LIFE QUALITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN SOUTH ITALY: A CASE STUDY ON SOCIAL AGRICULTURE FARMS

Population aging represents one of the most significant demographic transformations of the 21st century and poses new challenges for welfare systems, local communities, and disciplines concerned with public health, well-being, and quality of life. Prevention and active aging, as well as innovation in services for vulnerable individuals, represent crucial challenges given also the population aging process. According to the World Health Organization definition, the concept of active aging emphasizes the importance of creating environmental, social, and cultural conditions that foster the participation, autonomy, and health of older people. Providing healthy environments for people well-being corresponds to World Health Organization (WHO) strategic priority “Ensure healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages”, creating resilient communities and supportive environments for health. The environment, both in the physical and relational sense, has a strong impact on the level of personal and collective well-being and therefore does not play a role of neutral space, a background to interpersonal behavior. The influence of natural environments on human well‑being began to be explored in the 1980s, when researchers observed that elements such as light, noise, greenery, and the overall design of spaces could reduce stress and support psychophysical recovery, especially in hospitalized or elderly patients. These effects are now framed within the concept of ecosystem services, defined by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as the multiple benefits that ecosystems provide to humans. Within this context, the idea of Green Care has emerged, referring to activities that promote physical and mental health through contact with nature, in line with the WHO definition of health as complete physical, mental, and social well‑being.