Next webinar: Nature is Good Medicine – practical steps for implementing a Healthy Parks Healthy People approach
Contact with nature can deliver real benefits to people’s mental, physical, emotional and social health and well-being. COVID-19 has raised awareness of the value of Europe’s Parks and Protected areas as a setting for people to connect with nature and improve their health and well-being. At the same time, the pandemic underlines their importance in nurturing healthy ecosystems which are good for nature as well as people.
In June 2020, building on the Jūrmala Communiqué 2019, the EUROPARC Federation launched Healthy Parks Health People Europe. By encouraging the use of Europe’s Parks and Protected Areas as natural health centers, the HPHPe programme will contribute to key policy areas essential for a green recovery: improving public health and well-being and reducing health inequalities; protecting, restoring and investing in biodiversity; and responding to the climate emergency.
At this webinar, we will be launching the EUROPARC HPHPe Toolkit which aims to help those responsible for the management of Parks and Protected Areas to realise the potential of their sites as natural health centers in practice. Ways to implement the four key elements of the tool-kit – Making the case; Building partnerships; Developing capacity & practice; and Connecting people & nature – will be explored using presentations and case studies from England, Scotland and Finland.
The Webinar will be moderated by Pete Rawcliffe from NatureScot and Council member of EUROPARC Federation. Case study presenters will share their experience relating to developing Healthy Parks Healthy People projects, exploring some of the key steps in delivering on this agenda.
Case Studies
During the webinar we will look at the following case studies:
Health and Well-being in South Downs National Park
By Kate Drake and Anne Rehill, South Downs National Park, England
This session introduces delegates to the South Downs National Park in England. Anne and Kate will share the development of our Health and Well-being Strategy and how it links to our vision and priorities for the National Park. They will outline how we made the case for dedicated resources to support the work and share with you the plan they have for Health and Well-being Hubs over the next 5 years. Kate will share some early project specific work which demonstrates how the strategy will be implemented going forward.
Anne Rehill, Performance & Project Manager, South Downs National Park Authority
Kate Drake, Health and Well Being Officer, South Downs National Park Authority
The ‘Walk in the Park’ programme
By Dr Susan Warren and Fran Crumley, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs Countryside Trust, Scotland
Walk in the Park is a highly successful health walk programme, which provides weekly walks for over 250 people at six rural locations around the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. Our walks are open to all, but target people with long-term mental and physical health conditions and/or are at risk of loneliness and isolation. Managed by a small team of Health Walk Co-ordinators, the programme currently engages over 65 trained volunteers to support its delivery.
Dr Susan Warren, Transformation Director, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Countryside Trust – Susan has 30 years’ experience working in the fields of nature conservation and community engagement. She is passionate about finding as many ways as possible to enable support people to experience the natural world to support health and wellbeing, and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours.
Fran Crumley, Senior Health Walk Co-ordinator, Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Countryside Trust – Fran develops health walks, activities, projects and partnerships which support the health and wellbeing of communities across and close to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
‘Nature to Action’ – rehabilitation with nature conservation
By Hannele Kytö, Parks & Wildlife Finland
Targeted engagement programmes have a crucial role in delivering HPHP in practice – nature takes care of people; at the same time through a range of volunteering activity, people can give back to nature. This case study will explore an innovative partnership project providing people at the risk of social exclusion with meaningful experiences of nature which can aid their rehabilitation into society.
Hannele Kytö – Fieldwork Manager, Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland – responsible for the ‘Nature to Action’ programme. Innovating and developing are close to my heart and I do my very best to make people understand the importance of nature in rehabilitation.
Get to know the speakers:
Carol Ritchie is EUROPARC’s Executive Director.
Pete Rawcliffe is the head of people and nature at NatureScot, a EUROPARC council member and he chairs EUROPARC’s Healthy Parks Healthy People Commission.
Anne Rehill is a Performance & Project Manager at South Downs National Park Authority in England
Kate Drake is a Health and Well Being Officer at South Downs National Park Authority, England
Dr. Susan Warren, is the Transformation Director at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Countryside Trust. She has 30 years’ experience working in the fields of nature conservation and community engagement and wants to find as many ways as possible to enable support for people to experience the natural world to support health and wellbeing, and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours.
Fran Curmely is the Senior Health Walk Co-ordinator at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Countryside Trust. Fran develops health walks, activities, projects and partnerships which support the health and wellbeing of communities across and close to Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.
Hannele Kytö is the Fieldwork Manager at Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland and responsible for the ‘Nature to Action’ programme. Innovating and developing are close to her heart and she’s highly engaged to make people understand the importance of nature in rehabilitation.