The mission of The Harmony Institute is to promote human health and well being through the interaction of people, animals and the environment.
Research Studies
While science has confirmed that relationships with animals and nature are good for people, the Harmony Institute will work to determine what health benefits exist for people who have regular accessibility to animals and nature within built communities. The Institute will strive to learn more exactly the values of these relationships in positively influencing chronic problems such as obesity, anxiety and other health risks. The benefits of these relationships will also be studied as they relate to childhood development, aging, education, ethics and other areas of concern.
Research is being conducted through the Albert Schweitzer Center (ASC), a center for multi-disciplinary studies with broad application to the implementations and public health outcomes of human interaction with animals and nature within a community built to maximize and encourage these relationships and also including technologically environmental initiatives.
ASC research is directed by the Harmony Institute Center Advisory Board (HICAB) which consists of leading experts from some of the nation’s most prestigious universities, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the ASPCA and the Humane Society of the United States and has provided Harmony’s developers with advice on building the community environment in such areas as land use, habitat protection, support facilities and amenities for companion animals, energy conservation, lighting controls and homeowner documents relating to animals and the environment. HICAB members have been involved in the Harmony project since 1997 and have individually conducted activities at Harmony that are consistent with the Institute’s mission and that advance their respective research interests.
2007-08 Funded Studies through the Albert Schweitzer Center
Developing a Baseline Public Health Assessment in Order to Conduct a Longitudinal Study of the Health Status of the Harmony Community and Population.
Clyde B. McCoy, Ph.D., University of Miami; Mary Beth Kenkel, Ph.D., Florida Institute of Technology; Nancy Edwards, Ph.D., ANP, Purdue University; Renee Oscarson, Ph.D., RD, LN, South Dakota State University.
The Town of Harmony, Florida is being built with walkable features found in many “neo-traditional” communities in the United States. It also includes native habitat and other design measures that will create opportunities to experience wildlife and enjoy pets and other animals on a daily basis. The untested question is whether such community designs really contribute to improvements in human health and quality of life (e.g. reduction in childhood obesity). This study will begin a long-term measurement of the relationship of improved community design to improvements in human health.
Development of the Albert Schweitzer Youth Education Program in the Harmony Neighborhood School.
A.G. Rud, Ph.D., Purdue University.
The Albert Schweitzer Youth Education Program (ASYEP) will be launched in the 2008-09 opening school year of the Harmony Neighborhood School for the kindergarten class. Programs will be developed each year for successive classes (e.g. 2009-10 1st grade.) The intention of ASYEP is to engage youth with learning experiences based on the philosophy of Dr. Albert Schweitzer for the purpose of promoting and evaluating moral, social and cognitive development.
Landscaping Strategies to Conserve Water and Biodiversity in Residential Communities.
Pierce Jones, Ph.D., Kathleen Ruppert, Ph.D., Glenn Acomb, Ph.D., Michael Dukes, Ph.D., and Mark Hostetler, Ph.D., University of Florida.
Residential landscaping practices can expand the richness of the Harmony community’s flora and associated fauna and thereby provide additional opportunity to connect residents with nature, as per the Harmony Institute’s mission, as well as offer water conserving strategies. class
Pet Park Observation and Canine Behavior.
Alan M. Beck, Sc.D., Purdue University; James Serpell, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; Nancy Edwards, Ph.D. ANP, Purdue University; Stephen Zawistowski, Ph.D., American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
This study will document the utilization of the Harmony community dog park in order to record what activity occurs both with the canines and the humans who visit the park, and how this affects, and is affected by, the “at-home” behavior of the dogs.