E-Co-Flourishing Foundations and Methods

We are collaborating with patients and the public to develop a set of tools called ‘Ecological Collective Flourishing Operational Research Toolkit’ (ECOFLORET).

The toolkit helps us to study how nature activities can help people and the planet thrive. With modules ranging from co-production protocols and creative methods to smart technology and feedback mechanisms, the tool is built to adapt and evolve throughout our co-researching process.

The ECOFLORET toolkit:

The ECOFLORET (Ecological Collective Flourishing Operational Research Toolkit) is a co-designed, mixed-methods framework developed to advance E-Co-Flourishing research by integrating rigorous scientific assessment with meaningful patient and public involvement.

It combines analogue and digital methods to investigate the specific qualities and ‘doses’ of green space that benefit different individuals while also assessing the impacts on ecological health and wellbeing.

Mobile and modular in design, ECOFLORET can be adapted to diverse Living Lab contexts (e.g., schools, hospitals, community settings) and to the needs of researchers, co-researchers and service users.

The toolkit integrates subjective and objective measures of both human and nature health and wellbeing including but not limited to mental health, mood, job satisfaction, soil quality, biodiversity, and human-nature relatedness.

ECOFLORET enables our research into the mechanisms underlying outcomes that are beneficial for both human and nature health.

ECOFLORET sub-study - Pixels, Perception, and Participation: Youth Co-Researchers Validating AI-Assisted Green Space Assessment for Mental Health & Wellbeing Research

“A youth-validated AI framework for urban green space assessment”

Using open-source AI software (ilastik), we analyse 360° eye-level images of urban green spaces to classify visual elements such as grass, trees, sky, and built structures, and to quantify their composition. These analyses are validated and enriched through participatory research with young people in Oxford Living Labs. Through nature walks, movement mapping, focus groups, and evaluation of AI outputs, youth co‑researchers critically examine how well automated classifications reflect their lived experiences of green space quality and wellbeing. The project reveals both the potential and the limitations of AI-assisted environmental assessment, positioning human–AI co‑production as a methodological innovation for developing inclusive and scalable tools to assess and promote urban mental health and ecological wellbeing.