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Natural resources provide a high quality of life for residents and are often one of a community's greatest advantages for workforce attraction, youth retention, recreation, climate resilience, tourism, and broader economic development. A better understanding of how nature and local economies function together is critical to fostering synergies between interconnected community needs, such as economic development and climate resilience. This paper first draws on literature to define the nature economy, which is similar to the outdoor economy but with a more holistic and interdisciplinary focus on the roles of nature in the economic, social, and ecological resilience of communities. Then, we applied the nature economy lens across three different initiatives in New Hampshire to identify transferable lessons at the intersections between the outdoor economy, community development, and environmental conservation. Finally, we discuss two common themes: the co-benefits of outdoor recreation as a community and development strategy and the challenges and opportunities of partnerships. Engaged scholars and practitioners, such as planners and community development/recreation directors in rural communities, should benefit from this approach.

As the world struggles with pressing issues like climate change and sustainable development, affecting health outcomes and environmental quality, the Nordic regionsare at the forefront of major global challenges. This paper investigates the role of human capital, renewable energy use, tourism, natural resources, and economic growth in shaping life in the Nordic region i.e., Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland).Utilizing panel data spanning from 1990 to 2020, the Driscoll and Kraay standard error (DSK) technique is employed to analyze this intricate interplay. The study reveals that in the Nordic context, sustainable economic growth, bolstered by investments in human capital and the widespread acceptance of renewable energy sources, has been positively associated with increased life expectancies. Furthermore, prudent management of natural resources has helped mitigate adverse health effects related to depletion, maintaining environmental and public health standards. The thriving tourism industry has also been shown to influence lifespan in this region positively. On the contrary, the empirical finding contended that an adverse correlation exists between carbon emissions and LEX. This research underscores the importance of a comprehensive and balanced approach that considers economic development, sustainable development, and public health in pursuing longer and healthier lives, providing valuable insights for policymakers and regions seeking to replicate these positive outcomes.The findings of this study are both conceptually reliable and empirically robust, providing important insights for the formulation of environmental and health policy. • Sustainable economic growth, bolstered by investments in human capital positively increases life expectancies. • Environmental problems account for 23 percent of global mortality. • The study examined the long-run connection between ECG, CEM, NRR, TOU, HUC, REU, and LEX among the Nordic Regions. • Grossman's healthcare model influences health economics, explaining people's choices for a better demand of healthcare services • Cross-sectional Dependency Test, slope homogeneity test (SHT), adopting the Driscoll-Kraay Standardized (DSK) panel estimation approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]