After 3 years of working towards more Green Care, we discuss the results of the Green4C project and also explore visions of the future.
The Green4C (GreenForCare) project, co-funded by Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, has been working the last three years towards innovating and promoting nature-based solutions for health, well-being, and social inclusion. While the public sector was also involved in the process and outcomes of the project, the purpose of Green4C was to contribute to the development of Green Care (GC) entrepreneurial opportunities for students, researchers, professionals, as well as practitioners. Green care refers to activities in contact with nature which promote physical and mental wellbeing and health, as well as social inclusion.
With the project coming to an end, it is time to look back and reflect on the outcomes as well as to look forward at what lies ahead together with the alliance that was built over the past years and anyone who is interested in Green Care.
Indeed, we believe that Green Care can help overcome some of the challenges society faces today. And that is why, during this event, we will give the floor to other projects that, like us, believe that Green Care is an opportunity to be seized. We will also present the manifesto, a list of suggestions and recommendations that we believe can help remove the barriers that limit the spread of Green Care, and we will ask those present, both politicians and civil society representatives, to support our project and help us improve it.
The preliminary program of the day looks as following:
10:00 Welcoming - Rik De Vreese (EFI)
10:05 Introduction to Green Care: What do we know from science? - Matilda van den Bosch (IS Global)
10:20 Introduction to Social Agriculture: A viable solution for health and social inclusion - Deirdre O’Connor (University College Dublin) & Marjolein Elings (Wageningen University & Research)
10:35 Introduction to the Green4C Project and its outcomes - Davide Pettenella (UNIPD)
10:50 Pitches from Green Care projects
SamenBuitenBuurten - Katriina Kilpi (BOS+ NatureMinded)
GoGreenRoutes - Tadghg MacIntyre (University of Maynooth)
Blue Health - Lewis Elliott (University of Exeter)
Uforest - Colm O'Driscoll (Etifor)
Forest for health - tbc
11:15 Break
11:25 The Green Care Manifesto - Aynur Mammadova (UNIPD)
11:40 Roundtable: Feedback from policy actors & experts on the manifesto
12:10 Q&A with the audience
12:50 Closing remarks - Davide Pettenella (UNIPD)
