Matilda van den Bosch
Adjunct Professor
Forest Sciences Centre 3040
2424 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4
Canada
Research Areas:
Matilda is a doctor in medicine as well as in landscape planning and public health.
She holds a shared affiliation between the School of Population and Public Health and the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences.
She investigates how environmental exposures, for example urban green and blue spaces, can influence human health with a recent focus on childhood health and development. The policy goal is to contribute to evidence-based development of healthier cities in a changing climate, with sustainable solutions for the health of humans and natural environments.
Her interests include regulating urban ecosystem services, such as heat reduction and consequential reduction in heat related morbidity and mortality, as well as cultural services from urban nature, involving for example increased physical activity and stress recovery in relation to preventing several non-communicable diseases. Previous studies have included experimental research in virtual reality laboratories, analyzing psychophysiological responses to different standardized environments with biomarkers. Various methods are used for analysing impact of exposures, such as epidemiology, GIS-analyses, randomised trials, and systematic reviews. She has also developed theories on how external and internal stimuli affect our automatic brain systems, based on neurological fundaments regarding altruism, pro-social and pro-environmental behaviour.
Matilda works for numerous health and environment related international organizations, for example the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Environmental Program (UNEP), the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Health Canada. Apart from pan-Canadian collaborations, she has a broad, international network, across health and environmental disciplines, in for example Germany, Sweden, UK, Iran, US, Italy, and Spain. She is Associate Editor of Urban Forestry & Urban Greening and primary editor of the Oxford University Press Textbook on Nature and Public Health (2018).
Projects
The Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium, CANUE Current
September, 2017 – March, 2021
CANUE is a pan-Canadian research consortium that will gather and develop measures of environmental factors for every neighbourhood across Canada. Types of environmental exposures that will be considered are the amount of nearby traffic, local air quality, access to greenspaces, opportunities for walking and cycling, and the amount of noise and light pollution.
The consortium involves all major research institutes in Canada and the foremost Environmental Health researchers in the country and internationally.
By partnering with Canada’s largest cohort and health databases, CANUE members will build an unprecedented capacity to study how multiple environmental factors are linked to a wide range of health outcomes. This work will enable effective, evidence-based strategies for planning healthy cities and towns, today and in the future. By collaborating with similar initiatives around the world, CANUE will develop standard measures of environmental factors, giving environmental health researchers a remarkable opportunity to uncover how these factors create both positive and negative impacts on our health.
BlueHealth Current
January, 2016 – June, 2020
BlueHealth is a pan-European interdisciplinary research initiative investigating the links between environment, climate and health.
The programme is specifically focused on understanding how water-based environments in towns and cities can affect health and wellbeing.
It brings together experts from nine institutions and is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme.
Green Infrastructure and Urban Biodiversity for Sustainable Urban Development and the Green Economy,Green Surge Completed
January, 2014 – December, 2017
The GREEN SURGE project is a collaborative project between 24 partners in 11 countries. It is funded by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).
GREEN SURGE works with identifying, developing, and testing ways of linking green spaces, biodiversity, people, and the green economy in order to meet the major urban challenges related to land use conflicts, climate change adaptation, demographic changes, and human health and wellbeing. It contributes to a sound evidence base for urban green infrastructure planning and implementation, exploring the potential for innovation in better linking environmental, social and economic ecosystem services with local communities.
Born to be Wise: Impact of Modifiable Early-life Environmental Exposures on the Health and Development of Children Current
April, 2018 – March, 2021
https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/12/e026954.long
Born to be Wise is a CIHR-funded Project grant.
The goal of this project is to analyse associations between environmental exposures (urban green spaces, air pollution, and noise) and early childhood development. The main outcome will be new knowledge on how both harmful and beneficial environmental exposures may influence early development, especially among children of poor socioeconomic status (SES). This will provide input for future intervention studies as well as contributing to urban planning guidance for improved early childhood development.
The team includes internationally acclaimed experts in green space and health, early development studies, air- and noise pollution analyses and modelling from UBC and the BC Children’s Hospital, as well as world-renowned international geospatial and statistical expertise from the University of California Berkeley and Los Angeles.
