This review aims to show the current state of knowledge in the area of the visual quality of landscapes in urbanized areas and their influence on people’s mental health and well-being. This falls under the passive recreation and passive exposure to the environmental stimuli present in our cities (such as walking in nature and quiet contemplation) as opposed to active interactions with the landscapes such as horticulture therapy and meditation. Passive exposure to natural or built environments can shape our mental health patterns throughout the life cycle. Although we know that the quantity of green spaces in the cities can improve the well-being of city inhabitants and contact with natural environments can alleviate various psychological disorders, it is also likely that the quality of green spaces, including seemingly irrelevant landscape design nuances, can play a more important role for our mental health. At present, one can observe strong demand from policymakers for generating scientific evidence-based knowledge to provide recommendations for urban design and the maintenance of green spaces. The Contemplative Landscape Model is an operationalized construct which includes esthetic, environmental, and mental health values of landscapes and could serve as a useful tool to assist in the current need for knowledge. However, more research with an emphasis on causal relationships is needed.

The environmental benefits of sustainability efforts can be rendered less effective due to economic feedback mechanisms. As a remedy against such rebound effects, a reinvestment strategy towards environmental causes has been suggested. Here, a practical implementation of such a reinvestment strategy is presented. It involves a) estimating the financial savings resulting from sustainability efforts, b) informing the participants that the environmental benefit of the efforts is reduced by economic feedback mechanisms and c) asking them to donate a fraction of the expected savings towards environmental causes. An easy-to-use methodology for estimating rebound effects of sustainability efforts is presented in order to quantify the efficacy of this approach. CO2 emission offsets are used as an example of donations towards environmental causes. It is shown, that donating even a small amount (less than 1% of financial savings obtained from conservation or engineering savings) of donated carbon offsets can more than eliminate the estimated rebound effects. This then leads to the restore principle, that states that the environmental benefit of reducing activities with average environmental impact is dramatically improved if a fraction of the resulting financial savings is applied towards environmental causes. This approach is made practical by augmenting the common reduce, reuse, recycle motto with a fourth component: reduce, reuse, recycle and restore.

A systematic review of literature published from 2006 to 2017 was conducted in order to examine intimate partner violence and sexual violence perpetrated against those individuals who identified as lesbian, bi-sexual, gay, and/or transgender (LBGT) and the challenges they faced from identifying as an LBGT individual. Results of the literature findings indicated that LBGT individuals are exposed to childhood sexual abuse, adult sexual assaults, intimate partner violence and hate crimes at significantly higher rates when compared to the general population.The examination of the literature revealed disproportionate rates of harassment, physical assaults, sexual assaults and intimate partner violence when compared to the general population. In addition, individuals who identify as LBGT are substantially prone to internalization of their feelings, making them prone to post-traumatic stress (PTS), depression, anxiety, substance abuse and suicide. The lack of available support for the LBGT community leaves them feeling vulnerable and underserved. This research advocates for effective collaboration with social services with the aim of ensuring justice and equitable treatment for LBGT individuals.

Health organizations recommend avoiding direct sunlight exposure usually between 11 am and 5 pm. Nevertheless, it is common to see people on the beach during all day. This study focuses on understanding if sunlight exposure risk might be normalized. Risk normalization is a process by which people minimize a perceive threat to psychologically cope with it, frequently by using positive illusions. A pilot study (N = 44) suggests that the positive illusions most referred to explain exposition at unrecommended hours are the use of protective measures. To explore if knowledge of sunlight exposure risk and risk perception were negatively associated, illustrating risk normalization, a questionnaire was applied to a convenience sample (N = 276). This effect was found among those individuals that exposed themselves to sunlight between 12 am and 3 pm and reported a use of protective measures that was above the average. Furthermore, health literacy moderated the negative relation between knowledge and risk perception. This study suggests that it is important communicating that the use of protective measures during unrecommended hours does not guarantee protection, promoting health literacy, as it can minimize risk normalization, and understanding how information on risks and benefits interacts to influence risk perception.

Numerous studies have been conducted on alcohol and sports among student athletes focusing on the causes, consequence, and intervention measures. However, information is scarce about the perspectives of coaches on alcohol consumption among student athletes. This study examined knowledge and perspectives of coaches on alcohol use among student athletes. Sixty coaches (N-60) were purposively selected from public universities in Kenya. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data. Findings indicate coaches to have lengthy experience in coaching and they were aware of alcohol consumption among student athletes. Student athletes consumed more alcohol off-season than during season. Senior students consumed more alcohol than the other students. Coaches lacked support of administrators in enforcing anti-alcohol policies. Education, counseling and benching the players were the commonly used intervention measures by coaches.