Professor A. Basseer Jeeawody's business card has a bunch of ants lifting a rock on it - they symbolise a community working together.
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He's in Ballarat for the Mental Health Foundation Australia's Walk for Mental Health, which he said is a great way to promote mental wellbeing.
The walk is at the Buninyong Botanical Gardens on Sunday - "a fantastic location" for the event.
"As part of my talk in Melbourne, I asked the group a question - how many of you, when was the last time you stopped in a garden, like this, picked up a rose and smelled it? There were only three hands up," he said.
"I asked, well, why not? Do people now not know how to relax, or enjoy nature?
"People need to go out and expose themselves to the environment."
The walk is happening simultaneously across Australia, with Buninyong's walk the only regional city.
People are invited to just go for a stroll through the gardens, making new connections and friends.
Event coordinator Dr Sundram Sivamalai said bringing everyone together, for positive mental health, is the main focus for the walk, which will also feature live music and other activities.
"Even though we have all these supports (in Ballarat), we still have people falling through the cracks," he said.
"(Events like this) are all good because we need more diverse measures to improve mental and emotional wellbeing."
Foundation chairman Jim Goodin said the event is also a chance for people to send a message to politicians that mental health needs to be taken seriously.
"It's the community coming together, to show the strength of feeling towards improving mental health services," he explained.
"It's tremendously important, there's so many issues in regional and remote areas."
Professor Jeeawody is the president at Geneva's Emotional Well-Being Institute.
He'll give a quick speech before the walk begins, and then is looking forward to talking to participants individually.
"We're looking at building up communities like this in other parts of the world, and building a model that's applicable to other places," he said.
"This community cohesion, it's so important, to build up this friendship and collegiality."
He added often, when discussing mental health, negative aspects were the focus.
"The more you talk about it, the more you are enforcing it," he said.
"What you need to do is talk a little more about the wellbeing - from a positive perspective, a preventative perspective, and from a community-building perspective."
That's especially important for the elderly, who are often isolated.
"We have too much of what we call loneliness, helplessness, hopelessness, powerlessness, because too many are staying by themselves in their homes with no connection to the community," he said.
"They become depressed - this is an opportunity to come out of your cocoon, mix with the community, and make friends."
The walk begins on Sunday at 10.30am, and people are encouraged to register online.
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