A research lab at ICTA-UAB
Advancing Greencare in Europe: An Integrated Multi-Scalar Approach for the Expansion of Nature-Based Therapies to Improve Mental Health Equity
GreenME is a collaborative effort involving 19 partners from seven countries. These countries include Spain, Italy, the UK, Poland, Belgium, Sweden, and Germany, bringing together a diverse consortium of academic and non-academic organizations. This powerful coalition will harness its collective expertise to address the pivotal intersection of mental health equity and environmental sustainability. It aims to reshape our understanding of how contact with nature benefits our health and ensure equitable access to nature-based therapies, championing the cause of a healthier planet for all.
The project will last 4 years and is funded by the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme of the European Union.
Principal researchers: Helen Cole (ICTA-UAB), Margarita Triguero-Mas (UOC , ISGLOBAL)
Resear collaborators: Paula de Prado Bert
Central to GreenME’s mission is an exploration of how nature-based therapies can be integrated to nature-health promotion and nature-in-everyday-life to enhance mental health outcomes and reduce inequities. These therapies include things like practicing horticulture, or therapies like shinrin-yoku or “forest bathing”. The project takes a comprehensive multi-scalar approach to examine the intricate interplay between mental health, the environment, and societal factors.
GreenME comprises seven distinct Work Packages, encompassing a wide range of research and implementation activities. These include -among others – assessing the effectiveness of green care interventions and advocating for policies that promote mental health equity and environmental sustainability. With an equal distribution of academic and non-academic partners, GreenME stands prepared to address this challenge from a multitude of perspectives, merging rigorous research with community-driven practical solutions.
Collaborating partners
In a trans-disciplinary partnership, GreenME involves six European countries, together with the UK. GreenME is led by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB – Barcelona, Spain) and the GreenME consortium is composed by University of Bologna (Bologna, Italy), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet – Uppsala, Sweden), ILS Research (Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development – Dortmund, Germany), Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW – Warsaw, Poland), Open University of Barcelona (UOC – Barcelona, Spain), Old-Continent (Brussels, Belgium), NeuroLandscape Foundation (Warsaw, Poland), Gesellschaft für Gartenbau und Therapie (GGuT – Hückeswagen, Germany), Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology (IPIN – Warsaw, Poland), Scandinavian Nature and Forest Therapy Institute & SHINRIN-YOKU (Stockholm, Sweden), Eta Beta Cooperativa Sociale (Bologna, Italy), City of Herne (Herne, Germany), Spanish Association of Horticulture and Social and Therapeutic Gardening (AEHJST – Madrid, Spain), University of Kent (Kent, UK), University of Salford (Salford, UK), Social Farms and Gardens (Bristol, UK) and Mind in Bexley and East Kent LTD (London, UK).