Nádúr and Ecowellness Consulting were delighted to train 12 Forest Bathing Guides for Ecotourism in the Garden of Ireland, Co Wicklow. The launch of the project took place on the 29th of October ’21 in the beautiful Glenview Hotel, Co Wicklow. This pilot ecotourism training programme initiative was developed by Co. Wicklow Partnership, Ecowellness Consulting and funded under the LEADER Rural Development Fund 2014-2020. It was run in partnership with the Entrepreneurs Academy and took place over 6 months.
A core vision and aim of County Wicklow Partnership, in 2021, is to actively promote the concept of ‘Wellness’ in the County following the Covid-19 pandemic. With a wealth of stunning, publicly accessible forests to avail of, which already attract huge visitor numbers in terms of hill walkers, day trippers, etc from both a national and international audience, it is felt that this project will enhance the overall visitor experience to the County.
To ensure the success and sustainability of this project the ecotourism training had two tracks, the Forest Bathing Guide training, and the Entrepreneur training. The Forest Bathing Guides undertook three months of blended online training and three days of nature immersive training in magical Glendalough, Wicklow Mountain National Park. They also received three months of mentoring from leading industry expert Kerry Walker of The Nature Hub. Guides completed a two-day outdoor first aid training to ensure the safety of their participants. The 14-week Entrepreneur training included business ideation, communications, strategic planning, finance, delegation, sales, networking, marketing, online presence, legal, HR, technology, and leadership
Ahead of the Forest Bathing launch, Brian Carty, CEO at County Wicklow Partnership said: “Our own well-being, that of our staff here at CWP, our colleagues and the many clients within the wider community that we work to support is of key importance to us here, especially when we consider the busy, stressful lives we all live now.
“So many of us are looking for a way to slow down, destress and take time out from the daily grind to look after our mental health. Both the company, the board of CWP and the Local Community Development Committee are today delighted to announce the launching of this project and to see our new 12 fully trained guides working to make Wicklow the centre of Forest Bathing.”
Forest Bathing comes under the umbrella of nature-based solutions for health and well-being. There is currently an international focus on the development of new green jobs in forest-based care for both the ecotourism and green care sectors.
The programme launch was a great success with the newly trained Forest Bathing Guides offering forest bathing taster sessions to participants.
Nádúr actively promotes the creation of new green jobs in the ecotourism and forestry sector. We are very fortunate to have Mr. Diarmuid McAree of the UNECE/FAO/ILO Team of Specialists in the Forest Sector as one of our trusted advisors. In 2018 , Nádúr Managing Director Shirley Gleeson presented her work on Forest Therapy to the United Nations at the Workshop “ Green Forest Jobs, Exploring Opportunities and Increasing the Capacity of UNECE member states” In Geneva, Switzerland.
Nádúr provides training to individuals and organisations in Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy. If you are interested in our organisational training please email info@nadurforesttherapy.com
Recent Comments