Forest Therapy Hub Executive Director (Barcelona) – FTHub Method and LIM Model for Forest Therapy Interventions
Alex Gesse has a postgraduate degree in Business Administration and an E-MBA at EAE Business School of Barcelona. He is finishing a degree in Sociology and studying a degree in Psychology. He is a Public Health and Forestry advisor to the Union of South European Foresters (USSE) and other public institutions. He has collaborated as a consultant specialist in the Expert Group on Human Health and Wellbeing to Forest Europe. Within his work with the Forest Therapy Hub, together with a multidisciplinary team, he has developed The FTHub Method and the Liquid Interactions Model (LIM) for Forest Therapy. This broader and integrative approach brings together the latest scientific evidence in nature and health and traditional approaches, nowadays known as nature connectedness (or relational approaches to nature). FTHub has manualized programs for health prevention, specific mental health populations and children at risk of social exclusion. The FTHub Method and the LIM Model are based on more than 20 Forest Therapy pilot projects and research conducted in collaboration with universities and other institutions. FTHub projects have been referred to as case examples in several international publications and congresses from different geographies. Alex is the author of “Feel the Forest: The experience of Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing), Penguin Random House Editorial Group, and co-author of “Baños de Bosque: 50 Rutas Para Sentir La Naturaleza” (Forest Bathing: 50 Routes to Feel Nature), Petit Fute, and “Feasibility and experience of a Forest Therapy intervention for adults enduring stress” (Forests for Public Health, Chapter 6, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2020).