The Forest Therapy Hub is happy to announce that the project NATURELAB has been funded by the Horizon Action Grant Budget-based. Horizon Europe is the European Union’s flagship Research and Innovation programme, part of the EU-long-term Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) with a budget of €95,5bn. Naturelab has received the maximum qualification (15/15).
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 tailored to populations with different needs to promote well-being and support health prevention & rehabilitation. The project also involves the fulfillment of representative samples of gender, age and socioeconomic status in each organization and the project itself.
The NATURELAB project consortium is formed by 13 entities which includes research centers, universities, hospitals, municipalities, NGOs and private companies from Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Peru and the United Kingdom. FTHub is glad that half of the NATURELAB scientific committee is integrated by FTHub-connected professionals
FTHub’s will lead the work package “Design, implementation and validation of nature-based therapies”. This work package consists in the design, implementation and validation of tailored nature-based therapeutic programmes to significantly improve the physical and mental health conditions of the participants involved in these programmes in different geographical locations and health conditions.
The objectives of the work package are to establish and validate the methodology, structure, and components for a portfolio of nature-based therapy structured programmes, and to define the nature-based practitioner formal requirements protocol, recruitment, and training to conduct the interventions on NATURELAB and supervise their replication. The nature and forest-based programmes will be based on the most recent state-of-the-art methodology and on the expertise from the Forest Therapy Hub, and the expertise in therapeutic horticulture of the Peruvian partners.
The project will deploy the FTHub Method and the Liquid Interactions Model for Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy, as well as conduct research. The project foresees the training of 600 professionals, and the implementation of pilot projects on 4000 people and specific groups.
Leadered by the German partners, FTHub co-leads the work package: “Assessment and selection of green spaces with potential for improving health and well-being programme”. This means supporting the setting of key indicators of natural conditions and infrastructure characteristics that impact health and well-being, evaluating ecosystems and supporting the integration of nature-based therapies and health cost benefits into the enhancement and protection of nature areas.
More than 25 international consortiums formed by the leading organizations, universities and research centers from Europe, America and Asia have presented proposals, only 3 were funded. NATURELAB was funded with about 6 million Euros (6.5 million dollars). NATURELAB is in the Grant Agreement preparation phase, with a planned start-up date of mid-2023.
