Abstract
GreenME aims to identify ways in which effective nature-based therapy and a broader green care framework can be scaled-up to improve adult mental health and wellbeing equity while contributing to multiple socio-ecological co-benefits. To that end, over 4 years, GreenME’s approach is to diagnose, to increase scientific evidence on the mental health and wellbeing benefits of green care and to empower green care actors to, finally, increase the use of nature-based therapy and its integration within a multi-scalar green care framework to ultimately promote just climate resilient and sustainable healthy communities. GreenME understands green care as a three-scale continuum from nature-in-everyday-life (e.g. the existence of green and blue infrastructure for viewing and walks) to nature-based health promotion (the promotion of active interaction with nature such as gardening and conservation) to naturebased therapy (the provision of treatment for individual patients). We will use a transdisciplinary and mixed-methods approach to identify opportunities, barriers, causal pathways and patterns of (in)equitable distribution of mental health and wellbeing benefits from green care in study countries. We will then co-create solutions and guidelines including a EU framework and country-specific schemes for bolstering green care along with an identified community of green care actors, and design a training program for naturebased therapy providers informed by empirical evidence. The evidence generated will offer replicable partnership models and guidelines to design impactful cross-sectorial green care systems, with national healthcare systems and local governments amongst the beneficiaries, leading to a higher uptake of nature-based therapy and a general reframing of the green infrastructure functionality.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Giuseppina Pennisi
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari
Coordinator:
Universitat Autonoma De Barcelona(Spain)
Other Participants:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna
(Italy)
Total Eu Contribution: Euro (EUR) 4.338.637,50
Project Duration in months: 48
Start Date:
01/09/2023
End Date:
31/08/2027
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101084198