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© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
P. B. Roös, Regenerative-Adaptive Design for Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development
Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53234-5_6
Chapter 6
Interconnections Between People and Their Natural
Environments
Abstract Progressing from Chap. 5 that investigated the longer history of humans and nature, through
the narrative of Indigenous knowledge systems, this chapter explores the phenomena of Biophilia, the
innate tendency of our human attraction to nature. It brings the narrative to a culmination within the
contemporary context of our current twenty-first century, reflecting on the vast and complex interconnections and patterns between people and their natural environments, through the lens of a nature
language. Further, the chapter highlights the issues of the declining health and well-being of urbanites, noting the need for human-nature connections by establishing future Biophilic Cities (Beatley,
Biophilic cities. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2011). The principles of biophilic design practice are
explored through the 15 biophilic design patterns, identifying the key requirements of improving both
physiological and psychological well-being resulting in a deeper embedded human-nature affiliation.
The chapter concludes with the fundamental pattern Love For Nature [6], stipulating an emphasis
on the need to apply this deep affiliation with nature to our design practice.
Keywords Biophilic design · Biophilia · Human-nature relationship · Ecopsychology · Nature
language · Natural attraction · Love for Nature · Pattern language
Upward links:
… the fundamental principle that will help us as humans to change the way that we depleting the Earth’s
resources, and rather moving into a state of regeneration, is to acknowledge and embrace our Love For Nature
[6]. Acknowledging that humans are part of nature and not above nature through the gaining of Advanced
Indigenous Knowledge [5], will result in a swift to a global society that embraces an Integral Sustainable
Worldview [2].
6.1 Introduction
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic
measures… It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and
breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers… I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this
world of life… (Rabindranath Tagore, in Vaughan-Lee, 2016, p. 133)
The interrelationship between humans and nature gained large interest in the last century. Interest
focused on the understanding the human- nature relationship, the various ways humans are connected
to the natural world, and sustainability. Recently, practitioners in the design field have been investigat-
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
P. B. Roös, Regenerative-Adaptive Design for Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development
Goals Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53234-5_6
Chapter 6
Interconnections Between People and Their Natural
Environments
Abstract Progressing from Chap. 5 that investigated the longer history of humans and nature, through
the narrative of Indigenous knowledge systems, this chapter explores the phenomena of Biophilia, the
innate tendency of our human attraction to nature. It brings the narrative to a culmination within the
contemporary context of our current twenty-first century, reflecting on the vast and complex interconnections and patterns between people and their natural environments, through the lens of a nature
language. Further, the chapter highlights the issues of the declining health and well-being of urbanites, noting the need for human-nature connections by establishing future Biophilic Cities (Beatley,
Biophilic cities. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2011). The principles of biophilic design practice are
explored through the 15 biophilic design patterns, identifying the key requirements of improving both
physiological and psychological well-being resulting in a deeper embedded human-nature affiliation.
The chapter concludes with the fundamental pattern Love For Nature [6], stipulating an emphasis
on the need to apply this deep affiliation with nature to our design practice.
Keywords Biophilic design · Biophilia · Human-nature relationship · Ecopsychology · Nature
language · Natural attraction · Love for Nature · Pattern language
Upward links:
… the fundamental principle that will help us as humans to change the way that we depleting the Earth’s
resources, and rather moving into a state of regeneration, is to acknowledge and embrace our Love For Nature
[6]. Acknowledging that humans are part of nature and not above nature through the gaining of Advanced
Indigenous Knowledge [5], will result in a swift to a global society that embraces an Integral Sustainable
Worldview [2].
6.1 Introduction
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic
measures… It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and
breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers… I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this
world of life… (Rabindranath Tagore, in Vaughan-Lee, 2016, p. 133)
The interrelationship between humans and nature gained large interest in the last century. Interest
focused on the understanding the human- nature relationship, the various ways humans are connected
to the natural world, and sustainability. Recently, practitioners in the design field have been investigat-