Selected Publications
Elliott, L., White, M., Grellier, J., Garrett, J., Cirach, M., Wheeler, B., Bratman, G., van den Bosch, M., Ojala, A., Roiko, A., Lima, M., O’Connor, A., Gascon, M., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Fleming, L.E (2020). Defining residential bluespace distance categories: Modelling distance-decay effects across eighteen countries Landscape and Urban Planning 198
Jarvis, I., Gergel, S., Koehoorn, M., van den Bosch, M (2020). Greenspace access does not correspond to nature exposure: Measures of urban natural space with implications for health research Landscape and Urban Planning 194
Czekajlo, A.*, Coops, N.C., Wulder, M.A., Hermosilla, T., Lu, Y., White, J.C., van den Bosch, M (2020). Characterizing multi-decadal land dynamics of the Vancouver urban area using a novel urban greenness score 41st Canadian Symposium on Remote Sensing, 2020
Jarvis, I.*, Koehoorn, M., Gergel, S., van den Bosch, M (2020). Different types of urban natural environments influence self-reported health and mental illness The Canadian Urban Forest Conference 2020
Prescott, S.L., Hancock, T., Bland, J., van den Bosch, M., Jansson, J., Johnson, C.C., Kondo, M., Katz, D., Kort, R., Kozyrskyj, A., Logan, A.C, Lowry, C., Nanan, R., Poland, B., Robinson, J., Schroeck, N., Sinkkonen, A., Springmann, M., Wright, R.O., Wegienka, G. (2019). Eighth Annual Conference of inVIVO Planetary Health: From Challenges to Opportunities International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 16(21):1-62
Kabisch, N., Alonso, L., Dadvand, P., van den Bosch, M (2019). Urban natural environments and motor development in early life Environmental Research 179 (A), 108774
Bratman, G., Anderson, C., Berman, M., Cochran, B., de Vries, S., Flanders, J., Folke, C., Frumkin, H., Gross, J.J., Hartig, T., Kahn Jr., P.H., Kuo, M., Lawler, J.J., Levin, P.S., Lindahl, T., Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Mitchell, R., Ouyang, Z., Roe, J., Scarlett, L., Smith, J.R., van den Bosch, M., Wheeler, B.W., White, M.P., Zheng, H., Daily, G.C. (2019). Nature and Mental Health: An Ecosystem Service Perspective Science Advances 5(7)
Devisscher, T., Konijnendijk, C., Nesbitt, L., Salbitano, F., Cheng, Z.C., Lwasa, S., van den Bosch, M. (2019). SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – Impacts on Forests and Forest-Based Livelihoods Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Sbihi, H., Nesbitt, L., Hystad, P., Brook, J., Sears, M., Subbarao, P., Moraes, T., Mandhane, P., Becker, A., Azad, M., van den Bosch, M., Turvey, S. (2019). When does exposure matter for childhood allergic disorders? Temporal trends in greenness in four Canadian cities AllerGen 2019 Research Conference
Jarvis, I., Sbihi, H., van den Bosch, M*. (2019). Evidence from the Born to be Wise study. On greenness moderating the effects of air pollution, noise, and poor socioeconomic status on adverse health outcomes in children. 31st annual conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE 2019), Utrecht, The Netherlands
Jarvis, I., Williams, D., Nesbitt, L., Gergel, S., Koehoorn, M., van den Bosch, M (2019). Natural environments and perceived health in Metro Vancouver, Canada ABSTRACTS OF THE 2019 ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, AUGUST 25-28 2019, UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS
Elliot, L.*, White, M., Grellier, J., Wheeler, B., Garrett. J., Gascon, M., Cirach, M., Bratman, G., van den Bosch, M., Ojala, A., Roiko, A., O’Connor, A., Lima, M, Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Fleming, L. (2019). Blue and green spaces and physical activity – an 18-country study ABSTRACTS OF THE 2019 ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, AUGUST 25-28 2019, UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS
van den Bosch, M., Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (2019). Environmental Exposures and Depression: Biological Mechanisms and Epidemiological Evidence The Annual Review of Public Health 40:18.1 – 18.21
Nowak, D., van den Bosch, M (2019). Les effets des arbres et de la forêt sur la qualité de l’air et la santé humaine dans et autour des zones urbaines/Tree and Forest Effects on Air Quality and Human Health in and Around Urban Areas Revue Forestière Française 70:297-308
Hong, K.Y., Tsin, P.K., van den Bosch, M., Brauer, M., Henderson, S (2019). Urban greenness extracted from pedestrian video and its relationship with surrounding air temperatures Urban Forestry Urban Greening 38:280-285.
