Tag: (U1/2/3) Secondary Research and Theory

Posted on

My Positionality and Ethical Practice

Researching Positionality

Positionality statements need to include:

  1. The researcher’s worldview on the topic
  2. How this view shapes the scope of the research (background, identities, values, assumptions)
  3. Being conscious of biases, values, experiences

(Holmes, 2020) and (Youtube, 2015)

Statement of Positionality:

Why I am suited to utilising community to bring nature into city spaces:

I have a personal love for nature through growing up near the Peak District and having a keen gardener for a mother, nature has always been a prominent part of my life. However, having recently moved to London I experienced the harsh disconnect from nature in the city and therefore I wanted to make nature accessible for those in cities.

My undergraduate study of geography furthered this interest in the natural world under the lens of urban planning and green building, leading to my discovery of biophilic design. Subsequently, I aim to make the concept of biophilia approachable and integrated within the cityscape through multiple channels. My passion and skill to unite people and engage with stakeholders helped to drive this project into a community focus. The interdisciplinary and intersectionality nature of this project brings together my background and interests positionality.

My Position/ Biases:

My position as a privileged white female must be taken into consideration when placing nature at the forefront of current issues, as people in less privileged groups may have alternative priorities, with those living in deprived areas less likely to have visited natural spaces (GOV.UK, 2021). There are numerous controversies surrounding disparities in access to nature between different economic and ethnic groups (Nature Gap, 2020).

My education and access to nature ground my position as an expert in biophilia. However, I have currently assumed others have these privileges and failed to involve those who have not had access to education, which I will address in future community growth. 

I have consciously collaborated with experts of varying backgrounds and ethnicities across the globe ranging from the UK to America, Singapore, Norway, Italy, and beyond to collate as many different viewpoints as possible.

Additionally, I must listen to those individuals who do not value nature, understand their perspectives and try to address them through the communities’ efforts.

Maintaining an Ethical Study

To ensure I have maintained and ethical practise throughout my project and in line with the work of Khanlou and Peter (2005) all participants have been offered the opportunity to conseal their identity and withdraw from the research at any time.

Additionally,, participants have been informed how their contributions will be utilised and stored. Consent has been gained to distribute any content online.

Furthermore, I have educated participants in the field of the research, unpacking terms of biophilic and biomimetic design, creating informed conversation.

Reflections

From this research into positionalities, I feel informed and ready to approach bringing professionals into the Nature In Community that offers very different perspectives from my own. Be these perspectives in terms of ethnicity, economic grouping, geographical locations, or ideologies, and viewpoints. I recognise the importance of including the whole story in my work as much as possible, for the community to be able to create real change and bring nature into city spaces in ways that cater for and excite as many different people as possible to spread the power of nature!

Additionally, I am now confident that I will continue to conduct ethical research after exploring the work of Khanlou and Peter (2005). I will ensure all ethical standards are maintained throughout my project in now forming the Nature In Community and beyond the study of my MA.

Bibliography

GOV.UK (2021) ‘The People and Nature Survey for England: Adult Data Y1Q1 (April- June 2020) (Experimental Statistics) GOV.UK [Online]  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/the-people-and-nature-survey-for-england-adult-data-y1q1-april-june-2020-experimental-statistics/the-people-and-nature-survey-for-england-adult-data-y1q1-april-june-2020-experimental-statistics Accessed 29/09/21

Holmes, A.G.D., (2020). ‘Researcher Positionality–A Consideration of Its Influence and Place in Qualitative Research–A New Researcher Guide.’ Shanlax International Journal of Education, 8(4), pp.1-10.

Khanlou, N. and Peter, E., (2005) ‘Participatory action research: considerations for ethical review.’ Social science & medicine, 60(10), pp.2333-2340.

Nature Gap (2020) ‘Confronting Racial and Economic Disparities in the Destruction and Protection of Nature in America’ Nature Gap [Online] ‘https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2020/07/21/487787/the-nature-gap/ Accessed 20/10/21

Youtube (2015) ‘Positionality Statemnets’ Youtube [Online] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpcIVzGYhVs Accessed 29/10/21

Posted on

Literature – Benefits of Nature in Spaces

Benefits of Nature

Schertz et al., 2021:

The is a plethora of evidence demonstrating exposure to nature to create a more positive affective state (Schertz et al., 2021).

