BeWEL (Behaviour for Well-being, Environment and Life) is a network of 17 core researchers led from Aberdeen University and established to explore potential motivators of, and barriers to, individual ‘pro environment’ behavioural change (‘sustainable behaviours’).

In the face of important global and regional environmental problems, such as climate change, biodiversity loss and growing pressure on water and other natural resources, there is an urgent need to better understand factors that may influence the tendency of an individual to undertake desirable, pro-environment, changes in behaviour, such as; increased recycling, reduced waste, electricity and water use, and changes in purchasing behaviours.

The focus of BeWEL is on exploring hitherto under-researched potential links between tendency to undertake pro-environment behaviours and:

1. •the ways in which people interact with nature
   

2. •how exposure to forms of sensory contact with nature (such as visual images and sounds from nature) affects brain function, other physiological responses and feelings of personal well-being;
   

3. •age related changes in brain function and how emotional responses operate.