van den Bosch, M., Brauer, M., Burnett, R., Davies, H., Davis, Z2., Guhn, M., Jarvis, I.2, Nesbitt, L.1, Oberlander, T., Rugel, E., Sbihi, H., Su, J., Jerrett, M (2018). Born to be Wise: A population registry data linkage study to assess the impact of modifiable early-life environmental exposures on the health and development of children BMJ Open 8(12)
Jerrett, M., van den Bosch, M (2018). Nature Exposure Gets a Boost From a Cluster Randomized Trial on the Mental Benefits of Greening Vacant Lots JAMA Network Open 1(3)
Brook, J., Setton, E., ….., van den Bosch, M., ..., Widener, M (2018). The Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium – a protocol for building a national environmental exposure data platform for integrated analyses of urban form and health BMC Public Health 18:144
Herpin-Saunier, N., Jarvis, I., van den Bosch, M (2018). Human health, a tertiary product of forests. In: Forestry in the Midst of Global Change. (Eds. Farcy C, de Camino R, Rojas-Briales E, Martinez de Arano I.) CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group
Crouse, D. L., van den Bosch, M. & Villeneuve, P. J. (2018). Love and allergies in the city beautiful—Chandigarh, India – Authors' reply The Lancet Planetary Health Elsevier
Lederbogen, F., Haddad, L., Meyer- Lindenberg, A., Ompad, D., van den Bosch, M (2018). The shift from natural living environments to urban: population- based and neurobiological implications for public health Oxford University Press, UK
Jarvis I, Williams, D, Gergel S, van den Bosch M (2018). Diversity in urban nature: an analysis of greenspace type and mental health in Metro Vancouver International Urban Forestry Congress Abstract Book. International Urban Forestry Congress 2018, October. Vancouver, Canada
van den Bosch, M., Ode Sang, A (2018). Urban Green Spaces and Health - Evidence, Limitations, and Ways Forward Environmental Health Perspectives on behalf of ISES-ISEE 2018 Joint Annual Meeting. Ottawa, Canada
Jarvis I, Williams D, Nesbitt L, Gergel S, van den Bosch M. (2018). Quantifying residential access and exposure to greenspace using high-resolution remotely sensed data: a case study of Metro Vancouver, British Columbia Environmental Health Perspectives on behalf of ISES-ISEE 2018 Joint Annual Meeting. Ottawa, Canada.
Nesbitt L, Andreani M, Jarvis I, Li X, Ratti C, Seiferling I, Villeneuve P, van den Bosch M (2018). How green is green? Modelling urban greenness exposure in environmental health research Environmental Health Perspectives on behalf of ISES-ISEE 2018 Joint Annual Meeting. Ottawa, Canada
Hong, K., Tsin, P., van den Bosch, M., Brauer, M., Henderson, S. (2018). Urban greenness extracted from pedestrian video and its relationship with surrounding air temperatures Environmental Health Perspectives on behalf of ISES-ISEE 2018 Joint Annual Meeting. Ottawa, Canada
Jarvis, I., Williams, D., Gergel, S., Koehoorn, M., van den Bosch, M (2018). Diversity in urban nature – an analysis of greenspace type and mental health in Metro Vancouver International Urban Forestry Congress, 2018 (IUFC)
Elliott, L.*, White, Mat., Grellier, J., Wheeler, B., Garrett, J., gascon, M., Cirach, M., Bratman, G., van den Bosch, M., Wong, M., Ojala, A., Roiko, A., O’Connor, A., Lima, M., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Fleming, L (2018). The BlueHealth International Survey: Headline findings from a standardised 18-country survey concerning recreational visits to blue spaces and their impact on health and well-being Urban Transitions Annual Conference, 2018, Sitges, Spain
van den Bosch, M., Falvo, C., Jensen, G.K., Karliner, J., Stancliffe, R (2018). The role of civil society and organizations. The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health. (Eds. van den Bosch, M. & Bird, W) / Oxford University Press
Dahl, Å., van den Bosch, M., Ogren, T (2018). Allergenic pollen emissions from vegetation – threats and prevention The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health. (Eds. van den Bosch, M. & Bird, W.) / Oxford University Press
Pálsdóttir, A.M., Sempik, J., Bird, W., van den Bosch, M (2018). Using nature as a treatment option The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health. (Eds. Van den Bosch, M. & Bird, W.). / Oxford University Press
van den Bosch, M., Ward Thompson, C., Grahn, P (2018). How nature may prevent stress and promote mental health The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health. (Eds. van den Bosch, M. & Bird, W.) / Oxford University Press
Venhoeven, L., Taufik, D., Steg, L., Bonaiuto, M., Bonnes, M., Ariccio, De Dominicis, Scopelliti, M., van den Bosch, M., Piff, P., Zhang, Keltner (2018). The role of nature and environment in behavioural medicine The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health. (Eds. Van den Bosch, M. & Bird, W.). / Oxford University Press
