaces in late modern everyday life“.

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/// Congresses, events, and call for papers

Conference: The British Environmental Psychology Society will be holding a two day conference on 15-16 June 2015 at The University of Sheffield, UK. The theme this year is environmentally sustainable lifestyles. For further information please email info.breps@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @Br_EPS

Thematic panel call: We invite the submission of proposals for the thematic panel Memory and resistance in place (re)construction that we intend to convene at the II Simposium Internacional EDiSo 2015 – Discourses and Societies on the move Coimbra, June 18‐20, 2015. The proposals can be submitted in any language until March 15, following the instructions.
Coordinators: Carla Mouro & Eunice Seixas (Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social (CIS) – ISCTE-IUL). Please contact us for any clarification at carla.mouro@iscte.pt or ecdnc@iscte.pt

PhD Meeting: All MA and PhD students in psychology are cordially invited to submit their original research in the diverse fields of social and environmental psychology. PhD students will be given the opportunity for oral presentation and discussion of their work with a senior researcher. The XI PhD meeting will be held at Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) on May 28th and 29th, 2015. The deadline for Abstract Submission is 30th March, 2015.

Summer School: The 2015 STEP3 (3rd summer school on theories in environmental psychology) will be on the Sardinia island, Italy, from June the 29th to July the 4th, 2015. Applicants are invited to apply for participation following the instructions directly at STEP3 website.

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/// Recent publications

• New paper: Kelz, C., & Roederer, K. (2014). Adolescents’ memorized drawings of their window views as a measure of exposure to nature – a pilot study in a rural area. Zeitschrift Umweltpsychologie: Aneignung, Teilhabe, Wohlbefinden – städtische Räume und ihre Nutzung.
• Video-animated e-book: Vital: Using the Weather to Bring Buildings and Sustainability to Life(iBookstore) by Kevin Nute (Professor of architecture at the University of Oregon)The weather is often considered an adversary in building design. Kevin Nute’s new video-animated iBook, Vital, shows how its movement can be brought indoors without undermining shelter in order to improve the well-being and performance of building occupants while drawing attention to underused sustainable living practices. Vital is available from the iBookstore.
• New paper: Andrade, C.C. & Devlin, A.S. (2015). Stress reduction in the hospital room: Applying Ulrich’s theory of supportive design. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 41, 125-134.
• New paper: Andrade, C.C., Morais, R., Lima, M.L., Bernardes, S., Devlin, A.S. (2014). The physical environment of medical settings: a space for patient-centered care. Transcultural, 1 (VI), 157-168.
• New paper: Lima, M. L. & Marques, S. (2014). Healthy (and not so healthy) spaces – the importance of psycho-social variables. Transcultural, 1 (VI).
• New book: García-Mira, R. & Dumitru, A. (2014). Urban Sustainability: Innovative Spaces, Vulnerabilities and Opportunities. A Coruña, Spain: Deputación Provincial de A Coruña and IEIP. [a full free copy is downloadable from the author’s site in Academia.edu].
• New paper: García-Mira, R. and Dumitru, A. (2014). Experiencing the urban space. A cognitive mapping approach. Journal of the Korean Housing Association, 25(2), 63-70.
• New paper: Alvarez, P.; Vega, P. & García-Mira, R. (2014). Sustainable consumption: a teaching intervention in higher education. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 15(1), 3-15.

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/// Summary of a new book

The Life Space of the Urban Child: Perspectives on Martha Muchow’s Classic Study
Edited by Günter Mey and Hartmut Günther, with a Foreword by Jaan Valsiner
Published by Transaction Publisher, New Brunswick, NJ, USA, 328 pages
http://www.transactionpub.com/title/The-Life-Space-of-the-Urban-Child-978-1-4128-5491-7.html

Günter Mey  and Hartmut Günther

Why publish a book in English that was published nearly 80 years ago in Germany? In the editors’ view, The Life Space of the Urban Child, based on research conducted by Martha Muchow is a milestone in urban childhood studies. Martha Muchow had obtained her doctorate under the guidance of the renowned psychologist William Stern in – and continued as a lecturer at the recently created University of Hamburg and its Institute of Psychology.
It is a classic that remains relevant to current work and discussions in the broader field of childhood research, with implications for developmental and environmental psychology as well as pedagogy and social sciences in general.
At the time of the research in the late 1920ies and early 1930ies, the studies subsequently published under the title Der Lebensraum des Großstadtkindes in 1935 provided a fresh look at children as actors and at how they appropriate their city environments. Under this perspective Martha Muchow conducted studies of children in their environments that combined time samples of behaviors, (unobtrusive) observations, cartographies, essays and interviews. Today, this amalgamation of this variety of methods and their results are called multi method approach, at the time, the individual methods, let alone their intertwining were truly novel, and, no doubt, continues to inspire researchers today. Equally important are the advanced theoretical base – phenomenology and the object of study – children in their national environment. Reason enough to conclude that the Life Space study was and continues a jewel.
Furthermore, the history of the book is interesting in and of itself. Martha Muchow and her students conducted the research in the 1920s and early 1930s in Barmbek, a district of the city of Hamburg. In 1935, her brother, Hans Heinrich Muchow, published after Martha Muchow had committed suicide in 1933, while under severe pressure by the Nazi Regime. Similar to other relevant research projects undertaken at that time in Germany, the book was forgotten until Jürgen Zinnecker, rediscovered the book and provided a reprint in 1978. This first reprint, to be followed by several others in German, put scientists from different disciplines in touch with this unique work. It has since become a success story in Germany, though, curiously, it provoked less interest in developmental psychology as compared with environmental psychology, and, especially in pedagogy and social science research on childhood.
International recognition of this study has been limited due to being available only in the German. In 1983 Joachim F. Wohlwill organized a symposium at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development during which developmental and environmental psychologists like Phil Schoggen, Seymour Wapner, and Alexander Siegel honored Martha Muchow and discussed the Life Space study (Wohlwill, 1985). The only other reference to this study had appeared in a text book on developmental psychology by Heinz Werner (1948), who had worked with William Stern and Martha Muchow at the Hamburg Laboratory before he emigrated to the USA in1933.
Given the history and theoretical and methodological importance of the study itself, the editors presented a broader perspective. Besides the translation of the study itself, the book includes contributions discussing the history of the Muchow’s study, considerations regarding the theoretical base and empirical results, its methodological approaches and assumptions, and suggestions for further research.

