Over half of the global population now lives in urban areas, projected to reach two-thirds by 2050. As cities expand green and blue areas to address climate change, their potential as healthcare resources is often overlooked. Urban living brings challenges like stress, sedentary lifestyles, and environmental hazards, contributing to cardio-respiratory and mental health issues. Despite the EU prioritising biodiversity and ecosystem services, the prescription of Nature-Based Therapies (NBT) remains underutilised, with limited scientific demonstration across diverse populations and nature contexts. NATURELAB addresses this gap by promoting resilient communities through green and blue spaces, focusing on health, climate resilience, biodiversity, and urban water management. The project integrates stakeholders across sectors—including healthcare, education, NGOs, and local governments—to develop solutions enhancing health and sustainability in rural, coastal, and urban regions.
The NATURELAB project explores nature-based solutions to support health and well-being, and enhance resilience to climate extremes, focusing on two pillars – Societal and Health (cf. Fig. 1). Key project goals include increasing awareness of nature-based therapies (NBT) for prevention and rehabilitation, developing guidelines to assess health benefits from nature, and fostering sustainable blue and green spaces.The consortium encompasses a variety of skills, dealing with interdisciplinary approaches and cross-sectoral topics. The team uses social and behavioural science methods to support a better understanding of the enablers and barriers to NBT implementation and uptake by the public health sector.
The project involves 4,000 people from 15 Experimental Sites and 4 Demonstrator Fellows across rural, urban, and coastal areas in Europe (Portugal, Greece, Netherlands, Germany) and Latin America (Peru). This population, diverse in gender, age, and socioeconomic status, will partake in Nature-Based Interventions (NBI) designed to improve health conditions, like cardiovascular diseases and mental health, while also studying the health impact of proximity and connection to nature. NATURELAB investigates three types of nature settings— i)forests and protected areas, ii)urban parks and healing gardens, and iii) horticulture spaces. Outcomes include tailored NBT programs, health and sustainability indicators for three types of nature spaces, guidelines for healing gardens design, funding schemes and pathways to integrate NBT into public healthcare.
The project will train health professionals and distribute 8,000–10,000 educational materials, fostering new jobs in NBT and gardening industries. It aims to build resilient, sustainable communities by addressing climate change, promoting biodiversity, and managing air and noise pollution.
NATURELAB's final outcomes will contribute to boost the recognition, promotion and use of green and blue spaces as healthcare providers - supporting health prevention and rehabilitation, as well as boosting a new paradigm for the project and management of urban nature areas. The NATURELAB Social Innovation Hub ensures a wide engagement of stakehodlers, contributing to leveraging the impact of the project. A new mindset and awareness of the multi-level benefits of nature among policy and decision-makers, urban planners and city designers, healthcare providers, social and educational professionals, and general public will be one of the project legacies.