Schertz et al. (2021) unpack the different effects of nature based upon the mode in which it is delivered. For instance walking in nature, natural imagery and videos, or virtual reality. This aspect of the work is highly beneficial to my project, as these are methods I have and will utilise in the future. They identify aesthetic preferences for natural environments to be particularly important in impacting affective states.

The work of Schertz et al. (2021) also unpacks the use of nature in treating mood disorders, which again highlights the astonishing benefits and impacts nature-based experiences can have upon emotional states.

It is stated that people spend a disproportionate amount of time away from nature, by being indoors (Kahn et al. 2010).

Schertz et al. (2021) found that longer, more immersive natural experiences had the largest effects on mood, however, these interactions are not always possible. This also sits in line with my findings from my Herb Intervention, as participants left the interactions with nature needed to be longer to be improved, but the circumstances of the event didn’t allow for this.

It was also discovered that people often underestimate the benefits to their mood they will feel after interacting with nature (Nisbet and Zelenski, 2011). This further demonstrates the necessity for a community to share knowledge on the power and value of nature in spaces.

Another fascinating idea highlighted in the work of Schertz et al. (2021) comes from the work of Openlands who created ‘Get Outside’. This is an interactive map showcasing natural locations around Chicago, encouraging people to visit them. This is a riveting concept and one I will look to apply within my community as a starting activity, perhaps in the form of a map of natural spaces around London using Jauntly. Keep a lookout for future blog posts expanding and implementing this idea.

Houlden et al., 2018:

Houlden et al. (2018) state that nature improving mental wellbeing is undeniable and well researched. They go on to explore the evidence of greenspaces in association with mental health through quantitative research. They discovered greenspaces to have positive associations to mental wellbeing, this being strongest for hedonic wellbeing (see blog post: ‘Defining the measures to utilise in my project’).

(Critique)- The work of Houlden et al. (2018) looks at the power of green space on mental health through the lens of planning to look to including increased green spaces in planning development. Although this is very interesting to read, especially with my past work in urban planning for my geography degree, the planning framework isn’t relevant to my current project. The results showcasing the power of nature do however support my case for why nature needs to be brought into city spaces.

Kasap et al., 2021:

Kasap et al. (2021) explore the social and mental benefits of interacting with nature. They note nature to provide peaceful, supportive, and emotional pockets of solace.

They state that having connections with nature extends cognitive abilities through recharging attention learning capacities, memory, executive functioning, and improving creativity (Kasap et al., 2021).

Nature is also found to create a positive mood, boost psychological well-being and relaxation by reducing anxiety and stress (Kasap et al., 2021).

In social contexts, nature can aid social cohesion via improving behavior, perspective taking and creating social value orientation (Kasap et al., 2021).

Well-being can be improved through reduced stress, negative moods, depression, and anxiety via building connections to nature (Kasap et al., 2021).

It is shown that virtual reality experiences of nature are effective in aiding mental health (Scates et al., 2020; Reese et al., 2021; Yin et al., 2020)

Subsequently, utilising nature in spaces to promote and develop connections to nature can instill improved learning and cognition, mental health benefits and even aid the construction of more cohesive societies or neighborhoods (Kasap et al., 2021).

Shanahan et al., 2015:

Shanahan et al. (2015) explore the type and quantity of nature that is required to provide health benefits.

(Critique) – This research is again conducted under a city planning framework and so its conclusions around the dosage of nature aren’t suitable for the context of my work,as they relate to time spent in nature to the amount of green space/ nature that needs to be included in urban planning. However, my work focuses upon how to bring nature into city spaces through addressing existing spaces and structures.

Dosage of nature was defined by Barton and Pretty (2010) as a measure of time spent exercising in green environments. However other measures of dosage of nature have been utilised in ecological and health studies (Shanahan et al., 2015).

They discovered that urban nature can be utilsied to provide an impactful and cost-effective tool to reduce health risks. However, in order to activate this change, further research into the specific types and amount of nature required for each possible health outcome is required (Shanahan et al., 2015).

The work also provides the highly interesting and relevant fact that in 30 years’ time, 70% of the global population will live in cities  (World Health Organization, 2013). I found a slightly more updated statistic form the United Nations (2018) stating it is predicted that 68% of the global population will live in cities by 2050.

