Rediscovering South Baltic Forests as Places for Mental Healing and Active Recreation

Short title: Back2Woods

Funding reference number: 03.01-IP.01-0005/25

Project period: Sept 2025 – Sept 2028

Project budget: 423.750 €

Research focus:

Focus 1 (since 02/2024): Knowledge Society, Sustainable Mobility and Value Creation in the Global Transformation

Structural unit:

Wismar Business School

Project management:

Prof. Dr. math. Gunnar Prause

Funding:

European Union (EU - Interreg)

Two women in dresses stand smiling, facing the viewer head-on. A forest can be seen in the background. — Research associate Geertje Wehry (left) and Dr. Laima Gerlitz, head of the European Project Center, are looking forward to spend more time in the forest.
Source: Wismar University of Applied Sciences/KB

The European Project Center is focusing on forests with its Back2Woods project. A total of eleven project partners are working on the implementation under the leadership of Wismar University of Applied Sciences.

The idea behind “Back2Woods” is to exploit the existing potential of the forests in the southern Baltic Sea region. To this end, the concept of the spa and healing forest in Heringsdorf, Usedom, is to be further developed and a cross-border tourist product created. A project consortium consisting of forestry, health, and cultural experts, among others, will carry out a total of five pilot tests in the southern Baltic Sea region. Based on the results, the “Destination Forest” brand will be developed and established within the project, which will continue to exist as a quality feature even after the project has been completed.