54 2020). Organizations working to restore, reimagine, and improve access to rivers and waterways should highlight evidence about the positive health impacts of these spaces in their work. The Small Cities Lunch and Lab webinar on March 6, 2026 reminded me of an important complement to messaging about the evidence of nature and health. I loved hearing the way that RiverWise gathers stories from people who live in communities surrounding rivers in Beaver County Pennsylvania, and uses these stories to challenge dominant narratives about local industry loss and community decay. This community storytelling emphasizes connection, emotions and feelings of pride that are linked to place. Place attachment is a term in Environmental Psychology that describes the emotional bond between individuals and specific places, and influences the way people feel, think, and behave (Lewicka, 2011). I think that those that advocate for conservation, restoration and improved access to waterways can learn from RiverWise’s work, and have an opportunity to develop messaging that highlights and amplifies stories and sense of place attachment among communities they work with. Success of such messaging is also supported in the academic literature, as studies have shown that people with stronger placebased emotional ties are more likely to support local environmental conservation efforts (Jayakody et al., 2024). Creating media campaigns combining personal stories that evoke place attachment AND the strong evidence about the health benefits of green and blue spaces, can be an effective strategy to build support for initiatives at the local level or at a broader scale. As I continue to collaborate with organizations working to create healthy places, I will encourage them to review the inspiring stories documented by RiverWise. Russell K. McIntire is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health at Lehigh University’s College of Health. His research focuses on identifying populations with the greatest disease burdens, Lehigh University designing interventions to reduce health disparities, and improving quality of life across demographic and geographic groups. His work on the built environment and greenspace has particular resonance for small cities, including research on communitydesigned park initiatives that transform vacant urban lots into neighborhood green spaces. He holds a PhD in Health Behavior from Indiana University and an MPH from Case Western Reserve University. Distillation Guidebook Co-Lab • 9.18–9.19 2025
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