History
Three chapters provide the historical background for the Life Space study. Imbke Behnken and Jürgen Zinnecker trace the story about how the study was lost to science and then re-encountered by Jürgen Zinnecker. They contextualize the study first to the time of its writing in the 1920s and 30s in Hamburg, then to the time of its rediscovery in the 1970s, and offers an intimate portrayal of the scientist, Martha Muchow.
Kurt Kreppner places the study and other works by Martha Muchow into the context of the Psychological Laboratory at the University of Hamburg, in the years after World War One to the beginning of the Nazi regime. He outlines the influence of Muchow’s two main teachers, William Stern and Heinz Werner, and narrates Muchow’s commitment to her research and interest in studying their ecological conditions.
Elfriede Billmann-Macheha’s chapter concludes the historical treatment of Martha Muchow’s Life Space study by describing the origins of research on children and youth beginning at that time. She points out the uniqueness of Muchow’s study by contrasting it with the research of others at the time, especially of Kurt Lewin, Siegfried Bernfeld, and Hildegard Jüngst.

Theory
The translation is followed with considerations by Hartmut Günther, which include both reflections on his role as translator of a scientific text, as well as his particular perspective as an environmental psychologist.
James Lamiell shows how Martha Muchow, as a student and close collaborator of William Stern, based her study and work on her teacher’s approach, i.e., “critical personalism” and “play as focal activity in personalistic investigations.”
Lauri Linask, Riien Magnus, and Kalevi Kull demonstrate the strong connection between Stern’s Psychological and the Uexküll’s Biological Institutes at the University of Hamburg during the 1920s together with the possible impact of Jacob von Uexküll’s concept of Umwelt and ecology on the Life Space study.
Peter Faulstich and Hannelore Faulstich-Wieland develop another important theoretical link to Husserl and phenomenology, a concept was important to Martha Muchow’s thinking when she was preparing her doctoral dissertation and other publications at the time of the Life Space study.

Perspective
The chapters of the concluding section demonstrate multiple interfaces with research inspired by the Life Space study.
Urs Fuhrer focuses on aspects of the relationship between the physical environment and children’s development and establishes a link to Roger Barker’s theory of behavior settings.
Through the lens of qualitative research, Günter Mey discusses the methodological innovations provided by Martha Muchow’s use of observation, writing protocols as “thick descriptions,” drawing cartographies to understand the home range of the children, and essay writing.
Beatrice Hungerland establishes connections with the so called “new childhood studies.” The two concluding chapters by Gerold Scholz and Kristin Westphal respectively, provide examples of possible transformations based on Muchow’s studies. Both deal with spaces that were not included in her research: educational environments and spatial experiences in virtual worlds.
Thus, considering the variety of perspectives presented in the chapters that frame the translation of the Life Space study, the editors hope that this book not only provides access for an English reading audience of a set of pioneering studies undertaken nearly a hundred years ago, but that multiple fields of study are made aware of their (sometimes forgotten) roots, and inspire interdisciplinary research in favor of children in urban and other environments.

References
Werner, H. (1948). Comparative psychology of mental developmental (rev. ed., 4th printing). New York: International Universities Press.
Wohlwill, J. F. (1985). Martha Muchow, 1892-1933: Her life, work, and contributions to developmental and ecological psychology. Human Development, 28, 198-224.

Günter Mey is professor of developmental psychology at the University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal, Germany, and he is also director of the Institute of Qualitative Research at International Academy Berlin, Germany. He has edited the volume “Children, cities and psychological theories. Developing relationships” and he is the director of a new video documentation about Martha Muchow.
Hartmut Günther is professor of environmental psychology at the University of Brasília, and, currently, Director of the Institute of Psychology. His research interests include quality of urban life and mobility.

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Honoring Victoria Henshaw

On behalf of the IAPS Board, it is with enormous sadness that we announce the passing of Dr Victoria Henshaw on 13th October at age 43 after a period of illness.
Victoria had established a growing international reputation for her expertise in the sensory aspects of urban experience, in particular through her pioneering work on the ‘smellscapes’ of cities. Her book Urban Smellscapes (2013) aimed to highlight that this element of urban experience has in recent years become crucially overlooked by architects, planners and urban design professionals involved in shaping our urban environments. Her doctoral research involved undertaking ‘smellwalks’ with a range of built environment professionals in order to emphasise and promote a more proactive approach to odour in city design and management. Victoria came into academic work from a background in city management which lent her research work a strong practical focus aimed at bridging the separation of the academic and professional worlds. Having worked as a research associate at the University of Manchester from 2011-13, she joined the University of Sheffield in 2013 as a lecturer in urban design and planning. Her infectious enthusiasm in pursuit of her passion attracted the attention of media commentators as well as international academic audiences.
Victoria was an active IAPS member and contributor. Along with Dr Sarah Payne, she jointly convened the symposium ‘Sensory Interactions in the City: experiences and design’ at the 2012 IAPS conference in Glasgow. More recently, Victoria and I proposed the latest addition to the IAPS portfolio of networks, ‘Sensory Environments’, accepted by the IAPS Board of Trustees in June 2014 at the conference in Timisoara, Romania. The Sensory Environments network was very much Victoria’s initiative and represented the latest achievement of many in her all too short academic career with the intention for it to become a platform within IAPS from which to build on the considerable international reach of her collaborations.  One of the significant characteristics of this network was to be its capacity to forge productive relationships across the existing IAPS networks, as well as outside the organisation. We are very hopeful that we can find a way to continue with the network as a tribute to the vision and creativity that Victoria brought to the development of her work and to provide a place where her colleagues and others with similar interests might continue to focus their shared ideas and collaborative potential.

