The Department of Environmental Science at College of Science, KNUST has hosted a postgraduate seminar highlighting the role of urban green and blue spaces in improving mental health and well-being, as cities across low- and middle-income countries expand rapidly.

The seminar was delivered by Professor Olga-Ioanna Kalantzi, a professor from the Department of Environment at the University of the Aegean, Greece, who is visiting KNUST under the Erasmus Plus mobility programme.

Prof. Kalantzi’s visit forms part of an ongoing Erasmus Plus collaboration between the Department of Environmental Science, KNUST and the University of the Aegean, which allows faculty and students from both institutions to exchange knowledge through teaching, learning and the auditing of lectures.

In her lecture, titled Urban Green and Blue Spaces and Mental Health and Well-being, Prof. Kalantzi emphasised the need to integrate green spaces such as parks and trees, and blue spaces including rivers and streams, into urban planning and development.

She said growing evidence shows that time spent in green environments reduces stress, citing studies linking walking in such areas to lower cortisol concentrations in saliva.

She praised KNUST’s extensive greenery as a model environment for stress reduction, but warned that the rapid loss of green spaces in the city of Kumasi poses long-term mental health risks for future residents.

Prof. Kalantzi, also, encouraged multidisciplinary research in low- and middle-income countries to assess the availability, benefits and barriers associated with urban green and blue spaces.

Prof. Kalantzi visit, came through the facilitation of Prof Jonathan Hogarh.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Lawson Mensah, the coordinator for postgraduate programmes in the department, said the lecture forms part of the department’s weekly seminar series, where faculty members, industry experts and research students share insights from their work with the wider research community.