Event: The Accessible Forest (EU-cofunded project) — FREE online conference (19 Sept 2025) 

Link to recordings & info: https://www.accessibleforest.com/en/ 

Invited talk: The Forgotten Population and the Importance of Nature for Regular Migrants  

Presenter: Dr. Anna Baran (Karlstad University), representing the EU-cofunded ELLIPSE Resilience Enhancement ERE project   

Why did we present ERE? 

We brought ERE to The Accessible Forest to bridge  rights  and practice: if forests are to benefit everyone, then evidence on how nature regulates stress, restores attention, and strengthens social belonging must be translated into universal design and reasonable accommodation on the ground. Presenting “The Forgotten Population and the Importance of Nature for Regular Migrants,” Dr. Anna Baran connected wellbeing mechanisms with practical access – clear wayfinding, calming places, and multilingual information – so people with disabilities and migrants can participate safely and with dignity. For foresters, rangers, and nature educators, ERE offered insights that help support both people with disabilities and migrants’ resilience.   

Highlights: 

How forests boost wellbeing – key mechanisms 

• Stress regulation: brief nature exposure lowers stress biomarkers and supports parasympathetic activity (calmer heart and breath). 

• Attention restoration & mood: natural settings help replenish directed attention, improve mood, and reduce rumination. 

• Social connection & safety: shared outdoor activities strengthen belonging and reduce isolation. 

• Environmental buffering: trees mitigate heat and air pollution—public-health gains that matter most to vulnerable groups. 

Who participated? 

• People working in/with forests & nature sectors: adopt universal design and reasonable accommodation (clear wayfinding, resting points, step-free routes, multisensory signage) to make programs usable by all. 

• Teachers/educators: integrate short, structured outdoor sessions (10–20 minutes) to improve attention and reduce stress. 

• People with disabilities: CRPD Article 30 affirms the right to enjoy recreation in nature; accessible trails and supports enable participation and autonomy. 

• Migrants: co-designed, multilingual activities in welcoming, clearly signed green areas foster belonging, language practice, and resilience – with opt-in participation for those with difficult forest associations. 

Where to learn more? 

Watch the recordings and see good practices: https://www.accessibleforest.com/en/ 

References: 

• Twohig-Bennett, C., & Jones, A. (2018). The health benefits of the great outdoors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of greenspace exposure and health outcomes. Environmental Research, 166, 628–637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.06.030 
• Barboza, E. P., Cirach, M., Khomenko, S., et al. (2021). Green space and mortality in European cities: A health impact assessment study. The Lancet Planetary Health, 5(10), e718–e730. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00229-1 
• United Nations. (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) — Article 30. https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html 
• Gentin, S., Rai, S., & Plieninger, T. (2019). Nature-based integration of immigrants in Europe: A review. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 43, 126379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2019.126379 

Event: International Suicide Prevention Symposium – “Beyond the Myths” (Kraków, 18 Sept 2025)  

Link to event: ispskrakow.pl 

Talk: How digital learning solutions can empower professionals and communities in suicide prevention and postvention   

Presenter/co-organizer & co-chair: Dr. Anna Baran (Karlstad University), representing the EU-cofunded ELLIPSE Resilience Enhancement ERE project   

Why did we present ERE? 

We presented ERE at ISPS Kraków to show how digital, multilingual learning can empower universities and frontline services to act on suicide prevention and postvention -quickly, at scale, and with quality. Tracing the journey from ELLIPSE (2019 -2022) and ELLIPSE Postvention (2023–2024) to ERE (2025-2027), we highlighted how lived-experience insight, clinician expertise, and media-communication guidance have already produced open e-courses and handbooks used by teachers, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and students. ERE will extend this work with more interactivity, updates, and a cross-country higher-education survey (students, academic staff, and campus services) to map training needs and close gaps – so curricula, placements, and support services can align with what actually helps learners and patients. This work extends worldwide thanks to the engagement of over 100 members of the Special Interest Group in Education and Training in Suicide Prevention at International Association of Suicide Prevention, co-funded by Dr Anna Baran and other members of the ELLIPSE project in September 2023, with the aim of supporting the development of suicide prevention education in Europe and beyond. 

Highlights: 

ELLIPSE Project Series journey (2019 → 2027): 

• ELLIPSE (2019–2022) led by Region Blekinge:  Erasmus+ project that launched open, certified multilingual (EN/DE/NO/HU/PL/SE/UA) e-learning for gatekeepers (students and professionals helping people in crisis – doctors, nurses, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers,  police, fire fighters, rescuers, teachers, priests, and journalists) based on their lived experience and suicidology researchers videointerviews, with a 12-Steps Safety Plan webapp; handbooks and media-communication guidance. ellipse.12stepsplan.com 

• ELLIPSE Postvention (2023–2024) – led by SPES Blekinge: short Erasmus+ follow-on with a multilingual postvention e-course(EN/PL/SV) and webinars for youth, suicide-loss support, and guidance for health & social care. ellipse.12stepsplan.com 

• ELLIPSE Resilience Enhancement  – ERE (2025–2027): led by Karlstad University; expands interactivity, updates materials, and extends access from to Germany, Lithuania and Spain. An international survey mapping how students, academic teachers, and student mental-health services are educated/trained in suicide prevention across European higher education—aimed at identifying needs, gaps and priorities (will convert results to inform ERE curriculum rollout). 