Kevin Thwaites
Ricardo Garcia Mira

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From Young Researchers…

Three wonderful news from IAPS young researchers.
Silvia Collado (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona) has been awarded a prize for her work on children’s contact with nature and its effects on pro-environmentalism. Sean Manzi (University of Exeter Medical School) who participated in the last edition of the YRW, has finished his PhD with a thesis focused on understanding health and social care waste management. Raquel Bertoldo has also recently defended her PhD, with a thesis on the social valorisation of pro-environmentalism framed by formal norms. Congratulations to all of them!
Please read more below.

Silvia Collado (postdoctoral researcher at Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain) has been awarded with the first prize for young researchers given by the Spanish Scientific Society of Social Psychology (SCEPS). This is the first time SCEPS calls for this award, for which the candidates had to present a paper published from their Ph.D dissertation in a journal with international impact. Silvia’s dissertation (June, 2012), supervised by Dr. Corraliza and Dr. Staats, evaluated children’s contact with nature and the effects that this has on their wellbeing as well as on their pro-environmentalism. She has continued this line of research during her time as a postdoctoral researcher. Silvia’s work entitled “Experiencing nature in children’s summer camps: Affective, cognitive and behavioural consequences”, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology together with her Ph.D supervisors, got the highest score in this competitive contest, in which many researchers from different areas in Social Psychology participated. In the awards ceremony, which took place at the XII Social Psychology Conference in Spain, Dr. Collado expressed her gratitude both to the SCEPS and her Ph.D supervisors. However, she also claimed to be quite worried about her future as a researcher in Spain, and confessed that she’s looking for job opportunities abroad. Acknowledging that the award is a great work recognition, she felt that more should be done to keep talented youngsters doing research in Spain. To read more about Dr. Collado’s work, visit her Linkedin webpage.

On the 28th November 2014 Sean Manzi successfully passed his viva voce at Plymouth University. The title of the thesis was “Understanding health and social care waste management behaviour: A mixed methods study and theoretical framework”. Part of this work was presented at the IAPS2014 conference young researchers workshop in Timisoara. Sean reflected that the discussion and advice during the young researchers workshop aided him in the successful completion of his thesis.
Since the PhD was submitted Sean has taken up an associate research fellow position with the University of Exeter Medical school where he is working as part of the PenCHORD research group. PenCHORD uses operational research methods to understand and improve healthcare services (http://clahrc-peninsula.nihr.ac.uk/penchord.php). The research he is now doing seeks to understand and improve the relationship between people and the healthcare systems in which they operate.
Sean said that he looks forward to being able to share his experiences and research with the IAPS members at forthcoming symposia and conferences.
Read more  about Sean Manzi’s work in his ResearchGate profile.

Picture: Helder Alves, Raquel Bertoldo, Cícero Pereira, Paula Castro, Margarida Garrido, Jorge Vala, Themis Apostolidis

Another YR has recently defended her PhD! On the 13th October 2014 Raquel Bertoldo defended the thesis entitled “The Social Valorisation of Pro-environmentalism Framed by Formal Norms: A Comparative Psychosocial Analysis between Brazil and Portugal” at the Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL), under the supervision of Dr. Paula Castro. This work was particularly interested in analysing how the social changes motivated by formal norms (e.g. environmental legal changes) also have, in these two different countries, changed the way people value pro-environmentalism in a more immediate, and socially meaningful, informal universe.
Since then she has integrated Social Psychology Laboratory (LPS) of the Aix-Marseille Université (AMU) as assistant professor, from where she also collaborates with projects related with climate change scepticism and also about the need for climate change adaptation.

Robert Sposato is now managing our Facebook page, together with Cláudia Andrade. He is an environmental psychologist, interested in individuals’ perceptions of climate change and their responses to it, and he got his master’s degree from the University of Vienna. He loves anything that has to do with aquatic environments, and he is also also very interested in woodworking, still contemplating taking a new career path into carpentry. He likes to move, eat well and I enjoy diverse cultural experiences. The receipt of this newsletter was kindly sent by Robert!

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Already happened…

…The Environmental Psychology at the XII National Congress of Social Psychology

Building bridges between environmental anthropology and psychology
text sent by Pablo Olivos Jara*