(Critique)- Shanahan et al. (2015) are unable to provide precise answers in their work as to the quantities or types of nature needed to initiative certain health benefits, making it very difficult to action their work without further studies on this topic being completed.

What I Learned:

  • Achieving aesthetics of natural environment is particularly important to impacting affective states and imporving emotional wellbeing (Schertz et al., 2021).
  • Longer, more immerisve natural experiences had the largest effects on mood, however these intercations are not always possible (Schertz et al., 2021).
  • Greenspaces have proven beenfits to mental wellbeing, especially hedonic wellbeing (Houlden et al., 2018)
  • 70% of the worlds population will live in cities in 22 years time (accurate figure taking the date the statistic was created into account) (World Health Organization, 2013).
  • People often underestaimate the benefits to their mood they will feel after interacting with nature (Nisbet and Zelenski, 2011)
  • People spend a disproportionate amount of time away from nature, by being indoors (Kahn et al. 2010).
  • Having connections with nature extends cognitive abilities through recharging attention learning capacities, memory, executive functioning, and improving creativity.Nature is also found to create a positive mood, boost psychological well-being and relaxation by reducing anxiety and stress (Kasap et al., 2021).
  • Nature can aid social cohesion via improving behavior, perspective taking and creating social value orientation (Kasap et al., 2021).
  • Well-being can be improved through reduced stress, negative moods, depression, and anxiety via building connections to nature (Kasap et al., 2021).
  • Utilising nature in spaces to promote and develop connections to nature can instill improved learning and cognition, mental health benefits and even aid the construction of more cohesive societies or neighborhoods (Kasap et al., 2021).
  • It is shown that virtual reality experiences of nature are effective in aiding mental health (Scates et al., 2020; Reese et al., 2021; Yin et al., 2020).

Reflections

Through this lit review around the benefits of nature, I have uncovered some incredibly compelling and intriguing information that I am going to implement in creating content for my community to inform around the power of biophilic design. For example, that 70% of the world’s population will soon live in cities, or that people underestimate the power nature can have upon their mood, or how Openlands was utilised to create interactive maps of nature.

Bibliography

Houlden, V., Weich, S., Porto de Albuquerque, J., Jarvis, S. and Rees, K., (2018). ‘The relationship between greenspace and the mental wellbeing of adults: A systematic review.’ PloS one, 13(9), p.e0203000.

Kahn Jr, P.H., Ruckert, J.H., Severson, R.L., Reichert, A.L. and Fowler, E., (2010) ‘A nature language: An agenda to catalog, save, and recover patterns of human–nature interaction.’ Ecopsychology, 2(2), pp.59-66.

Kasap, E.Z., Ağzıtemiz, F. and Ünal, G., (2021). ‘Cognitive, mental and social benefits of interacting with nature: A systematic review.’ Journal of Happiness and Health, 1(1), pp.16-27.

Nisbet, E.K., Zelenski, J.M. and Murphy, S.A., (2011). ‘Happiness is in our nature: Exploring nature relatedness as a contributor to subjective well-being.’ Journal of Happiness Studies, 12(2), pp.303-322.

Reese, G., Kohler, E., & Menzel, C. (2021). Restore or get restored: The effect of control on stress reduction and restoration in virtual nature settings. Sustainability, 13(4), 1995.

Scates, D., Dickinson, J. I., Sullivan, K., Cline, H., & Balaraman, R. (2020). Using nature-inspired virtual reality as a distraction to reduce stress and pain among cancer patients. Environment and Behavior, 52(8), 895–918.

Schertz, K.E., Meidenbauer, K.L. and Berman, M.G., (2021). ‘Understanding the Affective Benefits of Interacting with Nature.’ In Nature and Health (pp. 7-22). Routledge.

Shanahan, D.F., Fuller, R.A., Bush, R., Lin, B.B. and Gaston, K.J., (2015). ‘The health benefits of urban nature: how much do we need?.’ BioScience, 65(5), pp.476-485.

United Nations (2018) “68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN” United Nations [Online] https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html Accessed 25/10/21

World Health Organization. , Urban Population Growth, Global Health Observatory Database, (2013) World Health Organization, Accessed 25/10/21 www.who.int/gho/urban_health/situation_trends/urban_population_growth_text/en/index.html

Yin, J., Yuan, J., Arfaei, N., Catalano, P. J., Allen,J. G., & Spengler, J. D. (2020). Effects of biophilic indoor environment on stress and anxiety recovery: A between-subjects experiment in virtual reality. Environment International, 136, 105427.

