We are delighted to announce the launch of an International project promoting Wellbeing from Nature in the Inishowen area. The LEADER funded Co-Operation project will bring together local action groups from West Finland and the Maltese island of Gozo in a knowledge exchange around Green Care and nature-induced wellbeing.

The IDP’s project goal is to highlight, to locals and visitors, the health and wellbeing benefits of Inishowen’s incredible nature. Groups and businesses, working in wellness and with nature, will be offered support in new business models, joint promotion, and service development. The project will build on how the natural areas of Inishowen are used for wellbeing and promoting health tourism.

The international cooperative nature of the project will see the IDP take part in workshops and benchmarking that will help in the development of experience-based products and collective marketing campaigns. Our partners in Finland and Malta will work with the IDP to demonstrate the positive health impact of wellness in nature. “This project has been in development for the past number of months and with the uncertainty of the pandemic we were unsure if it would get approved under this LEADER timeline but we are delighted with the interest and positive response in the project to date”, outlined Andrew Ward, IDP’s Joint CEO who manages the programme implementation of LEADER in Inishowen.

The project will help to develop new services and opportunities for people to use nature areas for supporting wellness and tourism. It will offer a clear message and increased visibility of Inishowen as a destination for seeking wellness from nature, which local businesses and groups can leverage.

Shauna McClenaghan, Joint CEO of the IDP said of the Wellness from Nature project, “This venture is timely, as the necessary lifestyle changes over the last 12 months have seen an increased appreciation of Inishowen’s natural resources and an ongoing concern for the mental health and wellbeing of our community. Using the knowledge of the International project partners we believe that the Wellness from Nature action will offer an overarching message of Inishowen as a destination to experience the health benefits from natural surroundings.”

The project will be supported by Carlene Lyttle from business consultancy Sailespin, and will also be tapping into ideas brought into our recent Envision Inishowen forums. The project will run until June 2022 and interested groups can get more information from contacting the IDP on [email protected] or Carlene Lyttle at [email protected].