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Social Innovation

The Community Garden Project

Designing a therapeutic community garden to support mental health, food security, and social cohesion in Za'atari refugee camp.

What are the most effective strategies for providing sustainable and culturally sensitive mental health care in refugee camps?

Context
Za'atari Refugee Camp · Jordan
Focus
Mental Health · Community Design · Refugee Support · Therapeutic Horticulture
Year
2023
The Community Garden Project — Title Slide
110M
People Forcibly Displaced
79,000+
Residents in Za'atari Camp
40%
Refugees Under Age 18
75%
Hosted in Low-Income Countries
TL;DR

Each section opens with a one-paragraph summary. Tap Read more to expand the supporting visuals and detail.

01 /

The Overview

Forced to escape their home countries because of conflict, persecution, or disaster, refugees undergo a fundamentally traumatizing journey often marked with violence, loss, and fear. Among the 110 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, 6.6 million continue to live within the harsh realities of refugee camps — overcrowded, resource-scarce environments that exacerbate mental health-related traumas.

Read morecontext, supporting figures

These conditions, combined with the trauma of previous experiences, make most refugees prone to psychological effects such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD. The Community Garden Project seeks to increase access to — and improve the cultural appropriateness of — mental health care offered in refugee camps.

The Who and The What — refugee crisis context and project scope
The Who & The What — Understanding the refugee mental health crisis
The provision includes counselling, psychotherapy, and psychiatric treatment alongside improved prevention services that focus on resilience and capacity-building. The project also ensures a sustainable model of care through training community workers to provide basic mental health support, and leverages technology to overcome resource limitations.
02 /

The Challenge

Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan is one of the world's largest and most complex humanitarian settings, with over 79,000 registered Syrian refugees. The camp involves a wide array of mental health challenges and provides rich context for in-depth study and intervention development.

Read moreresearch findings, supporting figures

The varied demographic profile — which includes a significant number of children and youth — provides an opportunity to study mental health across age groups and backgrounds. Research on the effects of COVID-19 on younger refugees further indicates Za'atari as a site where testing mental health interventions can be done most effectively.

The Where — Za'atari camp context and objectives
The Where & Objectives — Za'atari camp as the intervention site
i.
Promoting Mental Well-being
Utilize the garden as a therapeutic space to improve well-being, offering a peaceful green environment for relaxation and stress relief.
ii.
Fostering Community Engagement
Encourage community involvement and ownership in the garden project, building social cohesion and reducing feelings of isolation.
iii.
Therapeutic Horticulture
Implement therapeutic horticulture programs aimed at individuals dealing with trauma, depression, or anxiety, leveraging the healing nature of gardening.
iv.
Enhancing Food Security
Grow vegetables and herbs to supplement camp residents' diets, contributing to improved nutrition and food security.

The core challenge: how do you design an intervention that addresses mental health, food security, skill development, and community building simultaneously — within the constraints of a refugee camp environment?

03 /

The Process

The process began with extensive secondary research across three critical domains: mental health in refugee camps, the therapeutic benefits of community gardens, and peer-to-peer learning in humanitarian settings.

Read moremethodology, supporting figures
Secondary research — mental health, community gardens, peer-to-peer learning
Secondary Research — Mental health, community gardens & peer-to-peer learning

The research revealed that refugees in Za'atari — particularly in the context of COVID-19 — face significant mental health challenges. The pandemic exacerbated existing issues among Syrian refugees, leading to worsening conditions due to factors like financial difficulties, family conflicts, and limited access to care hindered by shortages of professionals and medication.

Community gardens provide substantial benefits for both mental and physical health. Research has shown that gardeners exhibit significantly better self-esteem, mental health, and reduced depression, with notable stress improvements after gardening sessions. These gardens emerge as pivotal spaces blending physical health enhancement with mental wellness and community connectivity.

A comprehensive stakeholder map was developed to understand the full ecosystem of actors involved — from refugees and camp staff at the core, to NGOs, government bodies, UN agencies, and broader local Jordanian communities.

