5 Comments
Oct 3Liked by Dr. Mariana Calleja Ross

A fascinating post and great work, Mariana! As part of my day job, I recently interviewed a scientist in Hong Kong who's researching this area. Interestingly, they have even found that a virtual exposure to nature can have a beneficial impact on well-being.

Expand full comment
author

Thank you Jeffrey! And that's so interesting. I see that in gyms, physical training in cities without much greenery or views, and also hospitals sometimes, particularly children's hospitals which are so lively, full of colours and joy through images, etc. I wonder how much of a difference it could make if adults hospitals had welcoming stuff like that too. Hospital gardens are becoming more and more of a thing and it's maybe the equivalent somehow? This is all definitely something to encourage. Love it!

Expand full comment
Sep 30Liked by Dr. Mariana Calleja Ross

This is so amazing Mariana! A couple of years ago, I went back to uni to study for a Master of Environment. As part of that, I studied therapeutic horticulture and the health and wellbeing benefits of gardening - using nature in hospitals and schools and as a prescription to improve mental health. The research on this is so interesting and goes back decades. So much more research was done during Covid lockdowns, showing how much better off people were who had access to gardens and nature. Anyway, it's so great to see you moving into this space!

Expand full comment
author

Andrea hi!!! This is so great to hear, amazingly cool and important about that master you did. It's difficult sometimes in hospitals when they don't prioritise yet a budget for these things but I want to hope that little by little it's being done. I've always thought too on how to take my views and teaching to schools, especially smaller kids so that emotional health foundations can be there as early as possible. Change is possible! I 100% believe in this work. I'm determined to keep taking my fun outdoors talks and new ideas forward more and more. ✨🙌🏻 Thanks for being here!💜😉

Expand full comment
Oct 2Liked by Dr. Mariana Calleja Ross

Therapeutic gardens are growing in hospitals but there isn't much budget for it here either. Many schools here have edible gardens and native gardens too, which is really nice. Also, a lot of the larger new apartment developments have veggie gardens as part of the common areas, which is great for those of us who live in apartments. I love everything we can do to make gardening more accessible! You can't go wrong with it, imo.

Expand full comment