Countryside

Research:

- OPENspace research is concerned with inclusive access to outdoor environments for everyone; for disabled people, for minority ethnic groups, for children and young people and their carers, for older people and for economically or socially disadvantaged groups. OPENspace has an international reputation as a leading research centre, able to address policy level and strategic research needs and provide advice for a range of government funded agencies and professional groups.

Database:

- The Therapeutic Landscapes Resource Center is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing information to the public about restorative landscapes, healing gardens, wellness gardens, and other research-based healthcare design

Best Practices:

Care Farms:

What are care farms?
Agricultural production and care are going side by side. Care farms combine agricultural production and care. In most cases everything starts from an already existing farm. This will remain a farm, only now with a side branch of care.

- Het Landelijk Steunpunt Landbouw & Zorg : is an organization that focusses on all agriculture- care combinations in the Netherlands. Goals are stimulation, promotion and support of promising and successful initiatives.

Documentation Care Farms:

- Trimbos institute can be contacted regarding research they have done .

- Project: National en regional knowledge network for innovation of care farms

Other Best Practices:

- Health walks : WHI is the 'Walking the way to Health Initiative' and it aims to get more people walking in their own communities, especially those who take little exercise or live in areas of poor health. The concept of Health Walks was started by an Oxfordshire GP, Dr William Bird, for his patients at Sonning Common Health Centre in April 1995.WHI is an initiative of the British Heart Foundation and the Countryside Agency. It benefits from extra funding from the Big Lottery Fund. WHI has helped to create over 350 local health walk schemes and has trained over 20,000 volunteer walk leaders. Since 2000, it is estimated that they have encouraged over a million people to walk more.

- The Therapeutic Landscapes Resource Center is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing information to the public about restorative landscapes, healing gardens, wellness gardens, and other research-based healthcare design.