65 walks. 20 countries. 60 communities. One shared invitation: Listen to the Living World.
On 12 and 13 September, something simple travelled around the world.
People stepped outside.
They slowed down.
They listened.
In forests and gardens, along coastal paths, through city parks, on university campuses and in neighbourhood green spaces, communities gathered for the first International Forest Bathing & Soundwalk Weekend, a collaboration between the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) and Quiet Parks International (QPI).
What began as an invitation to bring Forest Bathing and Soundwalks together became a global expression of attention, connection and care.
Two practices, one shared intention
ANFT and Quiet Parks International approach nature connection from different but deeply complementary perspectives.
Through Forest Therapy, ANFT invites people to slow down, awaken their senses and deepen their relationship with the More-Than-Human World.
Quiet Parks International works to protect quiet for the benefit of all life and encourages people to rediscover the places around them through listening. Its Soundwalk Project invites participants to move slowly through a landscape and experience it with fresh ears, noticing birdsong, wind, water, footsteps and even the spaces between sounds.
Bringing these practices together felt natural.
Forest Bathing asks us to notice.
Soundwalking asks us to listen.
Both invite us to become present enough to encounter a place differently.
And so, for one weekend, guides and communities around the world shared one invitation:
Listen to the Living World.
From local walks to a global experience
The strength of the Weekend came from the people who brought it to life locally. 
ANFT guides and participating communities registered 65 walks across 20 countries and 60 communities, creating experiences shaped by their own landscapes, cultures and relationships with place.
There was no single version of what the Weekend had to look like.
Some people gathered beneath trees. Others listened beside water. Some explored familiar urban spaces through sound and attention. Others entered forests, parks and landscapes they already knew and discovered that slowing down could reveal something new.
Across languages and time zones, each gathering was local.
Together, they became global.
The world wanted to find a walk
The response online reflected that same curiosity.
From the launch of the International Forest Bathing & Soundwalk Weekend page on 19 August, 1,172 people visited the page, generating 2,018 views. Almost half of visitors used the interactive filters to search for a walk near them.
More importantly, people did not simply read about the idea.
192 visitors continued from the ANFT website to an individual guide’s registration page, taking the next step towards participating in a local experience.
The campaign was promoted entirely through the communities and communication channels around the initiative, including ANFT’s website, social media, newsletter, participating guides and partner networks. No paid advertising was used.
That organic response says something important.
People are looking for opportunities to reconnect with the natural world, but sometimes what they need is simply an invitation.
More than a weekend
The success of the International Forest Bathing & Soundwalk Weekend is not only found in the numbers.
It is in the idea that, for a few hours, people in different parts of the world were doing something remarkably similar.
Stopping.
Paying attention.
Listening to birds, leaves, water, weather and one another.
Becoming more aware of the places they inhabit.
Quiet Parks International describes its mission as protecting the world’s quiet places for the benefit of all life. ANFT’s work is rooted in nurturing relationships between people and the More-Than-Human World.
This partnership created a space where those two intentions could meet.
And perhaps that is one of the most important things we can carry forward from the Weekend: listening is not simply the absence of noise.
It is a way of entering into relationship.
Thank you to the people who made it possible
A global weekend is created one local gathering at a time.
Our thanks go to Quiet Parks International for creating this initiative with us and for the shared commitment to listening, quiet and the living world.
And to every guide, organiser, partner and community who offered a walk, shared the invitation, welcomed participants and brought their own place into this global story: thank you.
The map may have shown 65 walks.
But behind every point on that map was a person choosing to create an opportunity for others to slow down and pay attention.
That is what made the Weekend possible.
The listening continues
The International Forest Bathing & Soundwalk Weekend has ended for this year, but the invitation has not.
The forest is still there.
The park around the corner is still there.
The birds, wind, water and changing seasons are still speaking.
Wherever you are, there is always an opportunity to pause and notice what is happening around you.
Sometimes, all it takes is to stop long enough to hear it.
Listen to the Living World.
[Explore the International Forest Bathing & Soundwalk Weekend]
[Discover Quiet Parks International]
[Learn more about Forest Therapy with ANFT]