Zoos and aquariums have evolved significantly. From their origins as enclosures for the mere entertainment of the public, these institutions have undertaken new functions responding to the biodiversity crisis and social demands. Modern zoos and aquariums have the opportunity to educate people, contribute to species conservation, and produce animal-related research. However, there is increasing criticism toward the outcomes of their actions and the holding of species in their facilities. This review offers an integrated analysis of the state of knowledge about the role that zoos and aquariums play today. It describes their performance regarding their conservation, education, and research functions, highlighting general patterns and offering future perspectives. It identifies some challenges common to all these institutions, concluding that the way they keep up with the ever-growing social and environmental expectations will be decisive hereafter.

Zoos and aquariums attract millions of visitors around the world. At the same time, the functions they fulfill and the way they do that have been subject to scrutiny from different fields of knowledge. The way societies perceive animals has evolved in recent decades and so has the social perception of institutions that work with them. This scoping review aims to gather studies from the last three decades that shade light on how current societies perceive zoos and aquariums. We selected papers describing quantitative studies published in English in peer-reviewed journals. We reviewed 71 works from different fields of knowledge. The proportion of female authors was noticeably higher than in general science. Most studies were carried out in culturally Western countries, a fact that constitutes a gap in knowledge from a global perspective. We also noticed an underrepresentation of aquariums and of children in the analyzed papers, and a need for more pre–post studies to ascertain the effect of a zoo or aquarium on its visitors. These conclusions point out interesting directions for future studies to help scientists, managers, and citizens design the future of these institutions.

La conciencia ambiental es característica en nuestra cultura, y plantea múltiples retos educativos. Las elecciones ambientales no dejan de construirnos… o destruirnos, tanto personal como colectivamente, en dimensiones corporales o culturales, en el individuo humano y en su paisaje. Entre ser humano y naturaleza existe un vínculo, común a ambos, de humanidad y naturalidad que no puede olvidarse en la educación sin erosionar el valor y el respeto del ser humano y la naturaleza a la vez.Este artículo busca impulsar la educación en medio ambiente mediante el desarrollo de la inteligencia espiritual y viceversa, con el fin de alimentar nuestro conocimiento con una profundidad y universalidad que necesitamos. En particular, destaca el papel cultural de la ciencia ecológica y resalta que la diferencia esencial entre los seres humanos y su medio natural permite –y debe– alimentar el respeto de ambos a través de la importancia y valor del recíproco.

Forest bathing practices benefit individuals’ physical and mental health. A growing number of published studies provide evidence of such effects in diverse populations and contexts. However, no literature has been found that evaluates the effects of forest bathing on people with intellectual disabilities. In this paper, we present a quasi-experimental pre–post protocol for assessing the preliminary efficacy and feasibility of a forest bathing intervention in a group of adults with intellectual disability. An 11-weekly session program will be applied in the forests of the Ollo Valley, Navarre (Spain). The preliminary efficacy outcomes will be blood pressure, psycho-physiological coherence parameters and quality of life. The feasibility of the intervention will be assessed through data on barriers and facilitators of the implementation process and indicators of environmental comfort (physiological equivalent temperature and thermic perception). This study offers an opportunity for people with intellectual disabilities to benefit from a forest bathing intervention and explore its effects not only on their quality of life, but also on the improvement in their physiological and psychological state. This feasibility study is an essential step to explore crucial aspects for a future full-scale trial.

Global environmental quality decline builds up through innumerable decisions at many scales that cause damage to ecological and social values. Environmental assessment (EA) is a relevant decision-making framework in this sense. Besides its technical role, EA has a cultural side we should consider in the pursuit of sustainable societies. Despite its limited reach, EA exemplifies and confronts some cultural implicit stances that may unwittingly favor the overall decline of environmental quality, and limit the advancement and efficiency of EA. Many of these cultural traits are well known and easier to point to than to reverse, namely: (1) too tolerant-to-damage standards of environmental protection and equality; (2) inadequate criteria to assess environmental performance; (3) tolerance of the net loss of environmental quality; (4) confrontation between ecological and social values in decision-making; and (5) neglect of full, in-kind compensation of environmental impacts. EA may have not only a technical or procedural, but also a cultural role to play in confronting these sources of unsustainability. A lack of attention to the cultural causes of environmental impacts neglects the deepest roots of environmental damage. This commentary addresses the topics above and brings attention to their disregard for environmental values, which should guide EA towards increased levels of sustainability.

La investigación que aquí se presenta tiene por objeto explorar el potencial de los Equipamientos de Educación Ambiental como espacios de aprendizaje del paisaje y de los contenidos que esta compleja realidad social y territorial engloba. En primer lugar, se exponen las razones por las que el paisaje puede contribuir positivamente a la formación ambiental que persigue la Educación Ambiental y a continuación se muestran algunas pautas para abordar el estudio del paisaje en los Equipamientos de Educación Ambiental. Por último, se muestran los resultados de la aplicación piloto del taller educativo “¡Descubriendo el paisaje!”, desarrollado en Sendaviva, un parque de la naturaleza de Navarra, con niños de entre 7 y 15 años. La puesta en práctica de este taller ha permitido tanto corroborar el potencial de los Equipamientos de Educación Ambiental para la enseñanza del paisaje, como detectar que los niños tienen una concepción estereotipada y reduccionista de este concepto.