In the autumn of 2025, HEC Montréal’s Student Community Services and the University of Montréal’s Student Life Services joined forces to offer students from both institutions a nature-based version of the KORSA workshops. This innovative inter-university initiative provided psychological support rooted in both the campuses and the natural spaces surrounding them. Spread over a five-week period, the weekly workshops were held outdoors, close to the educational institutions that share a common territory. This immersion in nature provided participants with an environment conducive to slowing down, reflecting and experimenting, while remaining accessible and compatible with academic life.
The KORSA program
KORSA workshops are based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a third-wave behavioural and cognitive approach. Led by individuals who have undergone rigorous and in-depth training, they aim to help participants clarify their values in order to give greater meaning to their academic journey and encourage them to engage in actions that are consistent with those values. The programme also identifies common pitfalls that contribute to increased stress and anxiety in the context of studies, and explores simple, concrete strategies for better coping with difficulties rather than avoiding them.
In the KORSA Nature version, the programme content remains unchanged, but the experience is enriched by the presence of the natural environment, which acts both as a supportive setting and an intervention tool. Nature becomes a true ally in the process: sometimes a source of inspiration, sometimes a metaphorical aid to illustrate learning, it encourages openness and observation.
Held outdoors, the workshops offer a calm and rejuvenating environment, conducive to greater receptivity to the content covered. Moving around in pairs encourages informal and meaningful exchanges, while the diversity of the locations chosen invites participants to discover natural spaces on the outskirts of the campuses. This approach also facilitates the establishment of symbolic links between the phenomena observed in nature and the experiences of the participants.
The equipment required is deliberately minimal: a portable chair, provided by the establishment, which each person brings to the workshop venue in order to fully enjoy this immersive experience. The high retention rate observed throughout the first workshop session demonstrates the commitment and interest generated by this innovative formula, where psychological well-being is cultivated at the pace of life.
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