A reflection on our 2026 Green health networking event

A Different Kind of Atmosphere: Reflections on this Year’s Network Gathering 

This year, the atmosphere at our network event felt different. Somehow, people felt closer together, less nervous, and more genuinely connected. 

This is exactly what we wanted. We are developing the Tonic Arts and Green Health networks to deliver a collective vision: a community of people who believe we can make healthcare better, and that we can use creativity, arts, and greenspaces to do it. 

We are a broad church. Some people join us because creativity and nature connection are an integral part of their personal beliefs and the way they live their lives. For others, these are practical, vital tools to get things done, improve public health, and fight climate change. 

But no matter what brings people through the door, I think they come to the network because they see that things can be done differently and they want to drive change. Sometimes that means going back to traditional ways of doing things; other times it’s about discovering entirely new ways of thinking and doing. Ultimately, what connects us is the realization that we have so much to gain by sharing our learning and not reinventing the wheel. 

Individual action in a complex system 

Everyone who attended is involved in the healthcare system in some way, and they all know how equally frustrating and rewarding that work can be. On a daily basis, many of us are striving to make positive changes and have a meaningful impact on the people and environments around us. 

What was strikingly evident from this year’s event was just how much individual action and personal responsibility can achieve. No one was made to come; everyone was there by choice, and you could feel that shared purpose in the room. 

Building connections not filling in post-its  

As we always do at these types of events, we try to wring every last bit of feedback from the attendees. We are always learning and trying to improve, so yes, there were paper feedback forms and online surveys to complete. 

But it was a chance conversation that will stick with me the most. 

In a passing chat, an attendee thanked us for not making them fill in hundreds of post-it notes. They thanked us for giving network members back the responsibility to make their own connections and build their own relationships. 

It felt refreshing to take a gamble—to not write everything down, to not document every single last idea, learning point, or strategy, but to simply give people the space to have good conversations. Building those human relationships is absolutely critical when you are trying to do something different in a system that is historically built on command and control and is increasingly risk adverse. 

Thank you so much to everyone who took part in this year’s event. If you couldn’t make it this time, we already look forward to seeing you next year.