I was invited to talk in this newsletter of IAPS about a symposium that I coordinated last November in the XII National Congress of Social Psychology placed in Sevilla. But, first of all, I’d like to locate this academic activity, because environmental psychology confirmed their position in the national social psychology.
This congress was the first organized by the Spanish Scientific Society of Social Psychology (SCEPS, www.sceps.es), after 5 years of recess of the union. It was a wonderful experience to rediscover the old and the new Spanish social psychology and an opportunity to share experiences, results and affections. And the environmental psychology occupied a special place. Silvia Collado got a young scientific award from SCEPS from her research with children recently published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. Furthermore, were presented several posters, oral presentations, a thematic session, and two symposiums. In the thematic session were presented works about public space, residential personalization, emotions, and impact of economic crisis on environmental concern. One of the symposiums was organized by Juan Ignacio Aragonés (president of PSICAMB) about climate change. The other one, which I had the honour to coordinate, aimed to connect some results from environmental psychology research with environmental anthropology analysis.
In this symposium, entitled “Mother Nature: she teaches us, care of us and punishes us”, were presented four works, from different countries. Beatriz Felipe (“Mother Nature teaches us: connectedness, emotion, and meaning of nature in children under 6 years”, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain) presented results which suggest how the first experiences of contact with nature shape our notion of environment. Ana Loureiro (“Relationship with Nature and Wellness in the Campo Grande Garden – Lisbon”, Lusófona University, Portugal) presented results about contact with an urban nature environment, noting positive and significant relations between well-being, perception of harmony with nature, and connectedness with nature, particularly after short walks in the urban park. The work presented by Oscar Navarro (“Perception of natural hazard by type of exposure. The case of flooding”, University of Nantes, France) showed how high exposition to a catastrophe is related to fear to impact and personal implication to act. Finally, Juan Ignacio Aragonés (“Connectedness with nature, a variable to debate”, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain) raised a discussion about the concept of connectedness with nature and its implications to study environmental concern and planning environmental education.
All of these results could be discussed under the framework of anthropological categories of analysis about our relation with environment. The study about how the constructions of our social identities, as the production of psychological concepts, are built on concepts of self and nature lack of an epistemological and sociocultural consideration. For example, we had developed positive concepts of connectedness with nature under the biophilia hypothesis, as a result of the proliferation of a limited perspective on positive psychology, which exclude the idea of a biophobic relation with some aspects of our near nature, important for survival, as fear to protect us against wild animals or catastrophes. Another example could be our definitions of environmental behaviour or perception of risk, developed in a society which sold sustainability in green boxes in supermarkets, and individual insurances for global effects produced by collective actions.
I was positively surprised to notice that other social psychology colleagues expose the same critical approach we use to address environmental subjects in this symposium.
I hope to have the opportunity to continuous this discussion in the XIII Environmental Psychology Conference (www.congresopsicamb2015.com), which will take place in Granada next June 23-26 of 2015.

* Department of Psychology, School of Labor Relations & Human Resources. University of Castilla-La Mancha. Pza. de la Universidad 1. CP. 02071. Albacete, Spain. pablo.olivos@uclm.es; https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Pablo_Olivos

Picture 1: Pablo Olivos, Ana Loureiro, Beatriz Felipe, Oscar Navarro, Juan Inacio Aragonés

Picture 2: Juan Ignacio Aragones, Pablo Olivos, Sergi Valera, Ana Loureiro, Silvia Collado, Lucía Poggio Lagares, Enric Pol, Jose Antonio Corraliza, Beatriz Felipe, Luisa Lima, Oscar Navarro

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Disseminating IAPS

… In Latin America – Supporting research activities organized by our members

Picture: Enrique Teófilo Saforcada, Sheila Gonçalves Câmara, Raquel Souza Lobo Guzzo, and Ricardo García-Mira

Last September, the President of IAPS, professor Ricardo Garcia-Mira was invited to participate as a keynote speaker in the 5th International Conference on Community Psychology, which was held in Fortaleza, Brazil, under the auspices of the Federal University of Cearà and the University of Fortaleza. One of our IAPS members, Zulmira Bonfim, was involved in the organization as Coordinator of the Scientific  Committee, and the result was an excellent conference on “Community psychology in the current world: challenges, limits and practices”. Professor Garcia-Mira talked about sustainability as a social and political challenge, and he underlined the need for more connections between research, innovation and environmental policy.

Picture: Bernardo Jiménez, Ricardo García-Mira and David Stea

Also in September, Garcia Mira participated in the International Conference on Urban Planning and the Environment, organized by the University of Guadalajara (Mexico) with the opening lecture ”City and Sustainability: Vulnerabilities and Opportunities for Innovation and Well-being”. It was a chance for meeting well known environmental psychologists and other IAPS members participating in this event, like Professor David Stea (member of our Hall of Fame!) and Professor Bernardo Jiménez (University of Guadalajara).

… In Asia – Supporting people-environment activities

Picture: Andrew Seidel, Seungkwang Shon and Ricardo García-Mira at the University of Yonsey (South Korea)

Professor García-Mira and Professor Seungkwang Shon met at the Yonsey University in Seoul, where they participated in the International Conference on “Symbiotic Life, Science and Technology”, held in Seoul last October. Professor García-Mira talked about the barriers to communication between research and policy, as well as about the last developments in Europe on sustainablity and social innovation. In the picture, García-Mira and Shon together with an old and well known IAPS board member, Andrew Seidel, who was also invited to participate in this conference.

Picture: The President of IAPS receiving a Plaque of Appreciation from the General Chair of the Conference, Professor Yeunsook Lee (Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea)

… Cooperating with the European Commission in building research agendas

Picture: Professor García-Mira addressing his speech to EC officers and other academics

IAPS was also present at the II Conference on “Renaturing Cities: Research and Innovation Policy Priorities for Systemic Urban Governance”, held in Milan (Italy) on the 1st and 2nd of December 2014 and organized by the European Commission (EC), under the auspicious of the Italian Presidency of the European Council. We were invited to participate by the Commission and Ricardo García-Mira held a lecture on “Transforming cities: the quest for sustainable lifestyles, urban innovation and safer communities”, and we had the chance of presenting part of the research work some of us are carrying out.
IAPS is now known as an international association which groups a body of experts on these issues and other people-environment themes of research. With the collaboration of other IAPS members, like Marino Bonaiuto, Adina Dumitru, and Nadja Kabisch, we collaborated intensively with the Commission in preparing this conference and made significant advances in the incorporation of human behavior aspects in the quest for urban transformation in future EU research agendas.

