Planting flowers, turning soil or observing butterflies – spending time outdoors has well-established health benefits. While life sciences students already have regular access to the extensive gardens of the Grüental campus in Wädenswil, future healthcare professionals at the Winterthur campus do not have the same opportunity. The planned Garden Habitat learning module aims to change this.
Students from various Schools, together with senior citizens, will gain practical experience in the garden, learn new skills and engage in exchange. The initiative is grounded in the holistic concept of planetary health, which does not reduce health merely to the physical level, but also encompasses the social, mental and environmental dimensions.
Students and senior citizens will form small groups and agree on a specific project topic, such as stinging nettles or mushrooms. “The teams will explore different aspects of a chosen plant, including its role within the ecosystem, cultivation, harvesting and processing,” explains Andrea Glässel from the Institute of Public Health, who has developed the programme together with Dorit van Meel from the Institute of Natural Resource Sciences and a wider project team. Afterwards, participants will be expected to present their findings in an interactive format. Alongside the group projects, topics such as ecology, biodiversity and sustainability will be explored in greater depth through online learning units, encouraging participants to reflect on them.
Promoting future skills
The module is designed to ensure that future healthcare professionals can apply the knowledge they gain in their later careers. For example, physiotherapists could encourage their patients to spend more time outdoors, while nursing staff at a care home or rehabilitation centre could take patients out into the garden, explains Glässel. “Physical activity in green spaces helps manage stress, improves mood and enhances cognitive functioning.” However, Glässel emphasises that personal experience itself is at least as important. The course focuses less on pure output and more on fostering so-called future skills, such as systems thinking and collaboration.
According to Dorit van Meel, prospective environmental engineers are generally already more familiar with nature- and environment-related issues than students in the healthcare professions. Nevertheless, they too stand to benefit greatly from the new module: “By interacting with people from other disciplines, they should learn to develop a common language and to communicate their expertise in a way that others can understand.” This skill becomes particularly valuable when working later with non-profit organisations or associations, explains van Meel. “Biodiversity is always about people as well.”
Building bridges between generations
The design of the module was also informed by feedback from interviews with students and older individuals conducted by Simone Höller as part of her Master’s thesis. In the project presentation film, for example, an occupational therapy student who took part in the pilot project says: “I see it as an enormous enrichment, allowing participants to connect with one another and with nature.” Another student is looking forward to working on a hands-on project together with others, regardless of whether it succeeds or not. Meanwhile, one senior participant views the initiative as an opportunity to meet new people. “That will probably also help to build bridges between the generations.”
The module includes two practical days on the Grüental campus, with additional time devoted to deeper exploration. The elective module is to be worth one ECTS credit. Each offering will accommodate around 15 students and about five older participants. Most of the latter will be retired individuals who spend time in the public gardens in Wädenswil and are willing to share their experience and knowledge. However, further funding is needed before the Garden Habitat module can be held for the first time.
Following an initial launch involving health sciences and environmental engineering students, Dorit van Meel can envisage the module expanding and being opened up to other Schools. “Sustainability and the health-promoting effects of nature should become an integral part of future degree programmes,” says the biologist and lecturer. “One of our visions is a campus garden in Winterthur where people of all ages can come together, learn from one another and draw inspiration from nature.”
