ENERGY

About Project

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed that stress is more widespread than ever before and is the “health epidemic of the 21st century.” On other hand, we all are paying the price of our urban way of living, with rare access to the natural environment and outdoor spaces. According to the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, “we need nature in our lives” to improve our psycho-physical health and that of the Planet. Natural spaces are increasingly recognized as an opportunity for preventive health. Experiencing and connecting with natural environments help reduce psycho-physical stress, boost our immune system, increase positivity and vitality, and stimulate social cohesion and physical activity.

Addressing these needs and challenges of a big number of professionals and supporting them with innovative VET programs is the main goal of the ENERGY project.

The ENERGY project aims to provide an innovative solution introducing green care wellness programs and methods to the problem of work-related stress, faced by an increasing number of professionals and organisations.

With the chosen topic of green care and wellness, including mental and physical health, the ENERGY project will increase awareness about the environment, develop nature-based competencies, and address ‘green’ topics, like Forest-based Care, Urban Green Care, Sustainable Lifestyles, Mindful Use of Natural Resources, etc.

Using an innovative VET-based approach the ENERGY project will provide a balanced mix of vocational skills and create work-based learning opportunities, which will directly reflect on numerous professionals and organisations, encouraging the transformation to more healthy and caring work environments and stress-resilient and more productive professionals.

Learn more about the project: https://energywellnessprogram.com/

Partners

Education, Research & Consultancy Center – ERCC

Institute for Research in Environment, Civil Engineering and Energy – IECE

Creative Thinking Development – CreThiDev

European culture and sport organization – ECOS

Basketball Federation of North Macedonia – BFNM

INDEPCIE SCA

Results

Needs Analysis – survey and benchmarking

The program was built on evidence from 125 professionals and a review of existing wellness training. The survey Challenges and needs professionals have related to work stress and wellness covered North Macedonia (27%), Italy (22%), Greece (19%), Lithuania (16%), Spain (12%) and a few other countries; 67% of respondents were women and 33% men, from 59 industries (education 27%, health care 10.3%).

Key findings:

Main stressors: heavy workload and deadlines, lack of support and planning, difficult relationships, lack of recognition, poor work-life balance, uncertainty and change.
Stress levels: 54% reported high stress at work; 57% reported emotional exhaustion and difficulty disconnecting from work.
Coping: 14% used no well-being measures; 77% reported at least one unhealthy coping behaviour (e.g. poor eating, smoking, alcohol, little sleep, overthinking).
Readiness: strong interest in yoga, meditation, outdoor and nature activities, group activities and exercise; most were willing to give 1–3 hours per week to a program.

The benchmarking analysis reviewed existing programs (63% online, 25% offline, 12% apps) and identified five best practices that shaped ENERGY: step-by-step behaviour change, outdoor activities, science-based tools with pre/post self-assessment, flexible self-paced learning, and cognitive-behavioural methods.

Read more about the Needs analysis here.

ENERGY VET Training Program – the Green Care Wellness Program

The core result is a free online program of 30 short courses (2–8 weeks, 3–8 hours of workload each), with each partner developing five. Courses are described in the Handbook with units, learning outcomes, duration and workload. Find more details in the program.

ENERGY Practicum and Toolkit

The Practicum turns the courses into workplace action. It is aimed at facilitators – HR staff, managers, trainers and wellness champions – and is delivered through the Energy Facilitators course. It contains:

Strategy guide in 6 steps: define vision and goals; assess employee needs; choose green care practices; engage stakeholders; plan implementation; monitor and adjust.
Personalised action plan assignment: participants design a Green Care Wellness Program plan for a real or hypothetical organisation (4–5 page document or 10–15 slides), covering vision, needs assessment, at least three nature-based practices, stakeholder plan, implementation and KPIs.
ENERGY Toolkit: standardised tests and self-assessments mapped to each course, such as the Toronto Mindfulness Scale, Perceived Restorativeness at Work Scale, Ryff Scales of Psychological Wellbeing, Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, COPE scale, VIA Character Strengths and a habit tracker, plus exercises and guidelines.
Management Standards and ENERGY alignment: how to gain management buy-in, set up a steering group, run a well-being risk assessment (qualitative methods, HSE Indicator Tool, COPSOQ), evaluate risks, implement an action plan and follow up.

Discover more via this link.

Guidelines and Policy Recommendations

The recommendations show organisations how green care, mental health and physical health interventions address the six HSE Management Standards areas of work-related stress: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. For each area they list concrete management actions, for example natural elements and plants in offices, a workplace garden, outdoor breaks and walking meetings, nature-based team building and conflict resolution workshops, a green-care buddy system, and outdoor briefings during organisational change.

They are complemented by:

Nature-based mental health tools for facilitators: forest bathing (shinrin-yoku), nature journaling, outdoor yoga and meditation, therapeutic gardening, eco-art therapy.
Guidelines for a healthy and sustainable environment: regular contact with nature, nature-based mindfulness, peer support, education on green care benefits, sustainable practices.
Good practices (case studies): PwC Be Well, Work Well, Mahou San Miguel’s Happiness Area and Chief Happiness Officer, and wellness initiatives at Microsoft, Asana, Motley Fool and Zappos.

Discover more about the Guidelines and the Policies from this document.

Dissemination – conference paper
Enhancing Well-being through the Energy Wellness Program (A. Taneva-Veshoska, A. Batuchina, J. Šešeika, K. Antikj Georgievski, M. Giannacourou, S. Moliterni, J.C. León, V. Shapkarina, V. Georgievski) presents the research base, the program design and its three pillars.
Read the full conference paper here.