Who participated? 

• More than 150 university teachers & students; psychiatrists/physicians; psychologists; nurses; social workers 

Any continuation? 

The ISPS Project will be continued! Add to your calendar: 10 September 2026, Wrocław, Poland! 

References: 

• International Suicide Prevention Symposium. (2025). Programme — ISPS Kraków. https://ispskrakow.pl/#programispskrakow.pl 
• ELLIPSE. (2019–2023). About the ELLIPSE project (EU Erasmus+ KA2). https://ellipse.12stepsplan.com/ellipse/ellipse.12stepsplan.com 
• Learning from the Lived Experience (EN) (pdf): https://wuj.pl/ksiazka/learning-from-lived-experience 
• ELLIPSE Postvention. (2023–2024). Project and course information. https://ellipse.12stepsplan.com/nb/ellipse-postvention-no/  ellipse.12stepsplan.com 
• ELLIPSE Postvention Handbook (English) (pdf): https://ellipse.12stepsplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/1.-EN_ELLIPSE-Postvention-Handbook-www-NAVOICA-version.pdf 
• ELLIPSE Handbok I Postvention (Swedish) (pdf): https://ellipse.12stepsplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3.-SE_ELLIPSE-Postvention-Handbook-www-NAVOICA-version.pdf 

Event: 48th Congress of the Polish Psychiatric Association (Kraków, 4–6 Sept 2025) 

Link to event: zjazdptp2025.pl. 

Talk: Wstępna ewaluacja kursu zapobiegania zachowaniom samobójczym ELLIPSE Gatekeeper+ i kursu Postwencja ELLIPSE (Preliminary evaluation of the ELLIPSE Gatekeeper+ suicide-prevention course and the ELLIPSE Postvention course—abstract & session description) in Session: Nowe wyzwania w profilaktyce samobójstw (New Challenges in Suicide Prevention) (chair: Prof. Marta Makara-Studzińska; under the patronage of the Polish Association of Psychiatrists  Suicidology Section).  

Presenter: Dr. Anna Baran (Karlstad University), representing the EU-cofunded ELLIPSE Resilience Enhancement ERE project  

Why did we present ERE? 

We shared early evaluation data on the Polish ELLIPSE Gatekeeper+ and ELLIPSE Postvention courses to demonstrate that open, evidence-based training is both useful and feasible for large, mixed professional audiences. For psychiatrists, other physicians, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and academic teachers, the message was clear: structured online modules and handbooks can standardize core skills (risk detection, safety planning, compassionate postvention) while lowering access barriers for students and busy clinicians. Building on these results, ERE (2025–2027) – led by Karlstad University – adds interactive scenarios, Q&A, and new languages and expands country reach, inviting Polish institutions to contribute data, co-create content, and pilot updated materials in teaching and clinical settings 
 

Highlights: 

From ELLIPSE (2019–2022) → ELLIPSE Postvention (2023–2024) → ERE (2025–2027) 

• Origins (Feb 2019): ELLIPSE began from a small network meeting of three people representing lived-experience worlds – a psychiatrist, a person bereaved by suicide, and a person with experience of suicidality – sparking an European, and then also worldwide educational initiative in prevention and postvention.  

• New phase – ELLIPSE Resilience Enhancement (ERE, 2025–2027, lead: Karlstad University) – Johanna Gustafsson, Victoria Lönnfjord & Anna Baran: more interactivity, regular updates, and wider language/country rollout – from Austria, Hungary, Norway, Poland & Sweden in ELLIPSE to Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Ukraine, Poland & Sweden in ERE 

Early evaluation highlights of the Polish version of in ELLIPSE Gatekeeper+ Course in Prevention of Suicide Behaviours & ELLIPSE Postvention (Navoica platform; Oct 2024–Jun 2025) 

• Participation: 2,310 enrolled in the Polish version of the course (155 completed surveys); 818 in the ELLIPSE Postvention Course (34 completed surveys). 

• Usefulness: 100% of Postvention respondents and 87.7% of the ELLIPSE Gatekeeper+ respondents said the course helped them achieve their goals. 

• Fit: ≥90% rated difficulty appropriate; most rated length as appropriate. 

• Next steps in ERE: more interactive modules, risk scenarios, Q&A, and Spanish added to the existing PL/EN/NO/DE/SV/HU/UK versions.  

What’s next for universities & services? 

• A new ERE project is launching a survey of students, academic teachers, and campus mental-health services to map education and training in suicide prevention across, to adapt optimally the suicide prevention curriculum to the academic needs in the project countries. 

Who participated? 

• Clinicians & educators: free, scalable e-learning + handbooks to standardize suicide prevention skills and postvention practice.  

• Students & trainees: evidence-based introductions with practical checklists and scenarios; forthcoming ERE updates increase interactivity and language reach.  

References: 

• 48th Zjazd Naukowy Polskiego Towarzystwa Psychiatrycznego. (2025). Strona główna / informacje o zjeździe. https://zjazdptp2025.pl/ zjazdptp2025.pl 
• Baran, A. (2025). Wstępna ewaluacja kursu zapobiegania zachowaniom samobójczym ELLIPSE Gatekeeper+ i kursu Postwencja ELLIPSE — abstract & session description. (Conference materials).