Five experts on making man-made spaces healthier for those who live in them are scheduled to be the keynote speakers at an upcoming Topeka conference.
The seventh annual Kansas Built Environment and The Outdoors Summit is scheduled Sept. 25 and Sept. 26 at the Ramada Topeka Downtown Hotel and Convention Center, 420 E. 6th St.
The event will feature more than 20 breakout sessions on topics such as active living, trails and healthy eating. There will be an evening social at Topeka’s Old Prairie Town.
The summit is expected to attract landscape architects and building professionals, health care workers, public works officials, trail advocates and others.
The keynote speakers for Sept. 25 are:
- Paul and Ruth Ann Atchley, professors in the Department of Psychology at the University of Kansas. They will describe their research in environmental neuroscience and how immersion in nature immersion relates to positive brain function (Sept. 25);
- Heather Wooten, a senior planner with ChangeLab Solutions in San Francisco, Calif., will discuss how urban and rural communities can develop policies that promote accessibility to healthy, local, sustainably grown food.
- Michael Wesch, professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University, will talk about the ways that technology and the built environment can change people’s lives and their sense of connection – in ways both good and bad.
The keynote speaker Sept. 26 is:
- Jay Walljasper, a journalist and editor, who will talk about 25 ways to make communities happier and healthier.
The summit is organized by various groups including the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas Department of Transportation, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, the Kansas Health Institute, the Kansas Recreation and Parks Association, the Kansas Trails Council, the Kansas Wildscape Foundation, KC Healthy Kids, the Mid America Regional Council, Shawnee County Parks and Recreation and the Sunflower Foundation. Major conference support is provided by the Sunflower Foundation.
For a full conference agenda and registration details, visit www.kansasbeos.org.
The KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute. It is supported in part by a variety of underwriters. The News Service is committed to timely, objective and in-depth coverage of health issues and the policy-making environment. All News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution, including a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online. An automatically updated feed of headlines and more from KHI can be included on your website using the KHI widget. More about the News Service at khi.org/newsservice or contact us at (785) 233-5443.