Ann Ojala
Biographic Data
| ID | 4786926 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ann Ojala |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ann |
| FAMILY NAME | Ojala |
| SIGNATURE | OJALA A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Natural Resources Institute Finland |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8557-8842 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 14 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The restorative power of blue spaces
Living in urbanised areas can deplete cognitive and emotional resources. To help restore them, many people seek out natural locations. Blue spaces (e.g. rivers, lakes, coasts) are among people’s favourite restorative settings, but we know little about the importance of type or quality for psychological restoration, or the role of nature connectedness. Using survey data from 19 countries (n = 17,131), we explored the extent to which participants p…
Integrative literature review on co-concepts in connection with nature-based solutions
Collaborative approaches are increasingly analyzed in literature on environmental planning, governance, and management. However, three recent systematic literature reviews found that several co-concepts such as co-creation, co-design and co-production are often used interchangeably. We aim to add conceptual clarity on the co-concepts by using Nature-based solutions (NBS) as a case study. We conduct an integrative qualitative literature review on …
Nature contact and health risk Behaviours
Emerging evidence suggests that residential greenspace is associated with a lower prevalence of health risk behaviours, but it remains unclear whether these effects are generalizable across countries or different types of nature contact. Using representative cross-sectional samples from 18 countries/regions, we examined the associations between two types of nature contact (greenspace, nature visits), current smoking and everyday drinking. After c…
Associations between green/blue spaces and mental health across 18 countries
Living near, recreating in, and feeling psychologically connected to, the natural world are all associated with better mental health, but many exposure-related questions remain. Using data from an 18-country survey ( n = 16,307) we explored associations between multiple measures of mental health (positive well-being, mental distress, depression/anxiety medication use) and: (a) exposures (residential/recreational visits) to different natural setti…
Parental Mental Well-Being and Frequency of Adult-Child Nature Visits
Regular access to green space has been shown to provide several health benefits for children. However, children today spend less time outdoors. Thus, it has become important to understand what drives and limits children's activities in nature. Based on a Finnish online survey of 1463 parents of children aged 2-7 conducted in 2019, the current study examined parents' perceived barriers to visiting nature with their children. It also examined how p…
The Perceived Restorativeness of Differently Managed Forests and Its Association with Forest Qualities and Individual Variables
Despite increasing research knowledge about the positive well-being effects forests have on citizens, it is still unclear how the quality of forests and individual variables effect the well-being. This research investigated (1) the differences in restorative experiences (components being away, fascination, compatibility and extent, measured by perceived restorativeness (PRS)), and (2) how people evaluate forest qualities in four differently manag…
Research Note
Varied categorisations of residential distance to bluespace in population health studies make comparisons difficult. Using survey data from eighteen countries, we modelled relationships between residential distance to blue spaces (coasts, lakes, and rivers), and self-reported recreational visits to these environments at least weekly, with penalised regression splines. We observed exponential declines in visit probability with increasing distance …
Individual and environmental factors associated with green exercise in urban and suburban areas
In this study, we mainly aimed to explore the associations of personal and socio-demographic factors, and the supply of green areas and built sports facilities with green exercise (GE). We also compared the residents of the core urban area and suburban areas according to the level of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) they had. A population-based sample of 3730 adults (aged 25-101 y) from Finland, filled out a questionnaire in 2015. Variables …
Restorative effects of urban green environments and the role of urban-nature orientedness and noise sensitivity
In this experiment we investigated how individual differences in orientation towards built vs. nature environment as well as noise sensitivity affect psychological and physiological restoration in a constructed urban park, urban woodland and city centre of Helsinki, Finland. The participants, 30-61-year-old healthy women (N = 83), visited each study site once. The experiment consisted of a 15-min viewing session, followed by a 30-min walking sess…
The influence of urban green environments on stress relief measures
Individual and environmental factors associated with green exercise in urban and suburban areas
In this study, we mainly aimed to explore the associations of personal and socio-demographic factors, and the supply of green areas and built sports facilities with green exercise (GE). We also compared the residents of the core urban area and suburban areas according to the level of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) they had. A population-based sample of 3730 adults (aged 25-101 y) from Finland, filled out a questionnaire in 2015. Variables …
Restorative effects of urban green environments and the role of urban-nature orientedness and noise sensitivity
