Since 2018, Stichting Expertisecentrum Preventie has worked with partners across the Caribbean islands to strengthen mental health, reduce stigma, and improve support for people who have become mentally stuck. Through a series of projects, knowledge has been developed step by step and a network has been built in which professionals, lived-experience experts, researchers, and communities work together on recovery-oriented care and support. These projects form an important foundation for what is now offered within the Green Recovery Space.
Everything started for us with a project in which Mental Health First Aid was implemented on Curaçao. In this training professionals from various organizations learned to recognize mental health problems earlier, reduce stigma, and activate appropriate support. MHFA proved to be more than a training; it also became a catalyst for collaboration.
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Our second project focused on better recognition of mental health problems in the community. By reducing stigma and bringing activities closer to people in their neighbourhoods, the project contributed to greater awareness around mental health.
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Building on lessons from earlier projects, we explored how care and support can better connect to people’s everyday lives. This action research examined the possible role of lived-experience experts in recovery in the Dutch Caribbean, laying a foundation for further development of lived-experience work on the island.
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A local pilot project aimed at making mental health problems visible earlier in neighbourhoods and communities on Curaçao. It generated valuable insights into where earlier recognition and better support can be improved.
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The Kenniswerkplaats Onbegrepen gedrag was established as an important next step in the development of the Green Recovery Space. It connects six Caribbean islands, creating a sustainable network where professionals, lived-experience experts, researchers, and organizations learn together, collaborate, and develop more structural approaches to mental health challenges across the Dutch Caribbean.
Read project →Together, these projects show a longer development path rather than isolated initiatives. They help explain how the Green Recovery Space is rooted in collaboration, recovery thinking, learning, and practice.
Our journey began with creating awareness and breaking stigma, and grew into strengthening lived-experience expertise and experimenting within communities. Over time, this evolved into a more structural, Caribbean-wide collaboration. Together, these steps have built a strong foundation: the Green Recovery Space is rooted in years of learning, practice, and collaboration across diverse contexts.
In the years ahead, we will continue to grow by strengthening lived-experience expertise, broadening our vision of recovery, and deepening our community-based work. We are working toward the creation of a Living Lab: a dynamic space where participants, peer support workers, researchers, and local partners come together to learn, experiment, and co-create. In this environment, research and practice are closely connected, ensuring that every question, project, and innovation is grounded in the real needs and lived experiences of the people we serve.
If you’d like to learn more, explore opportunities for collaboration, or simply get in touch, we’d be glad to hear from you.