TUMBUH SPACE

Living Laboratory: Community Garden
& Micro-Forest Healing Space

Tumbuh Space is a community-based life learning space developed by Talk Mental Health Indonesia in Bantul, Yogyakarta.

This space integrates grief-informed mental health support, therapeutic gardening, creative expression, and youth leadership to foster wellbeing, resilience, and a sense of connection with nature and community.

Tumbuh Space is designed as a living laboratory, a social experimentation space where young people can learn, nurture, reflect, and grow together.

Why Tumbuh Space Is Needed

Many young people today live under pressures that are not always visible.

 

Loss does not always come in the form of death. It can appear as the loss of safety, family conflict, academic pressure, economic uncertainty, disconnection in relationships, or even anxiety about the future and environmental changes.

 

Unfortunately, safe spaces to process these emotional experiences are still very limited.

 

Some mental health services are clinical, expensive, or still heavily stigmatized. Meanwhile, community spaces where young people can learn to manage emotions in safe and natural ways remain rare.

 

Tumbuh Space exists as an alternative that feels closer to everyday life.
Through gardening activities, creative practices, group reflections, and community-based programs, young people are encouraged to reconnect with their bodies, nature, and one another.

 

Here, grief is not hidden, but transformed into a source of growth.

Program Goals

Tumbuh Space aims to build a community space that helps young people:

  • Understand and process emotions and experiences of loss in healthy ways
  • Develop resilience and emotional coping skills
  • Foster a sense of belonging and ownership toward themselves and their community
  • Strengthen youth leadership in supporting collective wellbeing
  • Connect mental health awareness with care for nature and the environment

Who We Serve

Main Participants

Young people aged 13–24 in Yogyakarta, including:

  • Junior high school, high school, and university students
  • Young people who are currently out of school
  • Young people with limited access to safe spaces and mental health support

Supporting Groups

This program also involves:

  • Parents and families
  • Teachers and youth workers
  • Local communities and community organizations
  • Environmental and creative partners

What Makes Tumbuh Space Different

  • Grief-Informed Approach

    Many emotional struggles experienced by young people are rooted in unspoken forms of loss — such as the loss of safety, hope, trust, or relationships. This program helps participants recognize and process those experiences in a safe and supportive way.

  • Nature as Part of the Healing Process

    The community garden becomes a space to learn how to care for life. Through planting, nurturing, and harvesting, young people learn about growth, patience, and recovery.
  • Non-Clinical and Community-Based

    This program is not clinical therapy. It is designed as a safe, inclusive, and stigma-free community space.

  • Creativity as a Language of Emotion
    Creative expressions such as journaling, collage, body mapping, and storytelling help young people express experiences that are often difficult to put into words.

  • Youth Leadership Pathway

    Participants are not only beneficiaries.
    Some of them will also be trained to become peer facilitators, storytellers, and community changemakers.

Main Programme
Components

Living Laboratory Garden

A garden-based space that serves as the center of the program’s activities, including:

  • A therapeutic garden for food crops and medicinal plants
  • Composting and waste management learning areas
  • Reflection spaces and circle spaces for group discussions
  • Creative corners for eco-creative activities such as zine making and nature journaling
  • Pathways connecting different garden areas, used for sensory walks and walk-and-talk activities

Youth Cohort Journey

A group-based learning program that combines:

  • Emotional literacy and understanding of grief and loss
  • Self-regulation practices through breathing, body movement, and grounding exercises
  • Gardening routines as a form of self-care practice
  • Creative reflections such as journaling, collage, and storytelling
  • Peer support circles facilitated in safe and supportive ways

Community Garden Days

Open community activities held regularly, such as:

  • Community gardening days
  • Eco-creative labs (nature-based arts activities)
  • Shared community meals
  • Small exhibitions showcasing young people’s creative journeys

Youth Leadership Program

Around 15–20% of participants will join advanced training programs to become:

  • Peer facilitators
  • Community storytellers
  • Community garden activity organizers

This training includes the basics of group facilitation, trauma-informed principles, storytelling ethics, and self-regulation skills.

Community Collaboration

Tumbuh Space also serves as a collaborative space where different groups can come together to learn and grow together, such as:

Schools and youth organizations

Environmental communities and local farmers

Mental health practitioners

Artists and creative collectives

Through dialogue and collaboration, this program aims to strengthen the local ecosystem of youth wellbeing.

Expected Impact

Short-Term Impact

  • Young people develop a better understanding of their emotions
  • Increased sense of safety and social connection
  • Greater openness to seeking support during difficult times

Medium-Term Impact

  • Improved coping skills and emotional regulation
  • Young people begin taking active roles in community activities
  • Peer facilitators start leading activities with guidance and mentorship

Long-Term Impact

  • The development of a nature-based and mental health-informed community space model that can be replicated
  • Increased social cohesion and environmental awareness
  • The growth of a collaborative ecosystem that supports youth wellbeing

Safety and Ethical Approach

Tumbuh Space applies a trauma-informed and do-no-harm approach, guided by the following principles:

  • Voluntary participation and consent in every activity
  • Safe and well-trained facilitation practices
  • Clear boundaries that this program is not clinical therapy
  • A referral system for participants who may need professional support
  • Safety protocols for outdoor and nature-based activities

Program Sustainability

Tumbuh Space is designed as a community space that can grow sustainably through:

  • Partnerships with local organizations and schools
  • Support from grants and community donations
  • Volunteer contributions and youth leadership
  • Community-based creative and educational activities

Through this approach, Tumbuh Space is expected to become a living learning space that continues to grow alongside its community.

Together, we can make a difference in the mental health landscape for young people across Indonesia!

DONATE