'Hardworking pictures': visualising Green Social Prescribing’s impact

It was a privilege to collaborate again with researchers at the University of Exeter to transform the extensive findings of their Green Social Prescribing programme into two striking infographics — helping make complex research accessible and capturing the extraordinary impact of nature on health and wellbeing.

Challenge

How do you distil the complex findings of a three-year, national-scale research project into something that not only informs but also inspires action, shapes policy and drives meaningful social change?

This was the task for researchers at the University of Exeter and collaborators at the Universities of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam as they completed their landmark National Evaluation of the Preventing and Tackling Mental Ill Health Through Green Social Prescribing (GSP) project — a groundbreaking initiative funded by a cross-government partnership including Defra and DHSC.

The GSP project explored the impact and cost-effectiveness of nature-based activities — from community gardening to open-water swimming — on physical and mental health. With more than 8,000 participants across seven pilot sites in England, the project generated vital insights into health outcomes, as well as the opportunities and challenges of delivering GSP across diverse settings and sectors.

The challenge: how to communicate these findings clearly and impactfully to two very different audiences — decision-makers in policy, and members of the public who stand to benefit most.

Solution

“We knew we needed something far easier to engage with than a wordy report to help people understand what we did and the significance of our results,” explains Dr Harriet Hunt, Research Fellow and lead for infographic development at the University of Exeter.

Working closely with the team, we extracted the core messages and translated them into two visually striking, accessible infographics.

To ensure continuity with the earlier Handbook for Nature on Prescription project, we applied a consistent colour palette and visual style. Each infographic was designed with flexibility in mind, allowing sections to be cropped for presentations, reports and outreach materials — ensuring they worked hard in every context.

“The most valuable — and often overlooked — aspect of what Scriberia does is giving us the tools and confidence to recognise and refine the key messages we need to convey.”

Dr Harriet Hunt, Research Fellow, University of Exeter

Dr Hunt adds: “The results for this project are two beautiful infographics that perfectly balance the professionalism required for government-funded outputs with the accessibility needed for everyday audiences. It was an elegant process to achieve the perfect look.”

Results

The infographics have become essential tools for the GSP project. Shared widely with partners, pilot sites and green providers, they’ve helped advocate for the programme, spark conversations and inspire action across communities.

Used in presentations, workshops and briefings — and attracting international interest — the visuals have strengthened GSP’s global reputation as a replicable model for improving mental health through nature-based activities. They’ve also been made publicly available to maximise accessibility.

“So many people have mentioned how much they love the graphics and how often they’ve used them,” says Dr Hunt. “They are classic ‘hardworking pictures’ — capturing not just our findings but the depth of involvement and dedication across the project, all in an incredibly engaging and impactful way. Scriberia exceeded our expectations across the board.”

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