The Global Wellness Institute recently held the world’s first forum on how designing for human wellness will transform the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries. In a wide-ranging discussion, thirty invited leaders all agreed that “wellness architecture” is now at a tipping point, with serious momentum for new “healthy-for-humans” building strategies. An in-depth report on the many insights will be released later this summer.
Study: Walking in Nature Beat the Treadmill
A new study from the University of Innsbruck suggests that walking outdoors/in nature has some key benefits over comparable exercise on the gym treadmill. People that hiked for three hours on a mountain trail (even though it was actually more strenuous) reported that it was less strenuous than the same time walking on a treadmill. And people’s mood scores were much higher after the outdoor hike.
VIDEO: Analysis of growth in the $3.7 trillion wellness industry
GWI’s senior researchers explain the strong recent growth in the $3.72 trillion wellness industry – what sectors are growing fastest, and why.
Wellness Architecture: Wellness Community Coming to Netherlands Will Feature Self-Sustaining Energy & Food
ReGen Villages will open its first wellness-eco community in the Netherlands in 2018 (with others considered for Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany and Belgium). The concept: a community revolving around self-sustaining energy and food, which raises investment from funds focused on divestment from fossil fuels.
Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of July 18, 2017)
“The Future Is Emotional” – AEON, June 24, 2017
Across the economy, technology is edging human workers into more emotional territory, meaning that many of the most important jobs of the future will require soft skills or “emotional labor”, currently undervalued and underpaid, but invaluable. A growing real-world demand for workers with empathy and a talent for making other people feel at ease requires a serious shift in perspective. It means moving away from our singular focus on academic performance as the only road to success.
A Bad Diet Hurts Thinking and Memory
We know how the Western diet, high in saturated fats and sugars, hurts the body. But evidence is mounting that a bad diet causes brain changes, hurting memory and cognitive capabilities…Just one more reason that governments will step up the war against obesity.
