*Friluftsliv; a handy word meaning open-air living, capturing the Scandinavian approach to living life in harmony in nature.

It’s a warm spring day and I’m following a group of pensioners on a hike through the forest in Sandvika, near Oslo.  I can hear robins and a nuthatch singing noisily overhead and blue and white wood anenomes are blooming on the forest floor.  I have been invited to join the Demmensturgruppe (dementia walking group) organised by Bærum Frivillgsentral, a volunteering organisation for the local municipality.  Having met in town and dropped off by a minibus taxi at the edge of the woods, the group are putting a good foot down and walking with purpose.  Apart from the occassional pause to look at the flowers, watch running deer or chat to hikers coming the other way, the group keep up a good pace until the official lunch stop outside a hytte (cabin).  There is a large firepit we could use, but its warm today, so not required.  Suitably sustained with coffee, sandwiches and Kwik Lunsj, (like a Kit Kat, its an essential part of the hiking experience in Norway, I am told!), we carry on through the woods and farmland to complete an impressive 6.5k.  Many of the group are living with dementia, others are volunteers.  Its not clear who is who, and everyone is carrying the same branded rucksacks, so we’re all part of one big friendly group. (more…)

*Friluftsliv; a handy word meaning open-air living, capturing the Scandinavian approach to living life in harmony in nature.

The first part of my Churchill Fellowship trip, in which I am seeking to understand how to enable more nature connection for older people, has been spent in Amsterdam, a stop off on my train journey up to Norway. A few months ago, a colleague showed me an magazine article from the National Trust magazine about their Damsons group running from their property Peckover House, inspired by the Odensehuis model.   Described as a meeting place for people living with dementia and their family and carers, group members take an active role in how the group is managed. Odense is in Denmark, but there are Odensehuis across the Netherlands, so I approached a few in Amsterdam to see if I could visit and find out more. I received replies from Maartje and Hans, who work at Odensehuis in two very different parts of the city. (more…)