The aim of the project, in addition to professionalizing the organizations involved, is to enable people to use the scientifically proven benefits for mental and physical health by conducting mindfulness training in a natural environment to create a conscious connection to our living space that motivates us to protect nature and the environment. To this end, we in the consortium collected exercises and methods and carried them out in different natural environments and looked at the GreenComp, the European competence framework for sustainability. This resulted in a flipbook that can be used by people in various courses or privately. In addition to the methods and exercises, there is a section on the GreenComp to introduce it to interested people and promote it and its use in adult education. Another goal was to network with a new partner organization that works in the same field but in a different country, and whose employees are getting to know and learn from each other. The enthusiasm with which everyone involved worked and with which the result was received by experts shows us that we have achieved our goal.
Both partner organizations work with various mindfulness exercises on a daily basis and have had initial ideas about using them in a natural environment. At the TCA “Going green in Erasmus+” in Hamburg, the idea came up to use this practice to help people develop a greater appreciation and awareness of the environment. This is because the climate catastrophe urgently requires different approaches to promote environmental awareness and minimize the negative effects humans have on the planet. Mindfulness, the ability to perceive present experiences consciously and without judgment, has a proven positive impact on environmental awareness and thus contributes to environmental protection. Another benefit is that mindfulness training can help to deal with the worries, stress and strain that the omnipresent consequences of climate change are causing for many people. In addition, even after the brief contact at the TCA, both organizations were very interested in learning about new methods of coaching, mindfulness and stress competence training taught by the other, and to expand these together to include the aspect of outdoor implementation.