Can mental health benefit from nature-based health therapies? A new scientific project led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) will explore how these types of therapies, consisting of frequent exposure to natural green spaces, could be integrated into public health and nature promotion policies to improve the mental health of the population and reduce inequalities in addressing these pathologies.
Over the next four years, the GreenME project will revolutionize the understanding of mental health equality across Europe. To achieve this, it will involve 19 partners from countries such as Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Poland, Sweden, Germany, and Belgium, with funding of nearly 6 million euros from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program.
Over 60 members of the consortium recently gathered in Barcelona to kick off the project. Researchers, therapy providers, and municipal representatives worked together to address the project’s challenges.