Congresses, events, and call for papers

XIII Environmental Psychology Conference

The Association of Environmental Psychology (PSICAMB) invites you to participate in the XIII Environmental Psychology Conference in Granada (Spain) next June 2015, 23-26.
Call for papers and more information here.

11th Biennial Conference of Environmental Psychology

The 11th Biennial Conference on Environmental Psychology taking place from the 24th to the 26th of August 2015 in Groningen, The Netherlands. The conference is hosted by the Environmental Psychology group of the University of Groningen.
Call for papers and more information here.

1st International Conference on Amphibious Architecture, Design and Construction

The 1st International Conference on Amphibious Architecture, Design and Construction (ICAADE 2015) will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 26-29, 2015.
Call for papers and more information here.

5th International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Emotional Geographies

The 5th International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Emotional Geographies will be held at The University of Edinburgh, Scotland, on 10-12 June 2015.
Call for papers and more information here.

2015 American Psychological Association (APA) Convention

APA seeks proposals for individual presentations and sessions for the 2015 Annual Convention taking place Aug. 6-9, 2015, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Division 34 – Society for Environmental Population and Conservation Psychology (SEPCP) – Call for Proposals
More information here.

EDRA46LosAngeles

The Environmental Design Research Association
46th Annual Conference will take place May 27-30, 2015 at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles, California.
Call for papers and more information here

2015 Asia-Pacific Network for Housing Research (APNHR) Conference on “Housing 2.0: Search for New Paradigms for Collaborative Housing“

This conference, organized by The Korean Housing Association (KHA), which will be held in Gwangiu, Korea, next 9-11 April 2015.
Call for papers and more information here

Recent publications by IAPS members

Children and the Environment in an Australian Indigenous Community: A Psychological Approach

By Angela Kreutz

Brief Description: Aboriginal children represent one of the fastest growing population segments in Australia, yet the lives of Aboriginal children in their environment has rarely been subjected to systematic and in-depth study. In this book, Angela Kreutz considers the relationship between the environment, attachment and development in indigenous children, examining theoretical constructs and conceptual models by empirically road testing these ideas within a distinct cultural community.
The book presents the first empirical study on Australian Aboriginal children’s lives from within the field of child-environment studies, employing an environmental psychology perspective, combined with architectural and anthropological understandings. Chapters offer valuable insights into participatory planning and design solutions concerning Aboriginal children in their distinct community environment, and the cross-cultural character of the case study illuminates the commonalities of child development, as well as recognising the uniqueness that stems from specific histories in specific places.
Children and the Environment in an Australian Indigenous Community makes significant theoretical, methodological and practical contributions to the international cross disciplinary field of child-environment studies. It will be of key interest to researchers from the fields of environmental, ecological, developmental and social psychology, as well as anthropologists, sociologists, and those studying the environment and planning.
Contents: Introduction Part 1: A Matter of Perspective 1.‘Come This Way’: Research with Children. 2. ‘That’s My Home’: Historical and Contemporary Insights Part 2: Children and Place 3. ‘I Go Everywhere’: Children’s Spatial Activity 4. ‘Playing Around’: Affordances of Place 5. ‘A Deadly Place’: Place Attachment and Aversions Part 3: Design Possibility 6. ‘No One Swims There Anymore’: Lack of child-environment congruence 7. ‘See The Future’: Design Recommendations.
More information here.

Architecture Beyond Criticism: Expert Judgment and Performance Evaluation

Edited by Wolfgang F. E. Preiser, Aaron Davis, Ashraf M. Salama, Andrea Hardy

• Contributions from international architects and critics based in the UK, USA, Brazil, France, Qatar, Egypt, New Zealand, China, Japan and Germany
• Global case studies which illustrate both perspectives addressed by the book and comparative analyses of the findings
• A six part organization which includes introductions and conclusions from the editors, to help guide the reader and further illuminate the contributions.

Request for meta-analysis

Dear colleagues,
With the goal of improving our knowledge about induced hypocrisy, we (Daniel Priolo, Nice University; Audrey Pelt, Lorraine University; Roxane Saint-Bauzel, Lorraine University; Lolita Rubens, Paris-Est University ; Dimitri Voisin, Reims University ; and Valérie Fointiat, Lorraine University) aim at composing a reviewing meta-analysis of the field.
Our review will focus on empirical evaluations of process and outcome of induced hypocrisy on attitudes, intentions, behaviors and psychological discomfort. Moreover, we will study issues related to the necessary conditions to give rise to cognitive dissonance and the possible moderators of these effects.
We are especially interested in unpublished (but also published) empirical work that may not come up in a digital literature search. We will greatly appreciate if you bring our attention to relevant references or send copies of the papers to daniel.priolo@unice.fr
If you are not sure whether our vague inclusion criteria apply to your studies, please go ahead and send them anyway. Please forward this message to other colleagues in the field.
For questions, remarks, or interest in our review results feel free to contact daniel.priolo@unice.fr
Thank you very much for your time and support.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Priolo
Audrey Pelt
Roxane Saint-Bauzel
Lolita Rubens
Dimitri Voisin
Valérie Fointiat

Research calls, jobs, studentships, etc

Please let us know if you have any other related calls/ jobs/ scholarships to advertise in the next newsletter.