Hägerhäll, C., Taylor, R., Watts, G., Cerwén, G., van den Bosch, M., Press, D., Minta, S (2018). Biological mechanisms and physiological responses to sensory impact from nature The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health. (Eds. van den Bosch, M. & Bird, W.) / Oxford University Press
Bird, W., Epel, E., Ikovics, J., van den Bosch, M (2018). Unifying mechanisms: Nature deficiency and chronic stress and inflammation The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health. (Eds. Van den Bosch, M. & Bird, W.) / Oxford University Pres
van den Bosch, M. and Bird, W (2018). Setting the scene and how to read the book The Oxford textbook of Nature and Public Health. (Eds. van den Bosch, M. & Bird, W.) / Oxford University Press
Editors: Matilda van den Bosch and William Bird (2018). The Oxford Textbook of Nature and Public Health Oxford University Press, UK
Matilda van den Bosch (2018). Live long in nature and long live nature! The Lancet Planetary Health Elsevier
Kabisch, N., van den Bosch, M. & Lafortezza, R. (2017). The health benefits of nature-based solutions to urbanization challenges for children and the elderly – A systematic review. Environmental Research
Laundy Frisenstam, Katarina, Matilda van den Bosch, Yun Chen, Peter Friberg, and Walter Osika. (2017). Self-Reported Psychosomatic Complaints In Swedish Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults Living in Rural and Urban Areas: An Internet-Based Survey. JMIR Publications JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Weimann, H., Rylander L., Annerstedt van den Bosch, M., Albin M., Skärbäck E., Grahn P., Björk J (2017). Perception of safety is a prerequisite for the association between neighbourhood green qualities and physical activity: Results from a crosssectional study in Sweden. Health and Place 45:124-130
Matilda van den Bosch and mark Nieuwenhuijsen (2017). Green the cities now – no time to waste Elsevier Environment International
Katarina Laundy Frisenstam, Matilda van den Bosch, Yun Chen, Peter Friberg, Walter Osika (2017). Self-reported psychosomatic health in Swedish children, adolescents and young adults living in rural and urban areas: an internet-based survey JMIR Public Health Surveill 3:1
Hanna Weimann, Lars Rylander, Matilda Annerstedt van den Bosch, Maria Albin, Erik Skärbäck, Patrik Grahn, Jonas Björk (2017). Perception of safety is a prerequisite for the association between neighbourhood green qualities and physical activity: Results from a crosssectional study in Sweden Elsevier Health & Place
1. J Grellier, J., M P White, M.P., Albin, M., Bell, S., Elliott, L.R., Gascón, M., Gualdi, S., Mancini, L., Nieuwenhuijsen, M.J., Sarigiannis, D.A., van den Bosch, M., Wolf, T., Wuijts, S., Fleming, L.E. (2017). BlueHealth: a study programme protocol for mapping and quantifying the potential benefits to public health and well-being from Europe’s blue spaces Elsevier BMJ Open
Matilda van den Bosch, Asa Ode Sang (2017). Urban natural environments as Nature based solutions for improved public health – a systematic review of reviews Elsevier Environmental Research
Nadja Kabisch and Matilda van den Bosch (2017). Nature‐based solutions and the potential for health improvement and socio‐environmental justice : Nature-based Solutions to Climate Change In Urban Areas. (Eds. Kabisch, N., Korn, H., Stadler, J., Bonn, A). ISBN 978-3-319-56091-5 / Springer International Publishing
Matilda van den Bosch (2017). Natural Environments, Health, and Well-Being Oxford University Press Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Environmental Science
Matilda van den Bosch (2017). Impacts of Urban Forests on Physical and Mental Health Routledge Handbook of Urban Forestry (Eds. Francesco Ferrini, Cecil C. Konijnendijk van den Bosch, Alessio Fini) / Routledge
van den Bosch, M. (2017). Mapping health with urban trees Branchlines, Faculty of Forestry
van den Bosch, M. (2017). Properties of urban green spaces facilitating psychological restoration Int Society of Exposure Science, ISES 27th annual meeting. October 15-19. Research Triangle Park, US.
van den Bosch, M. (2017). Relevance of the forest and health topic for the future dialogue with people and possibilities for forest pedagogy International Union of Forest Research Organizations, IUFRO, 125th Anniversary Congress, Freiburg, Germany, September 18-22.
Annerstedt van den Bosch, M., Nieuwenhuijsen, M., Cave, B., Kock, R. (2016). Healthy Planet, Healthy People United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya UNEP/UNECE 2016. GEO-6 Assessment for the pan-European region.
