Webinar: Ways to Wellbeing in Nature
We invite you to the next EUROPARC webinar “Ways to Wellbeing in Nature – Activating Parks and Protected Areas as natural health centres”.
- 14.12.2022
- 10:00 CET
- Participation is free, but registration is needed here
About this webinar
Scientific evidence indicates that people’s health and happiness increase when they are connected with nature. Yet we are experiencing tangible biodiversity loss associated with removal of places for nature being replaced by buildings, industry, roads and other infrastructure, not to mention the challenges of climate change.
Access to nature is essential for human health and Covid-19 lockdowns have unveiled how important green areas are for our mental and physical well-being.
Healthy Parks Healthy People is the Europe-wide programme developed by EUROPARC Federation to supports parks and Protected Areas at the national, regional and local level to deliver better outcomes for the health of people and nature.
In this webinar, we will dive into experiences from Parks and Protected Areas in England and Germany as natural health centres focusing primarily on mental health. We will look at the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ approach to positive mental health and wellbeing in nature and show how the HPHPe toolkit can be a compass to support current and future planning and programme implementation of these and similar initiatives.
The programme
1. Setting the scene – Peter Rawcliffe, EUROPARC Federation Council
Welcome and introduction to the webinar
Five Ways to Wellbeing in nature
2. Case Studies
Connecting communities with nature to help support mental health through Green Social Prescribing – Peak District National Park Authority, England – Jo Hanney, Ranger
Green Care – Nature and Mental Health – Berchtesgadener Land Biosphere Region, Germany – Meike Krebs-Fehrmann, Scientific Officer
3. Using the HPHPe Toolkit to realise health projects – Bridget Finton, NatureScot
4. Final questions and conclusions – Peter Rawcliffe, EUROPARC Federation Council
Our speakers
Peter Rawcliffe – Head of People and Places Activity in NatureScot, and Chair of EUROPARC Federation’s Health and Protected Areas Commission
Peter Rawcliffe is both EUROPARC Federation Council Member and Vice-President. Additionally, he is a member of the IUCN specialist group on health and wellbeing and part of the current working group on COVID19 and Protected Areas. He has over 25 years of work experience and comes from a background of academic qualifications in the environmental and political sciences (BSc and PhD), consultancy work on planning, transport and conservation policy, and environmental education.
Jo Hanney – Learning and Discovery Ranger, Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA)
Jo Hanney has over 20 years’ experience of creating and delivering engagement opportunities for the PDNPA. She is a skilled facilitator with experience of connecting with a wide range of audiences. She currently leads on the delivery of the “Health and Wellbeing” strand of the PDNPA’s Diverse Audience Plan (2020-2024); one of the outcomes of this is “A National Park loved and supported by diverse audiences”. She is happiest when she is out and about in nature in the Peak District National Park introducing this protected landscape to new audiences.