Two Research Associates at Cardiff University

Research Associate 1 (Qualitative Researcher: ref 2867BR):
This is a full-time postdoctoral position for 42 months working on a major EPSRC funded project at Cardiff in collaboration with the UK INDEMAND End Use Energy Demand Centre. The project investigates how the UK public will view new proposals for reducing the use of energy across society by changing the way we interact with and use the various materials embedded in consumer products and the built infrastructure. The successful applicant will have strong abilities in and familiarity with a range of qualitative social sciences research methods, and the post would particularly suit an individual with prior expertise in science and technology studies (particularly energy demand technologies), the social sciences of the built environment, qualitative environmental psychology, or human geography.

Research Associate 2 (Quantitative Survey Researcher: Ref 2866BR):
This is a full time postdoctoral position for 30 months to make a significant intellectual and analytic contribution to an ongoing programme of UK and European survey work funded by ESRC and EPSRC investigating varied aspects of public perceptions of climate change and energy transitions. The applicant will have to demonstrate strong abilities in, and a familiarity with, a range of quantitative social sciences research methods and especially survey and multivariate methods. The post would particularly suit an individual with prior research expertise in public perceptions of the environment and energy systems, environmental risk perception and communication, environmental psychology, or quantitative public understandings of science.
Salary Range for both Posts: £31,342 – £37,394 pro rata
Closing date: Monday 5th January 2014
For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Nick Pidgeon, School of Psychology Cardiff University +44 (0)29 2087 4567, or PidgeonN@cardiff.ac.uk
For further detail of both posts visit http://psych.cf.ac.uk/aboutus/jobs.html and Click On ‘Search for Your Next Job’
The posts are available from 1st February 2015, or as soon as possible thereafter.
Closing date: Monday 5th January 2015
Proposed interview dates: 19th and 20th January 2015

PhD studentship at Cardiff University

Cardiff University’s Schools of Planning & Geography and Psychology invite applications for an ESRC-funded PhD studentship on ‘What space for place in Wales? Bridging risk perceptions and policy priorities in the spatial governance of climate adaptation’. The award is available on a +3 basis, which provides funding for the three years only, and assumes that the applicant will already have had research training from an ESRC Research Training recognised MSc degree.

The research will address three main research questions:
i)     How do perceptions of climate change risk and adaptation differ according to different levels of society and political governance – from individual citizens, through local government and LSBs, to elected politicians?
ii)   What available multi-spatial intervention pathways (formally and informally) are there for integrating and addressing climate change adaptation at the Local Service Boards?
iii) What are the main risk to LSB’s and what has or has not worked for coproduction in dealing with the shared risks?

The studentship will adopt a mixed-methods approach to address this interdisciplinary (psychology, geography, political science) topic. A quantitative survey to LSB members, councillors, AMs, WG officials, Voluntary and Community Sector organisations  and a sample of the Welsh public will examine climate change risk and adaptation perceptions, and evaluate the efficacy and representativeness of LSBs. Follow-up semi-structured interviews with a sub-sample of these groups will further explore experiences and identify examples of adaptation good practice.
The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to work with Welsh Government for a nominal period of time during the PhD in developing relevant policy related to their research.
Funding and Eligibility: The studentship covers UK/EU fees plus a maintenance stipend matching the Research Council minimum (approximately £13,863), plus a further grant of approximately £1,875.
Academic Criteria: Applicants must have a 1st or upper 2nd class degree, or a Masters degree, in a relevant subject.
Residency: Full awards (fees plus maintenance stipend) are open to UK Nationals, and EU students who can satisfy UK residency requirements. To be eligible for the full award, EU Nationals must have been in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the course for which they are seeking funding, including for the purposes of full-time education. EU Nationals who do not meet the above residency requirement are eligible for a fees-only award, provided that they have been ordinarily resident in the EU for at least 3 years prior to the start of their proposed programme of study.
Further Information: For further information please contact Dr Andrew Kythreotis: KythreotisA@cf.ac.uk or Dr Lorraine Whitmarsh: WhitmarshLE@cardiff.ac.uk
How to Apply: Applications should be made including a covering letter, a 1,000 word research proposal, a CV and the names of two academic referees. The research proposal should be structured under the following headings:

• aims and purpose of the research
• overview of the academic literature relevant to your field
• proposed methodology
• academic contributions of your research

Applications for the studentship should be submitted by email to Sian Moseley (MoseleySE@Cardiff.ac.uk). All applicants will also need to submit a University online application form for PhD study by the same application deadline via www.sims.cf.ac.uk
Application Deadline: Friday 9th January 2015

Assistant, Associate or Full Professor Position at Cornell University

2 Tenure Track Positions, 50% teaching, 50% research
Department of Design and Environmental Analysis
College of Human Ecology, Cornell University

Design and Environmental Analysis combines innovative design thinking with insightful design research to understand how the built environment impacts our daily lives. Through multi-disciplinary education in human-centered design, environmental psychology, ergonomics, and facility strategy and management, we tackle problems from a systems view – people, process, and place – to create strategic, sustainable, and healthy futures by design. The Department offers BS, MA, MS and Ph.D. degrees.  See http://www.human.cornell.edu/dea/about/index.cfm for more details about DEA.
Qualifications: Ph.D. required and a related design degree preferred (architecture, interior, industrial, communications, user experience design, and transdisciplinary design). The ideal candidate will have a well-developed research program on human centered design capable of attracting extramural grant support; have experience in the design of built environments, products, furniture, or user interfaces; and be interested in teaching a design studio as one of their three courses per year. The priority areas of interest include, but are not limited to user experience design, service design, communicative design, regenerative/ecological design, inclusive/universal design, cross cultural design and socially responsible design.
To Apply:   Please submit through Interfolio, http://apply.interfolio.com/28030. a cover letter, cv, 3 confidential letters of recommendation, 3-5 selected publications, portfolio and  examples of student work.  Portfolio and student work may be posted on YouTube or Vimeo. In this case submit a document for each requirement with the links to your work.
For more information, please contact Valerie Kelly, vlk3@cornell.edu.

