Active citizen participation in research is important to generate societal impact of outcomes. Even so, many times, the community input in these processes is limited or non-existent, and co-creation processes are often not documented. This paper describes a structured and systematised protocol to co-create a nature-based social prescribing intervention addressed to face loneliness in urban deprived neighbourhoods. As a result, a nature-based social prescription menu was co-developed with stakeholders from health, social prescription, nature, associative, and research sectors. The menu consists of open spaces and nature activities and will be offered to the participants of a randomised controlled trial to test actions for social prescribing in natural spaces.

Resumen La presente contribución forma parte del proyecto “Reimagining Environments for Connection and Engagement: Testing Actions for Social Prescribing in Natural Spaces” (RECETAS) cuyo objetivo es probar y evaluar las prescripciones sociales basadas en la naturaleza (PSBN) para el alivio de la soledad en Europa, América Latina y Oceanía. A diferencia de los países del norte, el estudio de la soledad y las PSBN están emergiendo en los países de América del Sur, y particularmente en Ecuador. Por ello, esta contribución puede considerarse una investigación pionera, centrada en la co-creación de un menú (listado) de actividades de PSBN para aliviar la soledad en Personas Adultas Mayores. Este artículo, persigue un doble objetivo: (i) establecer pautas metodológicas para la co-creación de un menú de PNSB en otros contextos, y (ii) difundir las actividades identificadas para aliviar la soledad de los adultos mayores en el caso de estudio. Metodológicamente, el estudio adoptó un enfoque participativo con y para adultos mayores desarrollado entre octubre de 2021 y mayo de 2023, que dió como resultado un menú de PSBN co-creado y adecuado al contexto y grupo poblacional de la ciudad de Cuenca, Ecuador.

Background: Urban loneliness is rising worldwide and is a recognised public-health threat. Nature-Based Social Prescriptions (NBSP), guided group activities in natural settings, are being piloted in six cities through the EU project RECETAS. However, in new contexts such as Marseille, its implementation is constrained by professionals' limited knowledge of the concept.Objectives: (i) Exploring how professionals in Marseille (France) conceptualise NBSP; (ii) Identifying perceived facilitators and barriers to implementing NBSP among residents facing social isolation and loneliness.Methods: Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with health, social-care and urban-environment professionals selected via network mapping and snowball sampling. Verbatim transcripts underwent inductive thematic analysis informed by Social Representation Theory, with double coding to enhance reliability. Results: Five analytic themes emerged: (1) a holistic health paradigm linking nature, community and wellbeing; (2) stark ecological inequities with limited green-space access in deprived districts; (3) work challenges due to the urgent needs of individuals facing significant socio-economic challenges in demanding contexts; (4) a key tension between a perceived top-down process and a preference for participatory approaches; (5) drivers and obstacles: strong professional endorsement of NBSP meets significant systemic and institutional constraints.Conclusions: Professionals endorse NBSP as a promising approach against loneliness provided programmes tackle structural inequities and adopt participatory governance. Results inform the Marseille RECETAS pilot and contribute to global discussions on environmentally anchored health promotion.

Background: Urban loneliness is rising worldwide and is a recognised public-health threat. Nature-Based Social Prescriptions (NBSPs), guided group activities in natural settings, are being piloted in six cities through the EU project RECETAS. However, in new contexts such as Marseille, its implementation is constrained by professionals’ limited knowledge of the concept. Objectives: (i) Exploring how professionals in Marseille (France) conceptualise NBSPs; (ii) Identifying perceived facilitators and barriers to implementing NBSPs among residents facing social isolation and loneliness. Methods: Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with health, social-care, and urban–environment professionals selected via network mapping and snowball sampling. Verbatim transcripts underwent inductive thematic analysis informed by Social Representation Theory, with double coding to enhance reliability. Results: Five analytic themes emerged: (1) a holistic health paradigm linking nature, community, and well-being; (2) stark ecological inequities with limited green-space access in deprived districts; (3) work challenges due to the urgent needs of individuals facing significant socio-economic challenges in demanding contexts; (4) a key tension between a perceived top-down process and a preference for participatory approaches; (5) drivers and obstacles: strong professional endorsement of NBSPs meets significant systemic and institutional constraints. Conclusions: Professionals endorse NBSPs as a promising approach against loneliness, provided programmes tackle structural inequities and adopt participatory governance. Results inform the Marseille RECETAS pilot and contribute to global discussions on environmentally anchored health promotion.