A STUDENT at a Scots uni has designed an innovative plantable prescription form in an attempt to encourage people to spend more time in nature.
University of Dundee student Kirubhagar Ballah Krisnaah was inspired by a city initiative that allows healthcare professionals to prescribe time outdoors.
Kirubhagar chose to explore if plantable seeded paper can increase engagement in gardening and green spaces as part of his MSc Product Design course.
His work features in the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design Masters Show 2022, which opens this week.
It is widely known that spending time outdoors can vastly improve health and wellbeing.
In Dundee, doctors can prescribe spending time in nature to patients through the Green Health Prescription pathway, a project developed by the Dundee Green Health Partnership.
Intrigued by the initiative, 28-year-old Kirubhagar set out to develop the idea as part of his Masters project.
As part of his research he spent time with volunteers in community gardens and spoke with local GPs, and his end product sees the Green Health Prescription redesigned on plantable paper lined with cress seeds.
Speaking today, Kirubhagar said: “I had no idea where this project would take me.
“My second semester module focused on research through design, and I had to look at community health gardens.
“I spent time in a community garden in Inverkeithing as part of my research and it was there I found out about green health prescriptions.
“After speaking with local GPs, I learned that it can often be difficult to encourage individuals with certain ailments to spend time outdoors.
“I thought, how can we motivate them to go out? What’s an easy way to encourage them to step out into nature? That’s where the concept came from.
“I initially thought to glue seeds to the bottom of the paper prescription but soon found that using plantable seeded paper was more efficient.
“The only issue was finding someone who was willing to have me use the paper in their printer.”
He continued, saying: “The idea is that people who receive the prescription can simply tear a piece off and plant it.
“I specifically chose cress seeds as they will grow in a couple of days – for it to have an impact, you need to see the change happening in front of you.
“The idea is to make the process seamless and reduce one variable from the equation so that the individuals who have been prescribed ’green prescriptions’ have a better chance of taking up gardening or other outdoor activities to improve their health”
Kirubhagar’s product was designed purely for display in the Masters Show an annual event that attracts hundreds of visitors every year.