Cornell University is an innovative Ivy League university and a great place to work. Our inclusive community of scholars, students and staff impart an uncommon sense of larger purpose and contribute creative ideas to further the university’s mission of teaching, discovery and engagement. Located in Ithaca, NY, Cornell’s far-flung global presence includes the medical college’s campuses on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Doha, Qatar, as well as the new CornellNYC Tech campus to be built on Roosevelt Island in the heart of New York City. Diversity and Inclusion are a part of Cornell University’s heritage. We are an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities.

And finally… A receipt

from Robert Sposato

Sarche Torte

What you need
For the cake:
120 g 120 g 6
100 g 80 g 80 g 40 g
Chocolate, minimum of 40% cocoa Unsalted butter
Eggs, free range, keep those chickens happy
-> Separate the egg white and the yoke
Icing sugar Sugar, regular Flour, fine Corn stark
For filling and icing:
Apricot Jam, 2 jars, just to be safe, smooth one, no fruity chunks! Rum
More Butter
More chocolate
Kitchen utensils
Mixer, unless you have arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger
Spring cake form with a 24cm diameter, that is, a cake form where the sides come off.

How to
Slowly melt the chocolate and butter, stir it for a smooth consistency, let it cool down a bit before further processing it.
Mix the yokes and the icing sugar for a foamy consistency and then slowly add the chocolate-butter mix.
In a separate bowl mix the egg white and the regular sugar until the egg white is all stiffened up.
Now mix the corn stark and regular flour and alternating it with the egg white-sugar foam slowly and very carefully mix it into the yoke-icing sugar-chocolate-butter mix BY HAND. I.e., both the egg white-sugar foam and the corn stark-flour mix go into the bowl that holds the yoke-icing sugar-chocolate-butter mix. Be very delicate when doing this. Use vertical motions to keep as much air as possible in the final mix.
Use fat and flour to prepare the cake form and then add the final mix to it.
Put the cake form into the pre-heated oven at 180°C, leaving the oven door open for a bit for 10 minutes. After that, finish baking the cake at 140°C for another 50
minutes. Of course ovens differ, so be a bit flexible about these last figures and trust your judgement.
Once it’s done, leave the cake to cool down and then cut it horizontally once or twice depending on how comfortable you feel about cutting it. Also make a little vertical nudge on the outside to help you realign the two halves.
Heat the marmelade a bit and mix it with some rum to a smooth consistency to then spread it on the bottom half and also on top of the cake and the sides.
Leave it to cool again and then finally cover it in a 1:2 butter chocolate mix. Be careful to let this mix cool down a bit before applying it, so it doesn’t mix with the underlying marmalade layer.
Leave the cake to cool outside to then move it to the fridge.
The cake is best served after letting it rest for a day or so but honestly, go ahead have a piece straight away.
You deserve it.

From Young Researchers…

Great news! Ensiyeh Ghavampour (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) completed a PhD dissertation entitled: “The Contribution of Natural Design Elements to the Sustained Use of Public Space in a City Centre”. The main goal of her research (supervised by Prof Brenda Vale and co-supervised by Morten Gjerde) was to contribute to a better understanding of the effect of theory based design on creating a meaningful public place. Here is the abstract:

An increasing similarity in urban designs negatively impacts on urban space through a loss of meaning. Although the importance of meaning is stressed in the literature, this aspect of urban space has been neglected in the recent past at a time when sustainable development is also needed. A review of literature reveals that natural elements within physical settings have meaning for people and that the meanings are socially constructed by the users of the spaces. The contribution of meaning, activity, and physical elements in urban space is described in the Theory of Place. Investigating the affordance of these three components in the sustained use of small urban spaces in a city centre, where public space is at a premium and compatibility of design elements a pre-requisite, forms the focus of this study.
This research aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice by using the Theory of Place to assess natural design elements in small urban spaces. An investigation of theory, design characteristics and activity was conducted in four small urban spaces in the city centre of Wellington, New Zealand. The investigation used structured surveys with a facet approach, and photographic observation and GIS mapping of behaviour to answer the research question: Is it possible that natural design elements in public spaces influence the sustained use of a place? In addition, if observations of sustained use are related to natural design elements, is there a theoretical basis for this assertion and can it be examined through research? To answer these questions Study One examines the linkages between physical setting, social activity and meaning by investigating the behavioural and cognitive-affective affordance of natural elements. With the results indicating a preference for natural over artificial design elements, Study Two investigated more closely how natural and artificial elements combine in design and which physical elements are likely to have strong links with other components of place. Study Three tests the validity of the theoretical findings of the initial studies by mapping user’s behaviour in small urban spaces.
The convergence of the theoretical and observational research results emphasises the advantages of using both approaches in an investigation of place. Investigation of the link between meaning and activity through observation is an inferential interpretation which gives rise to the need to use complementary theoretical research with reliable predictive power. While designers should consider theory in design they should also be aware of the practical importance of creating meaningful combinations of design elements that meet the diverse needs and changing users and uses over time.
Congratulations Ensiyeh!
More about her work in her Linkedin page

Volunteers! We are looking for a Young Researcher who is willing to manage our Facebook page. Please contact Cláudia Andrade: claudiarcandrade@gmail.com

Welcome to IAPS 24 in Sweden

The 24^th IAPS conference will be held between June 27th and July 1st, 2016. The conference site is located to the south of Sweden in immediate vicinity of the metropolitan Malmö/Copenhagen area. Organized jointly by the environmental psychology research groups at Lund University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the conference is aiming at a broad and inclusive approach committed to the interest areas of people-environment studies.
The conference theme, “The human being at home, work and leisure – The sustainable use and development of indoor and outdoor spaces in late modern everyday life”, turns the spotlight to what is at the core of the bigger environmental and social challenges, namely the actions and everyday life of humans.  It is everyday life, what we do, feel and think every day, that shapes our individual and collective future.  Everyday life is also something that has changed dramatically in the past 100 years and continues to do so in an increasingly digital and globalizing world.
The conference will comprise all the well-known ingredients as well as some new events particularly developed to promote informal discussions. Keep your eyes open for the conference website which will be launched during autumn 2014.