Stakeholder map — concentric circles of influence
Stakeholder Map — Mapping actors from core community to broader ecosystem

An anonymous survey was conducted within the Za'atari camp to understand the relationship between time spent in the camp, mental well-being, and perception of missing services. A key finding: those who had remained in the camp over five years reported significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety, and chronic psychological malaise — revealing how deeply displacement cumulatively affects mental health.

Survey results — Sankey diagram of time, well-being, and missing resources
Survey — Correlating time in camp, mental well-being & missing resources

The survey also highlighted critical gaps: a pronounced need for enhanced healthcare services, comprehensive educational programs for children and adults, and improved community-based activities and leisure facilities for social interaction.

From this research, an initial model for the community garden was developed around eight key design principles:

Initial model — 8 design principles for the community garden
Initial Model — Eight design principles driving the garden concept
01
Agricultural Skill Training
Specialized zones for learning planting, harvesting, and agricultural techniques for self-sufficiency.
02
Social Interaction Spaces
Communal seating areas and shaded pavilions fostering cultural exchange and social gatherings.
03
Community Participation
Layouts designed to promote peer-to-peer learning, ensuring everyone can contribute and learn.
04
Accessible Design
Inclusive design ensuring all community members, including those with disabilities, can fully participate.
05
Peer-to-Peer Learning
Experienced refugees share gardening and cultural knowledge with newcomers in mutual learning environments.
06
Mentorship & Support
Experienced refugees offer guidance helping newcomers navigate gardening and aspects of their new life.
07
Building Social Networks
Cultivating robust social networks providing emotional support and a strong sense of community.
08
Empowerment Through Skills
Instilling a sense of purpose and contribution, enhancing self-esteem and confidence among refugees.
04 /

The Outcome

The Community Garden Project — named "Community Roots" — delivers a holistic intervention that operates across four interconnected rationales, each reinforcing the others to create lasting impact.

Read moreconcept detail, supporting figures
Rationale — mental health, cultural preservation, education, sustainability
Rationale — Four pillars driving the Community Roots program
i.
Mental Health in Refugee Camps
The garden provides a natural escape where structured therapy sessions and informal mindfulness practices combine for a healthier approach to mental health care — mixing professional treatment with the healing attributes of nature.
ii.
Cultural Preservation & Community
Conceived as a cultural mosaic that maintains diverse heritages while fostering intercultural dialogue. Traditional agricultural methods and gastronomy are exchanged, creating a sense of home and belonging.
iii.
Education & Economic Empowerment
The garden serves as a classroom where agricultural training leads to economic opportunities — through the production and sale of garden goods, or raising employability in future resettlements.
The program engages the therapeutic aspects of nature, reflecting evidence-based practice showing that gardening can help alleviate symptoms of mental health disorders. Through integrating cognitive therapy spaces, the initiative caters to the psychological needs of refugees, providing a natural escape where both structured sessions and informal mindfulness can combine.

Volunteers and local professionals were engaged in designing the garden to ensure effectiveness and real-world impact. Their feedback shaped an extended implementation strategy built around three pillars:

Next steps — implementation strategy
Next Steps — Expert-informed implementation strategy
i.
Enhanced Staff Training
Hiring mental health experts to work alongside garden staff, with all members receiving trauma-informed care training through regular workshops and collaborations with mental health organizations.
ii.
Therapeutic Programs
Guided mindfulness sessions and therapeutic horticulture programs designed to meet the mental health needs of refugees — including stress management and group therapy sessions.
iii.
Sustainability & Monitoring
Partnerships with NGOs, sustainable resource management including water conservation and organic farming, and a monitoring framework to track impact on mental health, community cohesion, and skill development.

By embedding purpose, healing, and community into a single space, the Community Garden Project positions itself not just as an agricultural intervention — but as a model for holistic humanitarian design that addresses mental health, social cohesion, food security, and economic empowerment simultaneously.