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vi FOREWORD: FROM POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY TO A WELLBEING SCIENCE…
Positive Psychology Critiques
The major critiques of positive psychology are that it overemphasises
hedonism, underemphasises context, ignores negative experience, and
offers nothing new. I believe positive psychology, as a domain, clearly
refutes each of these criticisms.
We Cannot Reduce Positive Psychology to Hedonism
Critics have argued that positive psychology reinforces the idea that the
ideal person is one who is a cheerful, outgoing, goal-driven, status-seeking
extrovert. We should all strive to be a ‘materialistic go-getter’ or a ‘positive
thinker’. It is now clear that this view is more of a stereotype of what
people think positive psychology is, than an accurate characterisation of
what it does. Substantial research within positive psychology has shown
that materialism, by itself, rarely produces wellbeing. Other researches
show the importance of long-term meaning in life, contrasted with short-
term hedonism. In the present volume, the chapter by Wong and col-
leagues (Chap. 2) characterises the integration of the dark (negative) and
light (positive) sides of life as an emergent field of existential positive psy-
chology, while that by Pritchard Richardson (Chap. 6) argues for the
transformative power of connecting psychologically to nature. Nature is
not just about feeling good, but also about beauty, appreciation, meaning,
and transcendence.
Positive Psychology Is Sensitive to Context
Positive psychology has been accused of emphasising individual character-
istics (e.g., lack of optimism) as the cause of struggle, and underemphasis-
ing the role of context. Problems are seen as a deficit in the person, rather
than as a problem with the environment. For example, if someone experi-
ences burnout at work, then a poorly trained coach might assume that the
problem is due to a personal characteristic, such as a ‘lack’ of resilience.
This focus ignores the possibility that the workplace is toxic and needs to
be changed. We might view this entire book as a refutation of the context-
insensitivity argument, as the book focuses on broadening positive psy-
chology to wider contexts. The chapter by Lambert and colleagues (Chap.
3) in particular describes how positive psychology has begun to address
systemic issues in society. Positive psychology has clearly moved beyond
FOREWORD: FROM POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY TO A WELLBEING SCIENCE… vii
context insensitivity, with many publications now focusing on the role of
social groups, policy and culture influencing wellbeing. In this regard, the
chapter by David Neilson (Chap. 10) argues that aspects of capitalism
undermine wellbeing. See the chapter by Webber (Chap. 9) also in regard
to a related perspective from economics.
Positive Psychology Does Not Ignore Negative Experience
Critics have suggested that positive psychology is pollyannaish and ignores
the negative. Seligman targeted the opposite argument at clinical psychol-
ogy, arguing that clinical psychology was ‘too negative’ and ignored the
positive. Today, we can say that neither critique is correct. For example, in
this book, Paul Wong describes how to flourish even in the presence of
deep existential anguish and suffering. Indeed, he argues that suffering is
an essential ingredient for flourishing. In clinical psychology, ACT helps
people live valued, meaningful lives, even when experiencing distress,
hardship, and pain. The chapter by Edwards (Chap. 5) describes how
ACT has begun to be applied at higher levels of scale within society,
beyond the individual, laying foundations for collective wellbeing based
on a ‘prosocial’ framework which utilises the ACT matrix. The chapter by
Gibbs and colleagues (Chap. 4) describes how they have applied positive
psychotherapy to people living with acquired brain injury (ABI) in the
United Kingdom, while also seeking to overcome entrenched socio-
structural barriers to wellbeing through systems-informed thinking and
strategic partnerships.
Positive Psychology Offers Something New
A final critique of positive psychology is that it is old wine in new bottles.
It is not making any conclusions that were not already being made by
clinical and ‘negative-psychology’. This critique would make sense if we
assume that positive and negative are two sides of a continuum. Then, if
you reduce negative experience, you will, by definition, be increasing the
positive experience. However, this is clearly not the case as the chapter by
Gibbs and colleagues (Chap. 4) has shown for people living with
ABI. While ABI is associated with the experience of significant hardship,
physical impairment, and psychological distress, there remains tremen-
dous potential for wellbeing. Positive and negative experiences are dis-
tinct. One can experience high levels of both positive and negative affects
viii FOREWORD: FROM POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY TO A WELLBEING SCIENCE…
(intense people), low levels of both (‘disengaged’), or some combination
of both. This means that we can know everything there is to know about
people’s negative behaviour and experience, and this would not tell us
much about their positive experience. An entire lifetime of studying nega-
tive processes will not necessarily lead to an understanding of positive
processes.
