Concordia University of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada is kicking off a study called Noticing Nature Intervention that will measure the impact of noticing nature on mental health.

Professor and researcher, Dr Holli-Anne Passmore, is leading the research. This is the fourth time she has undertaken this type of work with this being the first study conducted during winter.

Passmore told HCM she wants to see if noticing nature can boost the low moods which often creep in during the dark days of the year – in the middle of winter in Alberta there are only seven hours of daylight in every 24 hours and temperatures can drop to -35C.

In previous studies – undertaken in the US, Canada and China – the research has come back with the same results, showing that nature boosts positive emotions and life satisfaction.

“Noticing nature brings about transcendent connectedness – a feeling of being connected to nature and other people,” says Passmore. “It also inspires elevation – a beautiful composite emotion made up of gratitude, wonder, awe and a sense of feeling uplifted. We will be focusing on these two variables in the research, as well as hope.”

Passmore first carried out the Noticing Nature Intervention in 2016 and her paper was published in The Journal of Positive Psychology. “We have always done the research in cities and people are always surprised about how much nature is around and how noticing it impacts their mood,” she says. “Nature is everywhere and noticing it boosts wellbeing.”

The study will start this month and continue through February and March, with approximately 150 students divided into two groups. One group will carry on as usual and the other group will be asked to notice nature in their everyday lives and how it makes them feel. They will be questioned before and after the research period and each day will log in to report their experience.

“What's really important is that we don’t ask people to spend more time outside in order to get the benefits. It’s about how engaged they are with it and what they observe: even looking out of the window while they’re working, noticing the colour of the sky, the clouds, birds in a tree, the tree at the bus stop, or flowers at the store all have benefits,” says Passmore. “Nature is accessible to everyone."

While this study only measures mental health benefits, there's also a wealth of research which shows the physical benefits of spending time in nature.