Posted on

Literature – My Working Definition of City

Defining City

I am concerned with defining city from non-city space rather than defining one city from another (Krupat and Guild, 1980).

Cities can be defined by differing criteria, including size, density, function, and degree of urbanism (Frey and Zimmer, 2001).

Defining cities through social categories is increasingly challenging as rural areas begin to showcase characteristics of urban areas and those from rural areas who migrate to urban spaces bring their characteristics with them. This suggests urban and rural spaces to exist simultaneously with minimal divisions under social characteristics (Frey and Zimmer, 2001).

Frey and Zimmer (2001) work to move their definition of city beyond the administrative boundaries, set by government, that we are typically familiar with. However, in order to make my target area as easily understandable to my stakeholders as possible, I feel it is necessary to maintain these administrative boundaries for cities, as they are so widely understood.

However, Frey and Zimmer (2001) accept that the majority of researchers do accept the administratively defined boundaries of cities as it is hard to gain sufficient data to define urban areas.

(Critique) – the work of Frey and Zimmer (2001) largely focuses upon urban growth factors in the city and the historical formation of cities, which isn’t relevant to the circumstances in which I am looking to utilise the term city. This is due to city being a locality providing a boundary of space to work within for my project, which isn’t reliant upon examining how these spaces are developed or grow.

My working definition of city:

Large spaces of densely settled populations, identified by government-set, administratively defined boundaries.

What I Learned:

  • Defining cities through social characteristics is increasigly challenging due to the migration of practises and ideals through urbanistaion
  • Scales of growth through urbanisation, size, density and function are all utilsied to define cities
  • Adminsatrivelty given boundaries, set by govenrments are the most commonly used method for defning cities utilsied by reserachers due to difficulties in gaining data
  • My working deifnition of city – Large spaces of densely settled populations, identified by government-set, administratively defined boundaries.

(Frey and Zimmer, 2001)

Reflections

This definition of city will help to provide clarity in the spaces I am looking to target and address in my work. The definition may evolve as my research progresses and I will adjust the definition based upon any boundaries I encounter or limits I need to enforce whilst progressing through my project.

Bibliography

Frey, W.H. and Zimmer, Z., (2001). ‘Defining the city’. Handbook of urban studies, 1, pp.14-35.

Krupat, E. and Guild, W., (1980). ‘Defining the city: The use of objective and subjective measures for community description.’ Journal of Social Issues, 36(3), pp.9-28.

Posted on

Literature – Unpacking Online Communities for Nature In

Defining Online Community

For the purposes of my project, I am working largely from Preece’s (2000) definition of an online community, which denotes 4 components that an essential for a group to achieve the status of an online community.

These 4 components are as follows (Preece, 2000, p3):

  • Socially interacting people striving to satisfy their own needs;
  • A shared purpose like an interest or need that provides a reason to cooperate;
  • Policies in the form of tacit assumptions, rituals, or rules that guide the community members’ behavior; and
  • A technical system that works as a carrier that mediates social interaction.

The work of Dellarocas (2006) and Leidner et al. (2010) highlights that online communities also offer spaces for businesses, customers, and employees to collaborate.

Subsequently, my definition of an online community is: A space hosted on the internet, connecting people with common interests to serve a mutual goal.

I wish to note that the focus of the Nature In community to be online is predominately to allow the community to reach as many people from as many different countries, backgrounds, and ethnicities as possible. In future plans, there may be in-person community meetings, either through in-person talks and panel discussions or through natural events. However, such plans will fall beyond the scope of this master’s project.

Online Community Building

The work of Reheingold (2000) explores how online communities typically follow their own set of rules in terms of their growth patterns and building. Each community expands in its own organic way, which can be hard to predict.

Key principles can be applied to most online communities, but they require the application of interpersonal skills, intuition, and improvisation to be truly successful (Bowes, 2002). See the ‘building online communities for professionals’ section below to explore these principles more.

Building Member Attachment and Commitment in Online Communities

The works of Ren et al., (2012) offers a systematic breakdown of different attachment style to groups, as well as exploring possible design features that can help to increase attachment.

