UCD is delighted to introduce our community to the Green4C Alliance on Interdisciplinary Learning and Entrepreneurial Skills in Green for Health and Social Inclusion.
This three-year Erasmus+ Key Action 2 project is co-funded by the European Union with a budget of €980,000, and co-ordinated by the University of Padua in partnership with UCD, (opens in a new window)Etifor, (opens in a new window)The Austrian Research Centre for Forests, (opens in a new window)The European Forest Institute, (opens in a new window)The Meath Partnership, (opens in a new window)The Transilvania University of Brasov, (opens in a new window)Wageningen University and Research, (opens in a new window)The University of British Columbia, (opens in a new window)Elevate Health, (opens in a new window)Istituto Superiore di Sanità, and (opens in a new window)Forest Design.
Green4C focuses on innovating and promoting nature-based solutions for health, well-being, and social inclusion. Specifically, it aims at improving interdisciplinary skills and encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship attitudes among university undergraduate and graduate students, research staff, and professors across four thematic fields: forest-based care; urban green care; social agriculture; green care tourism.
Activities across these areas include developing mindfulness techniques through contact or observation of forests and woodlands, horticulture therapy initiatives in urban areas, social agriculture as a method of rehabilitation, and green tourism opportunities focused on medical or regenerative interventions. For more information and an introductory video to the project, please see the Green4C website (opens in a new window)here.
Green4C is a wonderful example of what the Erasmus+ Programme 2021-2027 calls an (opens in a new window)Alliance for Innovation. These initiatives are result-driven partnerships between higher education institutions and businesses which aim to strengthen Europe's innovation capacity and foster innovation in higher education and business. They focus on developing new, innovative and multidisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning, stimulating entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial skills of higher education teaching staff and company staff, and facilitating the exchange, flow and co-creation of knowledge between both sectors.
In the true spirit of this initiative, Green4C is actively seeking new members for their network of innovators linking green care activities to the business world. If you or somebody in your network is interested in getting involved, please contact the UCD leads for this project, (opens in a new window)Dr Deirdre O’Connor and (opens in a new window)Professor James Kinsella at the School of Agriculture and Food Science.
New E-Course in Green Care Launched
Green4C is excited to announce the launch of their new e-learning course entitled “Green Care: from academic theory to entrepreneurial practice”. Running from 4 October 2021 to 31 January 2022, Green Care is aimed at students, researchers, and professionals interested in the area of Green Care initiatives, and participants will develop entrepreneurial skills and expertise to implement Green Care solutions to actively promote health, prevent disease and increase opportunities for social inclusion.
This course is free to UCD students. For more information on the course and to apply, please see (opens in a new window)here. UCD students should select the ‘Fee=0’ option on the linked form. Applications close on 29 September 2021