Perhaps the clearest refutation of the ‘nothing new’ critique is the sub-
stantial number of new insights that emerged in recent years, including a
focus on strength spotting, creativity, positive affect and broaden-and-
build theory, flow, self-compassion, value affirmation, optimism, meaning
in life, volunteering, helping behaviour, forgiveness, prosocial emotions
and gratitude, hope, and self-transcendence. It seems unlikely that an
exclusive focus on fixing pathology would have led to so many insights
about wellbeing.
After two decades of research, we can say Martin Selgiman was right.
Endless focus on the negative was never going to lead to a deeper under-
standing of the positive. And critically, Seligman’s ideas are now moving
beyond individual wellbeing with implications for collective and planetary
wellbeing. Moreover, the chapter by Edmonds (Chap. 8) further demon-
strates how the ideas emerging from positive psychology are beginning to
influence professional practice beyond the clinic, including the field of
public health.
The Next Steps in Positive Psychology
and Wellbeing Science
Dynamic Linking of Positive and Negative
I’ve argued that positive and negative processes are distinct and are not
just two sides of the same dimension (see also chapter by Wong and col-
leagues, Chap. 2). However, this does not mean that positive and negative
are independent. Positive can influence negative, and vice versa. The time
has come to bring the positive and negative together, without seeking to
reduce them to one dimension. Instead, we need to examine how they
interact in a complex network of relations. For example, research shows
that there is only a weak correlation between self-criticism and self-
compassionate responding, suggesting that people can engage in both pro-
cesses. Thus, instead of two sides of one continuum, we can think of
FOREWORD: FROM POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY TO A WELLBEING SCIENCE… ix
self-compassion and self-criticism as distinct, dynamic processes that influ-
ence each other. Increasing self-compassionate responding may help
reduce self-criticism for some. Similarly reducing self-criticism may
increase self-compassionate responding. This example illustrates that a
network-based or systems-informed approach allows for the positive and
negative to coexist in a dynamic system of influence. Interventions to
increase self-compassion and reduce self-criticism may be different, and
yet the two processes are likely to influence each other.
Evidence-Based Processes Instead of Packages
Interventions to improve wellbeing are often like the black box in which
we don’t quite know what is going on inside. What is working, what is not
working, and for whom at an individual level and beyond?
The solution to this problem is to shift our focus from evidence-based
packages to evidence-based processes. A process-based approach can break
the dictatorship of trademarked packages that require people to do special
training to get certified in a complex package approach. Rather, research
can identify evidence-based processes and train people in those, depend-
ing on their needs and skills. The chapter by Edwards (Chap. 5) for
instance, describes how these ideas are now targeting multiple levels of
scale from the individual to the group and interactions between groups.
Process and Dimensions at Multiple Levels of Scale
I will now provide the reader with an intuitive way of understanding
evidence-based processes. We hope that this will serve as a road map as
you read through the book, and will help you situate the different chapters
within a ‘process-based map’. The Extended Evolutionary Meta-Model
(EEMM) provides a framework for organising and talking about different
processes of change (the interested reader can explore the EEMM further
at josephciarrochi.com or pbatsupport.com). A process of change is a con-
textually situated, modifiable behaviour or sequence of behaviours that
orients the client towards an adaptive outcome. We use the term ‘behav-
iour’ broadly here, as there are three levels that a process of change can be
described: the physiological level (e.g., heart rate variability as index of
stress), the psychological level (hope, optimism), and the social level
(group hope, cultural beliefs) .
x FOREWORD: FROM POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY TO A WELLBEING SCIENCE…
We can also think of processes as having different dimensions. These
include:
1. The affective dimension, which focuses on increasing positive affect,
reducing reactivity to negative affect, and increasing specific affec-
tive states like contentment, tranquillity, and love.
2. The cognitive dimension, which focuses on problem solving, reap-
praising, developing positive attitudes, optimism, and hope.
3. The attentional dimension, which focuses on processes related to
mindfulness or awareness of feelings, awareness of the consequences
of behaviour, savouring or being fully present to positive experience,
flow, noticing nature, attentional control, and distractibility.
4. The self dimension, which focuses on processes about the self being
worthy of love (self-esteem) and able to accomplish things (self-
efficacy). It also includes interventions focused on self-compassion,
best possible self, and transcendent senses of self. Finally, it includes
strength-spotting exercises that help people to understand their
skills and capabilities, to understand ‘who they are’.