(Critique) – Although these works are informative, it is largely theoretical and conceptual rather than practical which isn’t helpful in looking at how to initially build and form the community. Perhaps this works may be of more use when the community is larger and beginning to be more established.

I found the book ‘Building Successful Online Communities’ (Kraut and Resnick, 2012) much more useful and informative in how to build committed community members, which can ultimately make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful online community. Committed members are much more active within the groups, engaging more and drawing other members to get involved.

3 key types of commitment regarding online communities:

  • Affective commitment – feelings of closeness to group members
  • Normative commitment – feelings of obligations to the group
  • Need-based/ Continuance commitment – centered around incentives in the group and the quality of alternatives avalaible to the group increasing the costs of leaving

These attachments together determine how long and how committed people are within a community group.

(Critique) – Kraut and Resnick (2012) offer evidence-based ideas and easily implemented ways in which to build and also increase attachment, which will be very useful when growing the Nature In Community. For instance, the book offers examples of emails/ messages sent out to communities and picks out the key aspects to replicate to build trust, attachment, and commitment between your community members.

Knowledge Exchange in Online Communities

Law and Chang (2008) unpack knowledge fostering in communities under a social capital building framework. They explore the role of technology to build social capital through their 4 pillars of identity profiling, sub-community building, feedback mechanism, and regulatory practice and this social capital is then thought to be utilised to drive the contribution of knowledge into the community

For the purpose of the Nature In the community, I am looking to foster new knowledge between community members through collaboration and discussion, as well as exchanging knowledge to increase understanding and intelligence on topics amongst the community.

Faraj et al. (2011) demonstrate the power and use of online communities, as they allow knowledge exchange between apparent strangers often even without direct conversation. They argue it is the fluidity of online communities that dictates the success of passing knowledge in and out of the community. Fluctuations in the fluidity of factors such as time, identity, and social disembodiment of ideas can allow for opportunities in knowledge collaborations in response to the change of these factors.

(Critique)- Faraj et al. (2011) offer a strong theory for how knowledge exchange can occur and why, alongside examples of this. But there is little scope for how to artificially create these exchanges within the community. The theory is based around the change in interaction factors offering the opportunity for collaboration; thus, suggesting one or more of the factors would have to be manipulated for the opportunities to be artificially manufactured and stimulate knowledge exchange, but there are no given ideas of how to do this.

Building Online Communities for Professionals

The work of Bowes (2002) is hugely informative on the topic of forming a professional online community, as I am aiming to do with the Nature In Community. However, in the instance of Bowes the focus is on creating a professional community for educational professionals and looks to provide support and development rather than knowledge sharing and collaboration.

It is suggested to employ welcome messages for newcomers to the group to make them feel welcomed and nurtured, alongside the offering of a weekly or monthly newsletter (Bowes and Williams, 2000).

A balance between Ad hoc and structured activity is recommended to ensure community members have the opportunity for flowing discussion but the motives of the group remain clear and structured. This concept alines with my plans for Nature In, to post stimuli for collaboration and conversations between members, as well as informative content (Bowes, 2002).

Structured activities such as online guest events are outlined to include external knowledge in the community. In regards to Nature In, this is already something I am employing through my Panel Discussions and so I am very pleased to discover this is academically proven to aid the progression of my community (Bowes, 2002).

Bowes (2002) suggests professional online communities benefit from occasional face-to-face encounters/ meetings. This is in keeping with some of my future plans for the Nature in community and so in discovering this academic base for the decision, which corroborates my intervention findings, I will be sure to action this.

Summary of Learning:

  • My working definition of online community: A space hosted on the internet, connecting people with common interests to serve a mutual goal. Based on the work of Preece, (2000), Dellarocas (2006) and Leidner et al. (2010).
  • Building committed members is crucial to a online communities sucess
  • Committed and attached members are developed through: building commitment and trust between those wanting to stay in a group, encourgaing identity based attachemnet via a set of shared ideals, reducing forces that may undercut comittment such as feeling of disconnect in larger groups (Kraut and Resnick, 2012).
  • Knowledge exchange can occur in online communities from the fluctuation of variables such as time, identity and social disembodiment of ideas provding the opportuntiy for collaboration (Faraj et al., 2011)
  • Nuture members and new comers through welcome messages and monthly newsletters (Bowes, 2002)
  • To encourage community interaction and growth through implement a balance of ad hoc and strcutured content posting, offering organised events within the group (Bowes, 2002)
  • Host some in perosn events as well as online, so that community members can meet if tehy wish (Bowes, 2002)

Reflections

In conducting this literature review around community building I have formed a clear base of knowledge around communities to work from and a framework in which to begin building and growing the online community of Nature In.

