How can nature and culture promote health?

Abstract

This editorial presents a new concept called ‘‘The Nature-Culture-Health Interplay’’ (NaCuHeal). The main aim of the concept is to promote health, environment and quality of life among all [1]. The purpose is also to create a common arena and forum for wholeness thinking and creativity among participants. What is offered at this ‘‘agora’’ is NatureCulture-Health activities among people in the local community [2]. One of the challenges is, however, to get various interest groups, i.e. public agencies, private businesses, voluntary organizations and pioneers to cooperate in order to develop the idea to be realised in health promoting settings [3]. Over the past 15 years, partnerships for health promotion and new and diverse networks have been created to achieve intersectoral collaboration in a local community [1,4]. A centre described below is now one of the official partners of public health in the county of Akershus as well as the municipality of Asker, 20 kilometres west of Oslo in Norway.