5. The motivation dimension, which focuses on identifying strengths
that reflect what one loves and values, identifying autonomous ver-
sus controlled forms of motivation, clarifying values, and interven-
tions that teach the value of community, sharing, patience, courage,
gratitude, responsibility and the value of character.
6. The overt behaviour dimension, which focuses on promoting goal
striving persistence, patience, courageous behaviour, and positive
habits. It also includes processes focused on promoting goal striving
persistence, patience, courageous behaviour, and positive habits.
All six dimensions can be located at different dimensions. For example,
we might ask, does heart rate variability (physiological) link to our ability
for self-compassion (individual). Finally, we can look at the link between
the group-level and individual-level processes. Groups often share culture
and can include small communities, workplaces, countries, and even
groups of countries (e.g., Western versus Eastern). Groups, like individu-
als, can vary in affect (high levels of stress and burnout), cognition (beliefs
and norms), attention (excessive focus on future success), self (‘I’m infe-
rior if I’m poor’), motivation (valuing materialism and hedonism over
relationships and nature), and overt behaviour (everybody is commuting
and working 80 hours a week). Individuals and subgroups may differ
FOREWORD: FROM POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY TO A WELLBEING SCIENCE… xi
substantially from the dominant culture, as when a group of committed
environmental activists push back against a cultural agenda that views
nature only as a resource to be exploited. Future research is needed to
examine how positive psychological processes at the group level influence
individual-level processes, and vice versa.
Conclusion
Wellbeing science is a domain with many mature programmes of research
that have expanded how we think about human thriving, and our relation-
ship with others and the natural environment. The critiques of the field
have been answered in past research, and are directly addressed in this
book. Looking forward, positive psychology needs to continue to focus
on evidence-based processes of change, rather than evaluating trade-
marked positive psychology packages. Complementing this endeavour,
contributors to this book demonstrate how the field of wellbeing science
is beginning to evolve, and point to a need for a more transdisciplinary
science of wellbeing, that is more integrated and moves beyond disciplin-
ary boundaries. Just as the heart and brain are distinct and yet utterly
interconnected, so too are the wellbeing of the individual, other people,
and nature.
Institute of Positive Psychology and Education Joseph Ciarrochi
Australian Catholic University
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Contents
1 An
Introduction to the Complex Construct of Wellbeing,
Societal Challenges and Potential Solutions 1
Andrew H. Kemp and Darren J. Edwards
2 Shifting
the Paradigm of Positive Psychology: Toward
an Existential Positive Psychology of Wellbeing 13
Paul T. P. Wong , Richard G. Cowden , Claude-Hélène
Mayer , and Victoria L. Bowers
3 Beyond
Us: Building Collective Wellbeing 29
Louise Lambert , Meg A. Warren , Rachel J. Waldrop ,
Sabrina Al Subaiei, Alecia Eubanks , and Jen L. Fisher
4 Towards
a Culture of Care for Societal Wellbeing:
A Perspective from the Healthcare Sector 43
Katie Gibbs, Zoe Fisher, and Andrew H. Kemp
5 ACTing
for Society: The Promotion and Nurturance
of Prosocial Behavior at Scale 59
Darren J. Edwards
xiii
xiv Contents
6 The
Relationship Between Nature Connectedness and
Human and Planetary Wellbeing: Implications for
Promoting Wellbeing, Tackling Anthropogenic Climate
Change and Overcoming Biodiversity Loss 71
Alison Pritchard and Miles Richardson
7 A
Modern Framework of Wellbeing from the Perspective
of Positive Environments 85
Víctor Corral-Verdugo , Martha Frias-Armenta ,
Nadia S. Corral-Frías , and Marc Yancy Lucas
8 A
Public Health Perspective on Wellbeing103
Nerys Edmonds
9 The
Economics of Individual Wellbeing and the
Transformation of Society121
Don J. Webber and Dominic Page
10 Social
and Material Foundations of Wellbeing: Beyond
the Neoliberal Model of Development137
David Neilson
11 Discussion:
Broadening the Scope of Wellbeing Science151
Andrew H. Kemp and Darren J. Edwards
Index165
Notes on Contributors
Sabrina Al Subaiei is a Saudi national graduate psychology student cur-
rently completing a master’s degree in the USA. She is an alumnus of the
United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) and the Sheikh Mohamed bin
Zayed Scholars Program at NYU Abu Dhabi (UAE).
