Project description
Exploring nature-based therapies for health and well-being
Nature-based therapies (NBTs) harness the power of nature to enhance psychological and physical health and well-being. In this context, the EU-funded NATURELAB project will explore the advantages of green and blue spaces in supporting health and promoting resilience to climate extreme events. NATURELAB's tailored NBT programmes will involve 4 000 participants from across five European and Latin American countries, aiming at a consistent representation of culture, gender, age, and socioeconomic background. Moreover, the project will introduce metrics to evaluate the potential health benefits of nature and provide guidelines for assessing these benefits, along with recommendations for the uptake of NBTs in the health sector. Among the project's deliverables will be the creation of healing gardens.
Objective
NATURELAB will contribute to increased recognition, promotion and use of green and blue spaces as health care providers, by investigating the benefits of nature-based therapies (NBT) to promote well-being and support health prevention & rehabilitation.
Around 4000 participants from 15 Experimental Sites and 4 Demonstrator Fellows located in rural, coastal, and urban areas of five European and Latin American countries (PT, EL, NL, DE, and PE) will experience the NATURELAB NBT programmes. The participants will ensure a representative sample of gender, age and socioeconomic status. The geographic locations comprise a variety of climate, nature (green and blue), ecosystems, biodiversity, cultural, policy and administrative scenarios. The health issues that will be addressed include physical (hypertension) and mental conditions (depression), among others.
NATURELAB proposes an innovative approach to contribute to resilient communities, by enhancing the green and blue areas' benefits - as the resilience to climate change, the promotion of biodiversity and urban water management, and addressing as well air pollution and noise levels. The project will deliver, among others: i) NBT programmes tailored to population with different needs; ii) Portfolio of indicators to classify the health potential of nature & Guidelines to analyse the health benefits of green areas as required by natural capital accounting; iv) Guidelines for the creation and management of private and public healing gardens, horticulture/gardening spaces merging climate resilience and environment sustainability; iv) Programme Guide for funding scheme to support NBT in the health sector and v) Guidelines to promote the integration of NB care in the public health sector. Around 600 health professionals worldwide will receive the NATURELAB NBT programmes, and 8000-10000 innovative educational and training materials will be delivered. New jobs - therapists; horticulture & gardening industries -will be exploited.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencessustainability sciences
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringair pollution engineering
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturehorticulture
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringnatural resources managementwater management
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
1700-066 LISBOA
Portugal