Bibliography

Bowes, J., (2002). ‘Building online communities for professional networks.’ Global Summit of Online Knowledge Networks, Adelaide, Australia.

Bowes, J. and Williams, M. (2000), Building the VECO Online Community – a model for encouraging novices. National Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 25, number 1, Pp 60-72

Dellarocas, C., (2006). ‘Strategic manipulation of internet opinion forums: Implications for consumers and firms.’ Management science, 52(10), pp.1577-1593.

Faraj, S., Jarvenpaa, S.L. and Majchrzak, A., (2011). ‘Knowledge collaboration in online communities.’ Organization science, 22(5), pp.1224-1239.

Kraut, R.E. and Resnick, P., (2012). Building successful online communities: Evidence-based social design. Mit Press.

Law, S.P.M. and Chang, M.K., (2008). ‘Fostering knowledge exchange in online communities: a social capital building approach.’

Leidner, D., Koch, H. and Gonzalez, E., (2010). ‘Assimilating Generation Y IT New Hires into USAA’s Workforce: The Role of an Enterprise 2.0 System.’ MIS Quarterly Executive, 9(4).

Preece, J. (2000). ‘Online communities: Designing usability and supporting sociability.’ Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.

Ren, Y., Harper, F.M., Drenner, S., Terveen, L., Kiesler, S., Riedl, J. and Kraut, R.E., (2012.) ‘Building member attachment in online communities: Applying theories of group identity and interpersonal bonds.’ Mis Quarterly, pp.841-864.

Rheingold, H. (2000). ‘The virtual community: Homestead- ing on the electronic frontier’ (rev. ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Posted on

Literature- Sense of Place and Community

For my undergraduate dissertation, I examined the new development of Port Loop in Birmingham which offered a new community with Birmingham’s first new park in over 10 years and communal garden spaces, alongside community facilities of coffee shops and communal working spaces.

In order to unpack the value of this development in terms of social, cultural, and financial value I examined literature around a sense of place and community building. I find in my project work now some of this literature review is again prevalent and can be applied as a framework to keep in mind when building my own community through Nature In.

My full dissertation can be downloaded from the file link below, where you can read my literature review section from pages 10 – 16, with 14-16 focusing on sense of place/ community.

Dissertation – Assessing the Financial, Social and Cultural Value of New Developments: The Case of Port Loop, Birmingham Download

Community Building Literature – In respect of the Nature In Community:

The works of Crow and Mah (2012) suggest community to be a contested term throughout literature. However, for the purpose of developing the Nature In Community, the community will refer to a space hosting a collective mission and ideals to achieve a common goal through knowledge sharing, collaboration, and action.

I am primarily focused on concepts of online community and placemaking to develop strong social and cultural values among and for community members. These concepts will be unpacked in my following post

Bibliography

Crow, G. and Mah, A. (2012) ‘Conceptualisations and meanings of ‘community’: the theory and operationalization of a contested concept.’ Report to the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Swindon, pp. 1-39.

Posted on

Reading ‘Rewild Yourself’ to Help Formulate a New Stream of Ideas

Unlike many academic papers I have read and analysed to form the foundation for my work, recently I have looked to other sources of secondary information to help formulate new ideas and takes on how nature can be effectively introduced to hospitality settings. 

Barnes, S. (2018) Rewild Yourself, Simon and Schuster, London.

Consequently, I have been reading ‘Rewild Yourself’ by Simon Barnes. This book isn’t to do with bringing nature into spaces at all, rather it is centred around people taking themselves to the outdoors to interact with nature. Resultantly, I found reading the text a very interesting experience to get my creative juices to flow in following the suggested ideas to ‘rewild’. I have found myself critically analysing and adapting these suggested methods of rewilding to discover how they can be utilised within the context of my work. This has led me to revert many of the ideas and working backwards with them to try and invent new ideas or ways in which similar forms of interacting with nature could be introduced into hospitality settings. 

