Second Local Living Lab in Slovakia – GREENHEALTH in motion
On the 2nd of August 2023 the National Park Administration Stakčín hosted the second Local Living Lab of the GREENHEALTH project in Slovakia. The main topic was the discussion of the regional study for Slovakia but the discussion was much richer and participants were sharing views and engagement plans.
Jana Szidorová presented the results of the work on the regional study, briefed the participants on the analysis of the study area, the statistics, the links to regional and local political instruments, the SWOT analysis. The study was the result of a collective effort among stakeholders and allows a good start of the project implementation.
The Director of National Park Poloniny, Ing. Burak announced the willingness of the Park to fully participate in GREENHEALTH and focus on the inclusion of persons with disabilities. The Park Administration is keen to provide more opportunities to this group to access and enjoy nature.
The Prešov Self Governing Region (PSK) was inviting the audience in thinking about the best practices that could be shared with other GREENHEALTH regions. PSK underlined that some good experiences, e.g. forest therapy, were identified already but others would need to be collected.
At the meeting, the activities of the organisation Lesnnykupel were introduced. Since 2019 they have organised various activities focused on healing stays in nature, associated with phytotherapy. These are either short-term or multi-day activities currently in the Košice region. With the financial assistance of the region (Terra Incognita), the organisation has built a forest trail. The healing walks include phytotherapy – work with medicinal plants and the production of tinctures and other ointments. The initiative has proven to have a positive effect on the body and overall relaxation. The first clients were nurses. The therapy itself can be done anywhere, even at medical facilities.
In 2022 Ministry of Education gave the organisation an accreditation for forest therapy training. The aim is to train other providers on this therapy and thus expand the services further.It has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Faculty of Architecture of the Slovak University of Technology.
Zuzana Burdová from the Aevis Foundation also shared some of their current activities - guided walks through the forest. There are also also possibilities of overnight stays in nature.
Daniela Galandová from Poloniny NP presented the plans of the NP for the next period. NP after the change of the law, the NP gained legal personality, and in particular several new competences, allowing greater flexibility to develop new themes, including Healthy Parks Healthy People Europe.
At the end of the meeting, Jana Szidorová shares the plan to organise the GREENHEALTH Slovakian Regional Launching Conference in October and invites all key stakeholders to contribute.