DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-087-0-0224

INTEGRATING NATURE INTO HIGHER EDUCATION: FOREST BATHING

Cihan Seçilmiş¹, Cansev Özdemir¹, İlker Kilic¹, Jitka Fialová², Dastan Bamwesigye², Emilia Janeczko³, Malgorzata Woznicka³, Krzysztof Czyżyk³, Linas Daubaras⁴, Vaida Vaitkute⁴, Pietro Picuno⁵

¹ Department of Tourism Management, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, 26040, Eskisehir, Turkiye

² Department of Landscape Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czechia

³ Institute of Forest Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland

⁴ Faculty of environmental engineering, Lietuvos Inzinerijos Kolegija Higher Education Institution, Tvirtovės Av. 35, LT-50155 Kaunas, Lithuania

⁵ Department of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Sciences —DAFE, University of Basilicata, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano n°10, 85100 Potenza, PZ, Italy

With the advances in technology, people are increasingly moving away from nature.  This situation also leads to negative consequences in terms of mental health. It has become necessary to correct this and increase interaction with nature. In addition to the positive aspects of individuals spending more time in nature in terms of health, contact with nature also increases innovative and creative thinking. In addition, the intertwining of nature and education contributes to the development of positive attitudes towards the environment.
This project, which includes benefiting from nature, contributes to the development of people’s emotional skills, increases individuals’ communication skills, and supports well-being by discovering their creative sides. Our project provides a perspective on how individuals can benefit from nature to overcome emotional crises. In addition, trainings help to support the formation of a bond with nature by increasing the effectiveness of both education and training between educators and students. In addition, it is expected to directly contribute to the wellbeing of women and the elderly, who are among the disadvantaged groups.

Keywords: Moodle, students, study materials, nature benefits

pages: 224-228, Published: 2026, online: 2026