For instance, a suggestion to invest and utilise a good pair of waterproof trousers may seem meaningless in regards to my work. However, the book goes on the explore the new world and environment a pair of waterproof trousers helps you to unlock. Whether this be seeing new species that you would have otherwise missed as you wouldn’t have wanted to immersive yourself in the wet environment, or simply exploring the scenery and woodlands in adverse climates. The point being that the trousers offer a gateway to experience different environments. A similar concept can be applied into an event or experience in hospitality, with a. little thinking and reworking. An expel of this is that an event or experience could be centred around different weathers or climates and in each experience of the climate the customer is able to experience different aspects of nature. Some apparatus could be used as a gateway for each environment, whether this be through ordering a different dish (each pertaining to a new environment) or even in a bar setting thing could be done through different drinks; or even simply in the setting of the restaurants different areas could be presented to explore different nature weathers or environments. Even technology could be utilised to formulate this idea into a technobiophilic experience. These ideas are currently just that, ideas, but read this book has allowed for fresh perspectives to be taken on seemingly obvious parts of natural experiences. 

Below I have included notes of aspects of nature I wish to explore further after reading this book. I will go on to develop these ideas further and look at the feasibility of them as I look to planning my next interventions, specifically my next intervention at the Chelsea College of Arts. 

  • Weather
    • Experiencing different weathers/ climates as a part of a natural experience 
      • Rain – sound and smell? 
      • Heat – step off the plane heat smell? Sounds of crickets/ birds?
    • Just like the weatherproof trousers, I’m aiming to break down the barriers between inside and outside
      • Breaking down the self-imposed barriers to nature
  • Consider wildlife/ animals not just plants
    • Create immersive habitats? – focus them on different species? – creating an elongated meaningful connection to nature through the transfer of knowledge that customers can take into their daily lives, for instance, the names of basic species such as butterflies which they can then identify when seeing them around in their daily lives, consequently allowing them to feel closer to nature even after leaving the event/ experiences. 
  • ‘Open yourself up to the wild’ 
  • Viewing the ocean as a new and mythical world 
    • Lose yourself in a new natural world – replicate unusual/ unique aspects of the ocean that aren’t commonly known 
      • Strengthen connection potentially from the transfer of knowledge about the ocean – people may wish to pursue this information further and explore and learn more about the ocean.
      • Utilise idea of coral reefs – unpack and showcase their environment in an event
        • Aquascope/ bathyscaphe allows you to view the ocean like a snorkel but without getting wet.
  • Rivers?
    • People sat in different spaces like different tributaries (could also be like branches of a tree) – different tributaries would equate to a different natural experience, customers could more through the different tributaries throughout the experience. 
      • Could be replicated for a wine tasting?  – different drink for each tributary? Or a different food dish? 
  • Nocturnal animals – could be referenced in evening experiences or events? 
    • Bats – sonar sounds for communication in any way to play on this? 
      • Utilise sonar tech in an event? – play on bats abilities to feel at home during the dark? 
      • There are devices you can get to convert bat’s ultrasounds into humanly audible sounds – could utilise something similar?
        • Bat detectors, set to around 45khz
  • Stillness to take in wild ecosystem forms around you
    • Could be introduced in some form for a supper club type event, as everyone sits down for dinner and are silent, the projectors/ sounds/ smells of nature and wildlife begin to appear, as if you are sitting still in the natural habitat. This could set the tone for the rest of the natural experience. 
  • Rainforest – most diverse ecosystem
    • Reveal what’s in the canopy/ around you that may be hard to see.
      • Explore the masses of wildlife in the canopy of the rainforest, unpack it and utilise different species in experiences 
  • Hares/ Rabbits 
    • Future idea that could be aimed at spring? 
  • Dragonflies/ ladybirds/ butterflies – the invertebrate world of the small, bringing them into the human eye and world of the big rather than being overlooked. 
  • Hummingbirds/ woodpeckers – represent bringing rare and interesting species inspiration into events that will attract people as it is uncommon for humans to encounter them. So, an event aimed to replicate interactions with racer species could bring the rare into the normal? 
  • Bees
    • Replicate or take inspiration from the process of pollinating? 
      • Create a change in the taste of food before and after ‘pollination’

Reflection 

I have really enjoyed reading this book and it has allowed me to re-evaluate my ideas and perceptions of what nature truly is. I feel it has helped me to consider new forms of nature and ways to introduce these parts of nature into the hospitality settings, allowing for connections with the customer to be formed.