Begum Ozkaynak, Laszlo Pinter, Dora Almassy, Christian Loewe, Nora Mzavanadze, Beatriz Rodrigues-Labajos, Matilda van den Bosch, Arthur Dahl, Martina Floerke, Nadezhda Gaponenko, Richard Kock, Sigrid Kusch, Andrei Kirilenko, Petteri Vihervaara (2016). Strengthening Environmental Governance United Nations Environmental Programme, Nairobi, Kenya UNEP/UNECE 2016. GEO-6 Assessment for the pan-European region.
Kabisch, N., Haase, D., Annerstedt van den Bosch, M (2016). Adding natural spaces to social indicators of intra-urban health inequalities among children: a case study from Berlin, Germany. MDPI International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Matilda Annerstedt van den Bosch, Catharine Ward Thompson, Eva Silveirinha de Oliveira, Benedict W. Wheeler, Michael H. Depledge (2016). Urban Green Spaces and Health - a review of evidence World Health Organization, European Centre for Environment and Health, Bonn, Germany Urban green spaces and health. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe,
Stoltz, Jonathan, Ylva Lundell, Erik Skärbäck, Matilda Annerstedt van den Bosch, Patrik Grahn, Eva-Maria Nordström, and Ann Dolling. (2016). Planning for restorative forests: describing stress-reducing qualities of forest stands using available forest stand data. Springer Link European Journal of Forest Research
Jonathan Stoltz, Ylva Lundell, Erik Skärbäck, Matilda Annerstedt van den Bosch, Patrik Grahn, Eva-Maria Nordström, Ann Dolling. (2016). Planning for restorative forests: describing stress-reducing qualities of forest stands using available forest stand data Springer Berlin Heidelberg European Journal of Forest Research.
Matilda Annerstedt van den Bosch, Pierpaolo Mudu, Valdas Uscila, Maria Barrdahl, Alexandra Kulinkina, Brigit Staatsen, Wim Swart, Hanneke Kruize, Ingrida Zurlyte, and Andrey I. Egorov (2016). Development of an urban green space indicator and the public health rationale SAGE Journals Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
Annerstedt [van den Bosch], Matilda, Per-Olof Östergren, Patrik Grahn, Erik Skärbäck, and Peter Währborg (2015). Moving to Serene Nature May Prevent Poor Mental Health—Results from a Swedish Longitudinal Cohort Study MDPI Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health
Matilda Annerstedt van den Bosch and Michael Depledge (2015). Healthy people with nature in mind BioMed Central BMC Public Health
Chang, C. Annerstedt [van den Bosch], M., Sarlöv Herlin, I (2015). A Narrative Review of Ecomuseum Literature: Suggesting a Thematic Classification and Identifying Sustainability as a Core Element CG Publisher The International Journal of the Inclusive Museum
Nielsen, A.B., Annerstedt, M., Maruthaveeran, S., Konijnendijk van den Bosch, C.C. (2014). Species richness in urban parks and its drivers: A review of empirical evidence Springer Urban Ecosystems 17(2): 305-327
Annerstedt [van den Bosch], Matilda, Peter Jönsson, Mattias Wallergård, Gerd Johansson, Björn Karlson, Patrik Grahn, Åse Marie Hansen, and Peter Währborg. (2013). Inducing physiological stress recovery with sounds of nature in a virtual reality forest—Results from a pilot study Elsevier Physiology and Behavior
Annerstedt [van den Bosch], Matilda, Per-Olof Ostergren, Jonas Bjork, Patrik Grahn, Erik Skarback, and Peter Wahrborg. (2012). Green qualities in the neighbourhood and mental health - results from a longitudinal cohort study in Southern Sweden BioMed Central BMC Public Health
Annerstedt [van den Bosch], Matilda (2010). Transdisciplinarity as an inference technique to achieve a better understanding in the health and environmental sciences MDPI Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health
Annerstedt [van den Bosch], M. Norman J. Boman M. Mattsson L. Grahn P. Währborg P. (2010). Finding stress relief in a forest. Wiley Ecological Bulletins
Norman, J., M. Annerstedt [van den Bosch], M. Boman, and L. Mattsson (2010). Influence of outdoor recreation on self-rated human health: comparing three categories of Swedish recreationists Taylor & Francis Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research
Annerstedt [van den Bosch], M., Wahrborg, P. (2010). Nature-assisted therapy: Systematic review of controlled and observational studies. SAGE Journals Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
Annerstedt [van den Bosch], M (2009). Health promotion, environmental psychology and sustainable development -- a successful "menage-a-trois" SAGE Journals Global Health Promotion