Simon Bell is a forester and landscape architect, Senior Research Fellow at Edinburgh College of Art, Associate Director of the OPENspace Research Centre and an associate professor at the Estonian University of life Sciences. He is former Chief Landscape Architect to the British Forestry Commission and has been involved in policy research, commissioning and training. He is also active in teaching, planning and designing landscape and recreational areas and has advised both the public and private sector internationally. Recent work concentrates on developing inclusive access to the outdoors. He was the chair of the EU-funded COST Action E33 on Forests for Recreation and Nature Tourism.