In this experiment we investigated how individual differences in orientation towards built vs. nature environment as well as noise sensitivity affect psychological and physiological restoration in a constructed urban park, urban woodland and city centre of Helsinki, Finland. The participants, 30-61-year-old healthy women (N = 83), visited each study site once. The experiment consisted of a 15-min viewing session, followed by a 30-min walking sess…
Integrative literature review on co-concepts in connection with nature-based solutions
Collaborative approaches are increasingly analyzed in literature on environmental planning, governance, and management. However, three recent systematic literature reviews found that several co-concepts such as co-creation, co-design and co-production are often used interchangeably. We aim to add conceptual clarity on the co-concepts by using Nature-based solutions (NBS) as a case study. We conduct an integrative qualitative literature review on …
The influence of urban green environments on stress relief measures
Individual and environmental factors associated with green exercise in urban and suburban areas
In this study, we mainly aimed to explore the associations of personal and socio-demographic factors, and the supply of green areas and built sports facilities with green exercise (GE). We also compared the residents of the core urban area and suburban areas according to the level of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) they had. A population-based sample of 3730 adults (aged 25-101 y) from Finland, filled out a questionnaire in 2015. Variables …
Restorative effects of urban green environments and the role of urban-nature orientedness and noise sensitivity
In this experiment we investigated how individual differences in orientation towards built vs. nature environment as well as noise sensitivity affect psychological and physiological restoration in a constructed urban park, urban woodland and city centre of Helsinki, Finland. The participants, 30-61-year-old healthy women (N = 83), visited each study site once. The experiment consisted of a 15-min viewing session, followed by a 30-min walking sess…
Research Note
Varied categorisations of residential distance to bluespace in population health studies make comparisons difficult. Using survey data from eighteen countries, we modelled relationships between residential distance to blue spaces (coasts, lakes, and rivers), and self-reported recreational visits to these environments at least weekly, with penalised regression splines. We observed exponential declines in visit probability with increasing distance …
Associations between green/blue spaces and mental health across 18 countries
Living near, recreating in, and feeling psychologically connected to, the natural world are all associated with better mental health, but many exposure-related questions remain. Using data from an 18-country survey ( n = 16,307) we explored associations between multiple measures of mental health (positive well-being, mental distress, depression/anxiety medication use) and: (a) exposures (residential/recreational visits) to different natural setti…
Parental Mental Well-Being and Frequency of Adult-Child Nature Visits
Regular access to green space has been shown to provide several health benefits for children. However, children today spend less time outdoors. Thus, it has become important to understand what drives and limits children's activities in nature. Based on a Finnish online survey of 1463 parents of children aged 2-7 conducted in 2019, the current study examined parents' perceived barriers to visiting nature with their children. It also examined how p…
The Perceived Restorativeness of Differently Managed Forests and Its Association with Forest Qualities and Individual Variables
Despite increasing research knowledge about the positive well-being effects forests have on citizens, it is still unclear how the quality of forests and individual variables effect the well-being. This research investigated (1) the differences in restorative experiences (components being away, fascination, compatibility and extent, measured by perceived restorativeness (PRS)), and (2) how people evaluate forest qualities in four differently manag…
Integrative literature review on co-concepts in connection with nature-based solutions
Collaborative approaches are increasingly analyzed in literature on environmental planning, governance, and management. However, three recent systematic literature reviews found that several co-concepts such as co-creation, co-design and co-production are often used interchangeably. We aim to add conceptual clarity on the co-concepts by using Nature-based solutions (NBS) as a case study. We conduct an integrative qualitative literature review on …
Nature contact and health risk Behaviours
Emerging evidence suggests that residential greenspace is associated with a lower prevalence of health risk behaviours, but it remains unclear whether these effects are generalizable across countries or different types of nature contact. Using representative cross-sectional samples from 18 countries/regions, we examined the associations between two types of nature contact (greenspace, nature visits), current smoking and everyday drinking. After c…
The restorative power of blue spaces
Living in urbanised areas can deplete cognitive and emotional resources. To help restore them, many people seek out natural locations. Blue spaces (e.g. rivers, lakes, coasts) are among people’s favourite restorative settings, but we know little about the importance of type or quality for psychological restoration, or the role of nature connectedness. Using survey data from 19 countries (n = 17,131), we explored the extent to which participants p…
Urban Green Space and Health (9 works) · Geography (7 works) · Psychology (5 works) · Environmental health (4 works) · Medicine (4 works) · Urban Heat Island Mitigation (4 works) · Environmental Science (3 works) · Noise Effects and Management (3 works) · Recreation (3 works) · Social Psychology (3 works)