Project description
With the advances in technology, people are increasingly moving away from nature.
This situation also leads to negative consequences in terms of mental health. It has become necessary to correct this and increase interaction with nature. In addition to the positive aspects of individuals spending more time in nature in terms of health, contact with nature also increases innovative and creative thinking. In addition, the intertwining of nature and education contributes to the development of positive attitudes towards the environment.
This project, which includes benefiting from nature, contributes to the development of people’s emotional skills, increases individuals’ communication skills, and supports well-being by discovering their creative sides. Our project provides a perspective on how individuals can benefit from nature to overcome emotional crises. In addition, trainings help to support the formation of a bond with nature by increasing the effectiveness of both education and training between educators and students. In addition, it is expected to directly contribute to the wellbeing of women and the elderly, who are among the disadvantaged groups.
One of the main problems of societies, especially in recent years, is that they are negatively affected psychologically. It is not possible to explain this situation only with the density of people. In this project, the ability to act together with nature will be gained indirectly to students, academicians and society through the training module. Because societies are moving away from nature day by day and ignoring the benefits of nature.
This project will contribute to social development as forest bathing activities, which are among the activities of spending time consciously in nature, will contribute to social well-being. Supporting this project will directly and indirectly support the formation of a sustainable society by increasing the well-being of the society. In addition, environmental awareness will be increased and society will be encouraged to green behavior.
Expected results
Our primary goal in this project is to create digital training modules on forest bathing to make forest bathing more known and accessible. It is important to first increase the skills and knowledge of the education personnel for this purpose. When academics reach a sufficient level of knowledge about forest bathing, they will contribute to the society benefiting from the importance of nature on the mental health and well-being of individuals. Our aim is to make the idea of forest bathing more accessible to academics and students in other fields, including forestry and social sciences, with digital training modules.
Taking into account the participant profile, a lesson scenario package will be created to define the framework of forest bathing and to include observation of the forest and practices in the forest. Increasing awareness of the therapeutic effect of forests on the physical and mental health of individuals is part of the dissemination. In this context, it is aimed to organize forest bathing and awareness courses at all our partner universities. The activities to be carried out within the scope of the project can strengthen cooperation in the field of nature-based education and forest therapy among universities in Europe, create online platforms to collect and share information, and pioneer joint research initiatives in this field.