Victoria L. Bowers holds a PhD in clinical psychology and an MA in
psychology from Saybrook University. She is a registered psychological
assistant at City Psychology Inc., in Modesto, California, where she com-
pleted her postdoctoral internship and continues to remain on staff. She
works from an existential-humanistic perspective and is trained in psycho-
dynamic theory, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and dialectical
behavioural therapy (DBT). Bowers has clinical experience working with
severe mental illness, trauma, domestic violence, sexual assault, and home-
lessness, and treats diverse populations including families, couples, chil-
dren, and groups. Bowers is a member of APA (American Psychological
Association) Division 36, The Society for the Psychology of Religion and
Spirituality, where she serves on a task force for early-career psychologists.
She is currently working towards becoming a licensed clinical psychologist
and plans to open a nonprofit agency dedicated to education and research
on mental illness. Bowers enjoys advocacy work for underprivileged youth
and is the happiest when she is in the service of others.
Joseph Ciarrochi, PhD is a professor at the Institute for Positive
Psychology and Education at Australian Catholic University. He has pub-
lished more than 160 scientific journal articles and many books, including
the widely acclaimed Emotional Intelligence in Everyday Life and The
xv
xvi NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
Weight Escape. His latest book is What Makes You Stronger: How to Thrive
in the Face of Uncertainty Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
Ciarrochi has been honoured with more than four million dollars in
research funding. His work has been discussed on TV and radio, and in
magazines and newspaper articles. He is ranked in the top 1% of scientists
in the world across all disciplines.
Nadia S. Corral-Frías, PhD is an associate professor at the University of
Sonora, Mexico. She completed her undergraduate degree with honours
in psychology at Instituto de Estudios Superiores del Occidente in
Guadalajara, Mexico. She went on to the University of Arizona and earned
a degree in neuroscience and a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington
University in Saint Louis. Her cross-species publications span topics of the
biopsychosocial risk and protective factors of stress-related psychopathol-
ogy. She is a great proponent of increasing diversity in psychological and
neuroscience research and prides herself in her outreach activities to
increase knowledge about the mind as well as the brain and its function.
She is a contributing member of the Psychological Science Accelerator,
and a member of Society for Research on Adolescents, Society for the
Improvement of Psychological Science, Society for Neuroscience, and a
faculty advisor of the first Mexican Psi Chi Chapter (University of Sonora).
Víctor Corral-Verdugo, PhD is a professor of psychology at the
University of Sonora and expert in psychology of sustainability. Author of
10 books, editor of nine books, and author of more than 150 papers pub-
lished in the USA, Europe, and Latin America, as well as book chapters
(including chapters for the Handbook of Environmental and Conservation
Psychology, 2012, Oxford, and Research Methods for Environmental
Psychology, 2016, Wiley). His publications are cited by authors from more
than 80 countries. He is also international associate editor of the journals
Environment and Behavior (USA), PsyEcology (Spain), and Frontiers in
Psychology (Switzerland). He has been awarded by APA for Best Paper on
Environment and Population 1995, as a doctoral student, and received
The Mexican Psychology Award, and the Interamerican Environmental
Psychology Award in 2011.
Richard G. Cowden, PhD is a social-personality psychologist and the
psychology research associate for the Human Flourishing Program at
Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science. He completed his doc-
toral training at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He is
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xvii
broadly interested in intersections between cultural-contextual dynamics
and psychosocial processes that shape adaptive functioning, personal
growth, and wellbeing. He has written more than 100 scholarly articles
and book chapters that address various aspects of human flourishing in a
wide range of populations, and recently co-authored a book titled Place
and Post-Pandemic Flourishing: Disruption, Adjustment, and Healthy
Behaviors (Springer, 2021).
Nerys Edmonds is an independent scholar and a principal public
health practitioner in the Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit
in Public Health Wales. Edmonds initially trained as a Mental Health
Nurse and has had a passion for improving mental health and wellbeing
and preventing mental health problems throughout her career. Since
2000, she has worked in public health in England and Wales in the NHS,
local government, and third sector with a focus on promoting mental
health and wellbeing and tackling health inequalities. This has included
work on suicide prevention, promoting mental wellbeing across the life
course, tackling stigma, early intervention, and health impact assessment
(HIA). Edmonds is also an honorary lecturer in the School of Medicine in
Cardiff University. Edmonds is an author of a number of publications
including Mental Well-being Impact Assessment: A Toolkit for Well-being
(2011), and the Public Health Implications of Brexit in Wales: A Health
Impact Assessment Approach.
