Case Studies

Below are a series of case studies about designed projects and programs that connect people with nature. To search design projects, click on case studies called PLACE. For programs, click on case studies called PROGRAMS. We hope you will look at all the incredible case studies that prioritize nature and health.

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Perennial gardens are filled with plants blooming in shades of purple and pink, with a bench in the background.

Place

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Patient Tower

Park Ridge, IL

Two youths and two adults proudly hold up fishing poles as they stand on a wooden dock overlooking the lake on a partly sunny day. A forest surrounds the lakes’ borders in the background, with deep green trees lining the horizon. Everyone smiles for the picture, and the two youths are giving a thumbs-up sign.

Program

Baztec Fishing & Outdoors

Minneapolis, MN

Four sticks are bound together by twine, creating a frame around pink-colored leaves and pink paper hearts that say “I LOVE YOU MOM” in a child’s handwriting.

Program

Bearfoot Occupational Therapy

San Francisco, CA

Six individuals wear helmets and life vests and hold paddles while riding in an inflatable raft. The raft is in water that is white with churning waves and flows through a rocky landscape.

Program

Beyond Boundaries

Richmond, VA

A group of youth participants diligently march in a line with their backpacking gear along a sunny mountain trail, which is dense with green foliage and speckled with yellow and white wildflowers.Towering deep green pine trees fill the horizon behind the participants.

Program

Big City Mountaineers

Arvada, CO

A group of volunteers hike in a line along a thin trail as they make their way to their work site, where they will be doing trail work for the day. Thin trees cover the trail ahead of them, and in the distance are the silhouettes of vast mountains. The clear blue sky overhead promises a sunny day.

Program

Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation

Hungry Horse, MT

A girl, equipped with climbing gear, glances down and beams with pride as she scales a rocky slope that is completely vertical. Her body, which boasts a straight and confident posture, is supported by a harness that leads to the top of the slope. The sky above is a muted blue color, with wisps of clouds trailing by.

Program

Brown Girls Climb INC

Brooklyn, NY

Aerial view shows the meandering Buffalo Bayou waterway, grassy banks, and paved walkways.

Place

Buffalo Bayou Promenade

Houston, TX

Six participants in hiking gear pose for the camera while making the numbers and letters C5LA with their hands. The scenery behind them is a desert terrain, filled with greenery despite the heat.

Program

C5LA

Los Angeles, CA

Undeterred, a large group of students are gathered for a picture outside in the rain in a wooded area, some beneath umbrellas and others getting wet.

Program

Campus Nature Rx Network

Throughout the US

A climber who uses a wheelchair belays another climber during an adaptive climbing program in Murfreesboro, TN. Another person in a wheelchair is watching the belayer and climber on the climbing wall. A volunteer is standing behind the belayer with her arms raised in the air. Ropes hang from the climbing wall in front of the belayer in his wheelchair.

Program

Catalyst Sports

Atlanta, GA

Two women sit across from each other in foldable chairs. With small smiles on their faces, both lean forward as they compare the leaves they hold in their hands. The ground itself is thickly blanketed with red, brown, and yellow leaves—the crisp colors of autumn.

Program

Center for Nature Informed Therapy

Towson, MD

A crowded hill, full of playing children of all ages, blurred as the image captures them in motion. In the background, tall trees provide some shade from the sun.

Place

CHAMPS (Chelsea Anderson Memorial Play Station) at Marshall Park

Vancouver, WA

Colorado AgrAbility’s logo; the motto reads “Cultivating Accessible Agriculture.”

Program

Colorado AgrAbility Project

Colorado

A young boy with blonde hair sits in a small plastic sled in a shallow stream surrounded by lush foliage. Holding a stick and wearing a red shirt and black pants he is enjoying an outdoor adventure.

Program

ConnectByNature Therapy Services

Fenwick, ON

The gated entrance to DUG’s community garden. A canopy of green leaves hangs above the gate like an awning.

Program

Denver Urban Gardens (DUG)

Denver, CO

Walkers, bike riders, and segway scooter riders are sharing the non motorized roadway which is seen going under an overpass. To the right of the path are plazas with benches, cement walkways, grasses, and trees.

Place

Dequindre Cut Greenway

Detroit, MI

An Adventure Group participant rides a recumbent trike with his service dog on a sunny day. Behind their path are some trees and scrub, separating them from the main road.

Program

Destination Rehab

Bend, OR

A participant is in a sit ski for a picture, with a DREAM volunteer and a seasonal staff employee posing on either side of her. The scenery behind them is an open ski slope covered with snow that shines bright from the sunlight.

Program

DREAM Adaptive Recreation

Whitefish, Montana

Pedestrians and bicyclists on wide paths surrounded by mown areas and prairie grasses with waterway in background.

Place

Dune Peninsula at Point Defiance Park

Tacoma, WA

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