Forest Therapy Hub (FTHub) started a collaboration with BiBos 6.0, an innovative social participation project promoted by Navarra University, Gure Sustraiak, Foresna-Zurgaia and Basartea, supported by Caja Navarra Foundation, Navarra’s Government and La Caixa Foundation (one of the largest in the world, with a budget of 520 million euros in 2018, supporting more than 11 million people through 50.000 initiatives in 2017).
This is a project of consultancy and design of nature-based interventions whose results will be a part of a research to establish Forest Bathing in Navarra (Spain) and improve specific health groups while strengthening the experiences on Navarra’s forests.
The environmental project BiBos 6.0 is about designing and implementing Forest Bathing to enhance “the collaboration between forestry, social and healthcare areas” in Valle de Ollo, establishing Navarra as a leader in the use of its wonderful forests for people’s well-being.
According to Ana Villarroya, professor and researcher of the Science School of Navarra University, “in the last few years, an increasing number of studies demonstrate that contact with nature is beneficial for our physical and mental health”.
FTHub collaborates in environmental explorations and identifying groups of interest through general consultancy. The agreement covers Forest Bathing interventions exclusively based on the FTHub Method and FTHub’s Liquid Interactions Model.
FTHub works with Navarra’s inhabitants and Farm School Gure Sustraiak personnel, to enhance the integration and participation of intellectually disabled people. There are five groups of intellectually disabled people and two groups of environmental and social programmes’ educators from the school farm.
The whole BiBos 6.0 project consists of 12 Forest Bathing sessions with seven groups during three months. Later work with data analysis from Forest Bathing previous and subsequent evaluations will be carried out by following, evaluating and disclosing the results.
You can watch this project’s video here.