Program Schedule

18:00-18:30 | Welcome & Registration

18:30-18:40 | Introduction
Introduction by UNature

18:40-18:50 | Opening Remarks
Opening remarks by the Mayor of the City of Luxembourg, LYDIE POLFER

18:50-19:15 | Keynote Presentation

Restoring and Creating Pathways from Urban Nature to Health

• TERRY HARTIG, Professor of Environmental Psychology, Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala University in Sweden

New and exciting findings are demonstrating the many ways that urban parks and green spaces in our cities impact our health and well-being. To better understand this nature-health relationship, researchers use a framework that maps out a diversity of pathways through which nature influences health—trees can both cause or reduce harm, nature can help people build capacities or restore depleted ones. For example, birch trees provide shade and beauty but also release pollen that can trigger allergies. Understanding these overlapping effects is essential for designing healthier cities. This keynote presentation by Professor of Environmental Psychology Terry Hartig will explore how urban planners, community groups, and city leaders can use this framework to weigh these elements against each other and create policies and spaces that maximize benefits while minimizing risks—ensuring that urban nature truly supports community wellbeing.

19:15-19:40 | Keynote Presentation

Social Prescribing: Bridging Health Systems and Nature-based Solutions for Health and Wellbeing

• JILL S. LITT, Professor of Environmental Health in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Colorado

Despite an impressive body of evidence showing nature’s power to improve community health, nature-based solutions are not being utilized to their fullest potential. It’s time to act. Can nature-based social interventions bridge our health systems and our communities to promote health and well-being? Jill Litt, Professor of Environmental Health and a Senior Researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, will answer this question through the lens of social prescribing, which can be leveraged to improve health and well-being across the lifespan. With multi-sectoral engagement and a collaborative approach, we can re-imagine nature as an amplifier for healthy communities—creating environments where local residents can thrive.

19:40-20:30 | Panel Discussion

• TERRY HARTIG, Professor of Environmental Psychology, Institute for Housing and Urban Research, Uppsala University in Sweden

• JILL S. LITT, Professor of Environmental Health in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Colorado and and Senior Researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGLOBAL)

• ROBY BIWER, Former Mayor and today Municipal Councilor of Bettembourg, President of natur&ëmwelt

• SANDRA HUBER, Chief Development Officer and Member of the Executive Committee at IKO Real Estate

• CAMILLE PERCHOUX, Research Scientist at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)

  Moderated by JOHANNA SORRENTINO, Communication Strategist

20:30 | Networking Cocktail