EHCE13-en

SCHOOL

School of Public Health

DEPARTMENT

Department of Public and Community Health

LEVEL OF STUDIES

PG  LEVEL 7

COURSE CODE

EHCE13

SEMESTER

B Elective

COURSE TITLE

Ecotherapy: From theory to practice

COORDINATOR

Konstantina Skanavi

TEACHING ACTIVITIES
If the ECTS Credits are distributed in distinct parts of the course e.g. lectures, labs etc. If the ECTS Credits are awarded to the whole course, then please indicate the teaching hours per week and the corresponding ECTS Credits.

TEACHING HOURS PER WEEK

ECTS CREDITS

                      Seminars, Labs

3

4

Please, add lines if necessary. Teaching methods and organization of the course are described in section 4.

COURSE TYPE

Background, General Knowledge, Scientific Area, Skill Development

Scientific Area, Skill Development

PREREQUISITES:

TEACHING & EXAMINATION LANGUAGE:

English

COURSE OFFERED TO ERASMUS STUDENTS:

ΝΟ

COURSE URL:

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course students will be able to :

·     Understand the basic principles of ecotherapy.

• Accept the importance of implementing ecotherapy.

• Realize the value of environmental awareness.

• Understanding the levels of application of ecotherapy..

• Understanding the role of ecotherapy in general and special education and training 

• Understanding the relationship between educational progress and ecotherapy

General Skills

Search, analysis and synthesis of data and information,

ICT Use

Adaptation to new situations

Decision making

Autonomous work

Teamwork

Working in an international environment

Working in an interdisciplinary environment

Production of new research ideas

Project design and management

Equity and Inclusion

Respect for the natural environment

Sustainability

Demonstration of social, professional and moral responsibility and sensitivity to gender issues

Critical thinking

Promoting free, creative and inductive reasoning

1. Introduction to the concepts of ecosystem, health-medical entities, environment, treatment (person – environment).

2. Philosophy and interdependence of happiness and good biology in human body systems. The need for ecotherapy.

3. Circulation and existence of life: in man, society, the

natural environment. Common axes of structure and treatment

4. Working with systems and scales. The extra-verbal environment, the environmental consciousness and their relationship with biological activities, social and psycho-emotional components of man and community.

5. Ecotherapy Levels. Multiple treatments, multiple

methods of connection and communication with nature (environment). Neurodevelopmental disorders, learning disabilities, emotional disorders, behavioral problems.

6. Emotional geography and human geography. Ecotherapy as biological

therapy and psychotherapy. The environment as a “third space” of treatments and Health assurance.

7. Ecotherapy as a framework to help teachers deal with neurodevelopmental disorders, learning disabilities, emotional disorders, behavioral problems.

8. Experiential and existential dimensions in the restoration of the environment and the human in ecotherapy.

9. The environment as an educational model for all the children. Adopting living standards for prevention emotional disorders and behavioral problems. 

10. Individual and community health management and promotion programs. Ecotherapy models. Relationship with health systems.

11. Digital environment and virtual environment,. Productivity

but also co-morbidity. The higher the technological progress the more

ecotherapeutic needs arise.

12. Studies presentation- Final evaluation

13.  Feedback

TEACHING METHOD
Face to face, Distance learning, etc.

Face to face, Ms Teams

USE OF INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (ICT)
Use of ICT in Teaching, in Laboratory Education, in Communication with students

Eclass.

 Ppt

email

Ms Teams

TEACHING ORGANIZATION

The ways and methods of teaching are described in detail.

Lectures, Seminars, Laboratory Exercise, Field Exercise, Bibliographic research & analysis, Tutoring, Internship (Placement), Clinical Exercise, Art Workshop, Interactive learning, Study visits, Study / creation, project, creation, project. Etc.

The supervised and unsupervised workload per activity is indicated here, so that total workload per semester complies to ECTS standards.

Student Evaluation

Description of the evaluation process

Assessment Language, Assessment Methods, Formative or Concluding, Multiple Choice Test, Short Answer Questions, Essay Development Questions, Problem Solving, Written Assignment, Essay / Report, Oral Exam, Presentation in audience, Laboratory Report, Clinical examination of a patient, Artistic interpretation, Other/Others

Please indicate all relevant information about the course assessment and how students are informed 

Participation in  lectures and seminars is mandatory

The language of evaluation is English .

