On 15 December, Gerda Bukauskaitė-Žiūkienė, a lecturer in the Department of Nursing at the Faculty of Medicine, Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution, and a doctoral student in ecology and environmental sciences, was named the 2025 Queen Silvia Nursing Award laureate in Lithuania.

This prestigious award recognises her innovative and socially sensitive initiative, Forest in the Box, which aims to enhance the emotional and physical well-being of residents in nursing homes.

Forest in the Box offers an alternative to traditional nature or forest therapy by bringing the sensory experience of the forest into indoor environments. Through the use of natural, forest-inspired textures, a warm and therapeutic space can be created within nursing homes. This environment helps to reduce anxiety, apathy and feelings of loneliness, while encouraging sensory stimulation and emotional balance. The concept emerged from the lecturer’s professional experience, as well as her care and empathy for individuals who, due to health limitations, are unable to spend time in nature.

The lecturer emphasises that the initiative is not driven by commercial aims, but by a desire to share a practical solution that can meaningfully improve the everyday well-being of older adults and patients.

This award highlights nursing as an innovative and deeply human-centred profession, demonstrating how even simple, thoughtful interventions can have a profound impact on quality of life.