Darren J. Edwards, PhD is a BPS chartered health psychologist and a
senior lecturer in the School of Health and Social Care at Swansea
University. His academic interests encompass wellbeing science, categori-
sation models of cognition, data visualisation, psychological therapies such
as ACT, the impact of these approaches within society, and how to utilise
AI to identify predictors for ill health facilitating the development of early
interventions. He has developed several policy briefs for the Welsh
Government and in conjunction with the NHS in the area of health and
AI. He has also recently published an edited textbook with SAGE called
The Textbook of Health and Social Care.
Alecia Eubanks, PhD is an associate professor of international psychol-
ogy at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, USA. Eubanks
began her early career as a Minority International Research Trainee in the
U.S. National Institutes of Health. In this role, she lived in Cape Town,
South Africa, researching and training teachers on best practices to edu-
xviii NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
cate middle school children on HIV prevention. In addition to living in
South Africa, she has volunteered to teach English in Thailand and Costa
Rica. Eubanks’s professional path has embraced applied research, interna-
tional services, educational programme administration, and student pro-
fessionalisation. She believes deeply in creating one-on-one relationships
with students, teaching transferable skills, and utilising creative methods
to exchange knowledge.
Jen L. Fisher, PhD is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Psychology
at the American University of Beirut (Lebanon) and Lead Monitoring &
Evaluation Consultant and Disability Inclusion Expert at Cohort 22, LLC.
Zoe Fisher, PhD, DClinPsy Card is a consultant clinical psychologist
and lead for Community Neuro-rehabilitation Services in Swansea Bay
Health Board. She is also an associate professor at the Health and Wellbeing
Academy at Swansea University. Her work focuses on developing theoreti-
cal frameworks and interventions that improve health and wellbeing and
bridge the gap between research and clinical practice. Her work has been
published and featured on the national media as an example of innovation
in practice, and Fisher has received many awards in recognition of her
work and has most recently received an Advancing Health Care Award for
‘Outstanding Contribution to Research Delivery’. Prior to her doctorate
training as a clinical psychologist at University of Wales, Cardiff, Fisher
completed her PhD in neuropsychology at the University of Wales,
Swansea. She has recently completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical
Neuropsychology at Bristol University.
Martha Frias-Armenta, PhD is a Professor at the Department of Law,
University of Sonora, Mexico. She completed her law degree in the
University of Sonora and her PhD in psychology and law in the University
of Arizona and she is member of Mexico’s National Researchers System.
Her research interest focuses on antisocial and criminal behaviour, family
violence, juvenile delinquency, restorative justice, procedural and distribu-
tive justice, and ecological crime. Moreover, she is an evaluator of research
projects of science and technology for Mexican and Spain research coun-
cils and editor of Mexican and international scientific journals. She has
been honoured as a distinguished researcher of the Social Sciences Division
of her university. She has published seven books and several papers in
national and international journals.
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xix
Katie Gibbs is a postgraduate researcher with an extensive background
in wellbeing science and a history of working in applied healthcare. Her
research focuses on using qualitative methodologies to understand how
individuals with stroke and brain injury experience various innovative
group-based wellbeing interventions (including surf therapy, sustainable
building projects, and adapted acceptance and commitment therapy).
Using evidence-based models as a lens through which participant insights
may be understood and contextualised, her findings offer insights that
extend upon the holistic model of neurorehabilitation, highlighting how
community partnerships may be leveraged to create opportunities for
wellbeing in those living with acquired brain injury.
Andrew H. Kemp, PhD, DH-SC Melb is a professor and personal chair
in the School of Psychology at Swansea University in the United Kingdom.
He has previously held posts at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil
(2013-2015) and the University of Sydney Australia (2004-2012). His
academic background spans affective neuroscience through to epidemiol-
ogy, and he currently teaches and conducts research in existential positive
psychology, wellbeing science, and climate psychology. The significance of
his work has been recognised in awards and international recognition
including fellowship from British Psychological Society (2019) and the
Association for Psychological Science in the United States (2017), as well
as a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Melbourne (2019)
in recognition of academic leadership, creative scholarship, and innovative
contributions to the field.
Louise Lambert, PhD is the editor of the Middle East Journal of Positive
Psychology and head of Happiness Policy and Programming with www.hap-
pinessmatters.org. She is a registered psychologist and Canadian national
based in Dubai, where she has lived for more than 10 years. Her work and
interests lie in positive education programming, the use of positive psy-
chology interventions in the workplace, employee and managerial train-
ing, as well as content development for a range of wellbeing platforms
across the Gulf region. She also teaches at university and conducts research
on intervention programmes and other cultural and wellbeing outcomes.