·        An intermediate  progress study

Submitted to e-class            30%

·        A final study

Submitted to e-class            70%

The evaluation criteria are:

•   scientific methodology

•  bibliographic documentation

Instructions can be found by students in the e-class

• Doherty, T. J. (2016). Theoretical and empirical foundations for ecotherapy. Ecotherapy: Theory, research & practice, 22-48.
• Summers, J. K., & Vivian, D. N. (2018). Ecotherapy–A forgotten ecosystem service: A review. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1389.
• Kras, N. (2021). Exploring the benefits of ecotherapy-based activities at an urban community college. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 45(2), 117-123.
• Burls, A. (2007). People and green spaces: promoting public health and mental well‐being through ecotherapy. Journal of public mental health.
• Wilson, N., Ross, M., Lafferty, K., & Jones, R. (2009). A review of ecotherapy as an adjunct form of treatment for those who use mental health services. Journal of Public Mental Health, 7(3), 23-35.
• Burls, A. (2007). People and green spaces: promoting public health and mental well‐being through ecotherapy. Journal of public mental health.
• Farmer, P. (2014). Ecotherapy for mental health. Journal of Holistic Healthcare, 11(1).
• Kahveci, H., & Göker, P. (2019). Mental health and wellbeing; Ecotherapy. In SETSCI: Conference Proceedings (Vol. 3, pp. 308-311).
• Phelps, C., Butler, C., Cousins, A., & Hughes, C. (2015). Sowing the seeds or failing to blossom? A feasibility study of a simple ecotherapy-based intervention in women affected by breast cancer. ecancermedicalscience, 9.
• Chalquist, C. (2009). A look at the ecotherapy research evidence. Ecopsychology, 1(2), 64-74.
• Clare, S., & Tudor, K. (2023). Ecotherapy Practice: Perceived Obstacles and Solutions. Transactional Analysis Journal, 53(1), 21-37.
• Kalashnikova, I. V., Gontar, O. B., Zhirov, V. K., & Kalashnikov, A. O. (2016). Integrated animal-assisted and plant-assisted ecotherapy for preschool children with speech disturbances: a program for the Arctic. Ecopsychology, 8(2), 79-88.
• Li, D., Larsen, L., Yang, Y., Wang, L., Zhai, Y., & Sullivan, W. C. (2019). Exposure to nature for children with autism spectrum disorder: Benefits, caveats, and barriers. Health &Place, 55, 71-79.
• Charles,C&Wheeler,K.(2012).Children and nature worldwide.An exploration of childrens experiences of the outdoors and nature with associated risks and benefits.

• Collado, S., & Staats, H. (2016). Contact with nature and children’s restorative experiences: an eye to the future. Frontiers in psychology, 7, 1885.
• Sharma-Brymer, V., & Bland, D. (2016). Bringing nature to schools to promote children’s physical activity. Sports Medicine, 46(7), 955-962.
• Mygind, L., Kjeldsted, E., Hartmeyer, R., Mygind, E., Bølling, M., & Bentsen, P. (2019). Mental, physical and social health benefits of immersive nature-experience for children and adolescents: A systematic review and quality assessment of the evidence. Health & place, 58, 102136.
• Asah, S. T., Bengston, D. N., Westphal, L. M., & Gowan, C. H. (2018). Mechanisms of children’s exposure to nature: Predicting adulthood environmental citizenship and commitment to nature-based activities. Environment and Behavior, 50(7), 807-836.
• Keniger, L. E., Gaston, K. J., Irvine, K. N., & Fuller, R. A. (2013). What are the benefits of interacting with nature?. International journal of environmental research and public health, 10(3), 913-935.
• Chawla, L. (2015). Benefits of nature contact for children. Journal of planning literature, 30(4), 433-452.
• Scholl, K. G., & Gulwadi, G. B. (2020). Connecting ecotherapy and well-being. Good Health and Well-Being, 99-109.
• Doherty, T., & Chen, A. (2016). Improving human functioning: Ecotherapy and environmental health approaches. Research methods for environmental psychology, 323-343.
• Umpleby, O. (2018). An interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore how four pre-school children experience an educational activity based on eco-therapy principles.
• Βakogianni, E., Mylonas, F., & Skanavis, C. ENGAGING ECOTHERAPY APPROACHES IN PRIMARY SCHOOL SYSTEM: TEACHERS’PERCEPTIONS. Environmental Communication and Health Promotion, 129.
• Berger, R. (2016). Renewed by nature: Nature therapy as a framework to help people deal with crises, trauma and loss. Ecotherapy: Theory, research and practice, 177-186.
• Shock, R. (2017). Narrative therapy in wonderland connecting with children’s imaginative know-how.
• Greene, T., Spence, R., & Jenkins, B. (2009). The Use of Nature to Address Psychosocial Wellbeing in Children Affected by Conflict.
• Kanner, A., Gomes, M. E., Roszak, T., & Kanner, A. D. (1995). Ecopsychology. Restoring the e healin mind.
• Molin, L. (2018). Integrating Art Therapy and Ecotherapy to Help Young Adults in Higher Education Settings (Doctoral dissertation).
• Davis, K. M., & Atkins, S. S. (2004). Creating and teaching a course in ecotherapy: We went to the woods. The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 43(2), 211-218.
• Shoaib, M., Mubarak, S., & Khan, S. (2020). Towards Ecopedagogy: A Fiction-Based Approach to the Teaching and Learning of the Environment. Bulletin of Education and Research, 42(3), 147-158.