Caroline Hägerhäll & Fredrika Mårtensson, SLU Alnarp
Maria Johansson & Thorbjörn Laike, Lund University
On behalf of the EP research groups

Congresses, events, and call for papers

8° Study day of the INU- Italian National Institute of Urban Planning

Naples, Friday 12-13 December 2014 Department of Architecture-University of Naples Federico II Via Forno Vecchio 36 Napoli, Italy

The 8° Study Day of INU- Italian National Institute of Urban Planning will be mainly devoted to the Policies for Italian cities, with a focus on the European ones. As regards, the 8° Study Day of INU represents an important occasion in order to synthetize the current state of art, whose organization is articulated in 10 main tracks, and 4 more devoted to the Italian countries, each with a coordinator and a discussant, expert of the specific topic.
Call for papers and more information here

International conference: The Intricacy of Walking in the City – Methods and Experiments

January 22-23, 2015 – Paris Marne-la-Vallée, France

This conference explores the hypothesis that the complexity of walking in the city renders it paradoxically omnipresent and invisible at the same time. As an elementary mode of access to services and facilities, a link between vehicular modes of transport and scheduled tasks, a micro-scale within the macro-scale of personal and collective organisation, walking becomes all the more essential – albeit undervalued – by being ascribed a vague and trivial character in everyday life. Questioning the forms and consequences of this complexity provides the general framework of the present Call for Papers, inviting scholars from around the world to present their research. This includes, but is not limited to, examining and evaluating the context of walking in urban landscapes, not only in a variety of physical and biological conditions, but also inseparably in the context of social interaction, cultural representation and individual and collective motivation.
Call for papers and more information here

EDRA46LosAngeles

The Environmental Design Research Association
46th Annual Conference will take place May 27-30, 2015 at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles, California.

Evidence from nearly a half-century of environment-behavior research has provided us with a plethora of information on social, cultural, and psychological dimensions, and now neuroscience has the potential of adding another very significant and critical dimension. Amidst the forever stimulating landscapes of Los Angeles, opportunities to link EDRA’s legacy of environment-behavior research with the nation’s leading neuroscience institutions and scholars abound. Taking advantage of this, EDRA’s 2015 conference, “brainSTORM: Dynamic Interactions of Environment-Behavior and Neuroscience” will have a specific thematic track on neuroscience that informs the relationships between environment and behavior. We invite you to be part of a generative and stimulating exchange in a city where environments, on screen and off, are legend.
Student Scholarships
A limited number of conference scholarships in the form of reduced or complimentary conference registration and/or travel reimbursement are available for current EDRA student members.
Call for papers and more information here

2015 Asia-Pacific Network for Housing Research (APNHR) Conference on “Housing 2.0: Search for New Paradigms for Collaborative Housing“

This conference, organized by The Korean Housing Association (KHA), which will be held in Gwangiu, Korea, next 9-11 April 2015.

Our world increasingly encounters global problems such as climate change, economic crises and natural disasters that threaten people’s lives and the natural environment. The growth in the world’s population, which is expected to reach 10 billion within the next 30 years, is one of the critical phenomena investigated in housing studies. High densities of population have mainly occurred in the cities and towns of the less developed regions, where significant social problems are often found in the slum environments. These social issues may have led to changes in the meaning and value of housing at local levels. In contrast, developed countries have shifted their focuses from dealing with housing shortages to the quality of living, incurring paradigm shifts in the pursuit of housing and housing solutions.
Housing 2.0 is a platform derived from the CITY 2.0 of TED 2012, allowing people all around the world to participate in the creation of new paradigms to solve the current housing problems. The theme of this conference is thus to explore how housing has been limited by the approaches taken by the government and capital market in the past and how it could be tackled given this context. – So we ask, what kinds of new approaches or systems could overcome the current housing problems?
Call for papers and more information here

14th European Congress of Psychology

ECP is going to be held in Milan on 7-10 July 2015 under the auspices of EFPA (European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations).

During the event, whose goal is the integration of practice with research, the relators will present new techniques and best practices from all the fields of psychology.
Call for papers and more information here

Recent publications by IAPS members

Architecture Beyond Criticism: Expert Judgment and Performance Evaluation

Edited by Wolfgang F. E. Preiser, Aaron Davis, Ashraf M. Salama, Andrea Hardy

Research calls, jobs, studentships, etc

Please let us know if you have any other related calls/ jobs/ scholarships to advertise in the next newsletter.

The Academy of Architecture for Health (AAHF) is open to research proposals

The Academy of Architecture for Health (AAHF) awards annual research grants each fall and supports research to enhance environments for health and healthcare.

– Return of Investment from design interventions
– Linking design interventions to patient outcomes (e.g. safety, falls, satisfaction, etc.) and health care performance metrics
– Designing health facilities to support our aging population experiencing hearing, visual, mobility and/or cognitive impairments

Please review the guidelines for instructions on submitting an application.
Questions regarding the submission can be sent to: Erin Peavey, (erin.peavey@hok.com), AAHF Grants Committee Chair.