CF Rehabilitation Gardens

Garden of Dreams — the first therapeutic square

Romodanov Neurosurgery Institute of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine
  DONATE   BECOME AN AMBASSADOR
about the project

In 2017, my first therapeutic space — “Garden of Dreams” — was created on the grounds of the Romodanov Institute of Neurosurgery of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine.

The composition is set across from the windows of the intensive care unit, the operating block, and the dressing room — in the direct line of sight of patients in critical condition. It was from these very windows that the view from my child’s hospital room once opened. Having lived through and felt everything personally — the fear, the uncertainty, the exhaustion — I deeply realized how vital even a small fragment of a living landscape is for stabilizing one’s state, for hope, and for finding inner strength.

The project was implemented during the Year of Japan in Ukraine with the assistance of the Ukraine-Japan Center and the support of Kateryna Lohovska. The planting of cherry blossoms (sakura) was not only a symbolic gesture but a professionally reasoned decision: in the fields of neurosurgery and neurology, it has been proven that visual contact with nature positively affects neurophysiological processes — reducing stress levels, aiding emotional regulation, and supporting cognitive recovery.

“Garden of Dreams” became the first step of my systematic path in creating therapeutic landscapes — a space where personal trauma was transformed into a professional mission.

In the “Garden of Dreams” project, implemented on the grounds of the Romodanov Institute of Neurosurgery of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, key professional competencies in the field of therapeutic landscape design were applied and established:

1. Evidence-Based Design

  • Integration of scientific data regarding the impact of the natural environment on neurophysiological processes;
  • Consideration of the specifics of neurosurgical and neurological contexts;
  • Formation of visual accents for patients with limited mobility (view from the window as a therapeutic resource).

2. Spatial Analysis of the Medical Environment

  • Evaluation of sightlines from the windows of the intensive care unit and the operating block;
  • Definition of the compositional axis and key focal points;
  • Work with scale and perspective tailored for perception from upper floors.

3. Biophilic and Sensory Design

  • Selection of plants with seasonal dynamics (sakura as a short-lived but powerful sensory phenomenon);
  • Creation of color and texture harmony;
  • Formation of an emotionally positive visual environment.

4. Project Management and Cross-Sector Collaboration

  • Coordination with the administration of the medical institution;
  • Interaction with partners, specifically the Ukraine-Japan Center;
  • Organization of the planting and maintenance process.

5. Therapeutic Conceptualization of Space

  • Transformation of personal experience of trauma into a professional model of support;
  • Formation of the landscape as a psycho-emotional regulator;
  • Embedding a symbolic layer (sakura — the cycle of renewal, the briefness of blooming as a reminder of the value of life).

6. Social Leadership

  • Initiation of the first square as a prototype for future systemic projects;
  • Mobilization of family, colleagues, and partners;
  • Formation of a personal professional identity in the field of therapeutic gardening.
The “Garden of Dreams” became the starting point in the formation of a comprehensive vision of how the environment affects the brain, psyche, and recovery process.

Help us create more healing spaces

We believe that every garden is a space for restoration and life. And we are looking for like-minded people who will help these gardens bloom.
  DONATE   BECOME AN AMBASSADOR