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      Curiosity, place and wellbeing: encouraging place-specific curiosity as a ‘way to wellbeing’

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          Abstract

          This paper advances understandings of relationships between wellbeing and place by exploring one mechanism by which place is mobilised in the pursuit of wellbeing: the cultivation and practice of curiosity. It does so through discussion of projects funded through the Decade of Health and Wellbeing in Liverpool, England. This scheme advances ‘five ways to wellbeing,’ one of which – ‘take notice’ – encourages curiosity in and about places. Three projects – memory boxes for people living with dementia; a community garden in an area experiencing socio-economic deprivation; and an urban photography project involving veterans – form the case studies on which this paper is based. We focus on two related sets of practices and approaches to curiosity: (1) learning to see places differently; (2) focussing on the micro-geographies of place – literally, curiosities – such as found objects. These practices suggest ways in which ordinary places may be a catalyst for curiosity in ways that may benefit both individual and collective forms of wellbeing. This allows us to see and understand place and wellbeing in relational terms. In so doing, this paper contributes to conceptual debates about wellbeing, place and curiosity, and the relationships between these.

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          Vibrant Matter

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            The psychology of curiosity: A review and reinterpretation.

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              "Cultivating health": therapeutic landscapes and older people in northern England.

              While gardening is seen, essentially, as a leisure activity it has also been suggested that the cultivation of a garden plot offers a simple way of harnessing the healing power of nature (The therapeutic garden, Bantam Press, London, 2000). One implication of this is that gardens and gardening activity may offer a key site of comfort and a vital opportunity for an individual's emotional, physical and spiritual renewal. Understanding the extent to which this supposition may be grounded in evidence underpins this paper. In particular, we examine how communal gardening activity on allotments might contribute to the maintenance of health and well being amongst older people. Drawing on recently completed research in northern England, we examine firstly the importance of the wider landscape and the domestic garden in the lives of older people. We then turn our attention to gardening activity on allotments. Based on the findings of our study, we illustrate the sense of achievement, satisfaction and aesthetic pleasure that older people can gain from their gardening activity. However, while older people continue to enjoy the pursuit of gardening, the physical shortcomings attached to the aging process means they may increasingly require support to do so. Communal gardening on allotment sites, we maintain, creates inclusionary spaces in which older people benefit from gardening activity in a mutually supportive environment that combats social isolation and contributes to the development of their social networks. By enhancing the quality of life and emotional well being of older people, we maintain that communal gardening sites offer one practical way in which it may be possible to develop a 'therapeutic landscape'.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
                Environ Plan A
                SAGE Publications
                0308-518X
                1472-3409
                November 2015
                August 13 2015
                November 2015
                : 47
                : 11
                : 2339-2354
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, UK;
                [2 ]Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, UK
                [3 ]Evidence-Informed Practice, Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Sciences (IRISS), Brunswick House, UK
                Article
                10.1177/0308518X15599290
                e29d02cc-a23c-4130-a7de-c78bd03cc4d3
                © 2015

                http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license

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