Marc Yancy Lucas, PhD is an adjunct professor in the Psychology
Department at the University of Sonora. He completed an undergraduate
degree in anthropology at the University of Indiana and has a master’s
degree in Latin American studies and urban planning from the University
xx NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
of Arizona. He obtained his doctoral degree with honours in psychology
at the University of Sonora, where his thesis focused on positive environ-
ments predicting prosocial driving behaviours. His research interests
include environmental psychology, urbanism, and sustainability and their
associations with wellbeing. He is a contributing member of the
Psychological Science Accelerator and a former president and founding
member of the Psi Chi chapter of the University of Sonora chapter.
Claude-Hélène Mayer, PhD is a professor in industrial and organisa-
tional psychology at the Department of Industrial Psychology and People
Management at the University of Johannesburg, an adjunct professor at
the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. She
holds doctoral degrees in Psychology, Management, and Cultural
Anthropology and her Venia Legendi is in psychology with a focus on
work, organisational, and cultural psychology. Her research areas are
transcultural mental health and wellbeing, positive psychology and saluto-
genesis, transcultural conflict management and mediation, women in lead-
ership in culturally diverse work contexts, and psychobiography. Her
teaching areas include cross-cultural psychology, organisational theory,
systems and design thinking, coaching, positive psychology, organisational
behaviour, and transcultural conflict management and mediation.
David Neilson, PhD is a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology
and Social Policy at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
He completed his PhD in the field of social theory at the University of
East Anglia. His current academic fields of interest include class theory,
mid-range political economy, development studies, political philosophy,
and social psychology. He recently published a non-sectarian and holistic
contemporary reading, of Marx’s works applied specifically to present
challenges, titled The Making of Democratic Socialism in the Twenty-First
Century. He is currently working on his new book for Routledge titled
Beyond Imperialism, Neoliberal Globalisation and Uneven Development:
Towards a Democratic Socialist Alternative. His well-received article ‘Class,
Precarity, and Anxiety under Neoliberal Global Capitalism: From Denial
to Resistance’ published in Theory and Psychology is particularly relevant to
the chapter he has contributed to the present volume.
Dominic Page, PhD is the head of the Business School at the University
of Gloucestershire, UK. A sociologist by training, Page’s research exper-
tise includes equality and diversity, welfare and welfare reform, mental
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS xxi
health, and employment and workplace health. He has teaching interests
in leadership, human resource management, management studies, and
political economy. He has long-established education policy interests in
internationalisation, challenge-based curriculum, the role of technology in
enhancing teaching and learning, research-led teaching, and learning and
industry partnership-based curriculum.
Alison Pritchard is a retired consultant in public health and former fel-
low of the UK Faculty of Public Health. During her career in public
health, working for the NHS and local authorities in Derbyshire, she was
actively involved in developing and leading public health interventions to
promote the wellbeing benefits of nature at a population level, and served
as a board member of the Derbyshire Peak District Local Nature
Partnership. She is currently studying for her PhD in nature connected-
ness and eudaimonic wellbeing at Derby University.
Miles Richardson, PhD is a professor of human factors and nature con-
nectedness and founded the Nature Connectedness Research Group at
the University of Derby. The focus of this research is on understanding
and improving connection with nature, given the wellbeing and environ-
mental benefits. The group works closely with Natural England, and its
work has been adopted by many organisations, including the National
Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), and 2021
Mental Health Awareness Week. The group won the institutional award
for research impact at the 2021 Green Gown Awards. Richardson is also a
lead author on ‘Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES) global transformative change assessment.
Rachel J. Waldrop, MS received her graduate degree in Experimental
Psychology from Western Washington University and her undergraduate
degree in psychological sciences from Georgia College and State University.
Her research focuses on the overlap of positive psychology and social
groups, uncovering the ways in which outgroup members work together
to overcome interpersonal and intergroup differences through value iden-
tification, education, and allyship.
Meg A. Warren, PhD is an associate professor of management at Western
Washington University, USA. She is a researcher, keynote speaker, author,
and psychologist with expertise in allyship, equity, inclusiveness, and cul-
tural factors affecting wellbeing. Warren has published over 50 journal
articles and book chapters. Her research has been covered by over 200
