A Conceptual Framework to Understand the Business Case for EcoHealth in Ontario

In collaboration with EcoHealth Ontario, “A Conceptual Framework to Understand the Business Case for Ecohealth” was developed for monetarily valuing the human health benefits of greenspace.

Greenspaces offer us opportunities for engagement with the natural environment and provide ecosystem services that contribute to positive health outcomes. Some of the opportunities and benefits include:

Physical Exercise
Relaxation/Meditation
Social Engagement
Lowering urban noise & heat
Mitigating air pollutants & flooding

Investments in these spaces leads to health benefits by increasing the number of citizens who experience positive physical and mental health outcomes and by reducing exposure to negative impacts from air pollutants, heat, noise, and climate-related health risks.

The conceptual framework presented in this document connects investments in greenspaces to health benefits and the associated economic value of improvements in public health.

As the first study of its kind in Ontario, the Foundation is working with Green Analytics to apply the framework to two greenspace projects in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The outcome will be a report that shows the $ value of human health benefits that come from these two projects:

1. Increasing tree cover in a community vulnerable to extreme heat in Brampton led by the Toronto Region Conservation Authority

2. A new urban park in the City of Peterborough