Following the line of thinking reading this book has started, another idea I have been recently thinking about red Hibiscus, which is a flower that is commonly associated with summer. But, with Christmas and winter coming up I have thought of potentially utilising this flower as a theme for a natural event or experience framed towards winter. This would create a juxtaposition between winter and summer and allow for a mixture of seasons to be brought into one space, for an innovative natural experience.

Posted on

Selfridges ‘Good Nature’ Campaign

What is ‘Good Nature’?

I stumbled across the Selfridges Good Nature campaign by chance the other day and immediately felt their goals have a strong symbiosis with the aims of my project in connecting people to nature (less of the hospitality focus however).

The campaign is a part of Selfridges’ wider ‘project earth’ campaign which is Selfridges’ 5 year sustainability plan. Good Nature represents Selfridges move away from seasonal campaigns to demonstrates their focus upon reducing waste and encouraging their customers to embrace nature, throughout 2021. Good Nature instigates a return to nature through promoting different ways to enjoy the outdoors, one of these ways includes the garden centre exhibits I came across in the Selfridges store which hosts its range of ‘horti-coture’ fashion items and outdoor wear. The garden centre exhibits technical outdoor accessories and clothing, as well as collaborations with big brands such as North Face and Hunter.

After further research I discovered Good Nature began through a series of nature inspired images from artistic collaborators. This mood-board of images can be found on Selfridges website. The subsequent rest of the campaign includes online blog posts, guides to sustainable shopping, a podcast; as well as the physical ‘garden centre’ spaces I saw in the shop.

The podcast, named the Pleasure Series, aims to showcase ways of gaining the pleasures of nature. For instance, there is an episode on ‘the pleasure of gardening’ , ‘the pleasure of growth’ , ‘the pleasure of rituals’, ‘ the pleasure of sound’ and the list goes on. The podcast is intended to be listened to outdoors to provide a guiding force for experiencing nature by focusing upon encapsulating the healing powers and escapism that can be achieved from nature.

Good Nature ultimately showcases Selfridges’ suitability pledge, alongside the demand for an awareness and appreciation of nature by Selfridges client base; that has been heightened after the pandemic; which highlighted the importance of the outdoors in all of our lives.

My Action From The Discovery of Good Nature:

Due to resonating strongly with this campaign, I have since being trying to contact the people behind it to see if they would be interested in collaborating in any way. But, it has proven rather difficult to track down these individuals. I asked the people working in Selfridges at the time of my visit, but they weren’t sure who I should contact as they were only staff on the clothing counters. I have also rang Selfridges, but this was just a general number and they too were unsure who I should contact. So, I began a deep dive on the internet and discovered who styled the window display for the Good Nature campaign, Emily Outhwaite. I have emailed her and connected with her on LinkedIn in the hope that she will be able to point me in the direction towards the creators of Good Nature, or potentially even be able to directly help to see if any form of collaboration may be possible.

Reflection:

The seed packet given out by Selfridges as part of their Good Nature display inspired an idea. This being that possibly a similar intervention could be conducted by myself to provide seeds or a space where people could even grow their own piece of nature and progressively watch it grow. For instance, if there was the opportunity to plant your own seeds at a hospitality venue and it is as though you have left a part of you in that space and you can go back and watch it grow, develop and flourish. This could also inspire repeat customers to the spaces. This may work well in an informal cafe setting, but it would require upkeep form the venue owners to nurture the plants into growing. This is just a very preliminary idea at present, but I thought it to be an interesting train of thought.

Also in relation to the seed packets, they symbolise taking nature from the event further into the lives of the customers. This is something I have tried to include in my interventions so far with offering customers the opportunity to take herb cuttings home from my herb event, for instance. Re-connecting people to nature not only in the events themselves but further into their daily lives is something I will continue to try and achieve in later iterations of my interventions. The online sharing group I have recently developed also helps to benefit this strengthening of personal connection to nature beyond the scope of events. This is due to the group promoting not only good and bad applications of nature but also what spaces are displaying these aspects of nature, so that people can learn of more ways and places in which they can interact with nature.

Bibliography

Selfridges (2021) “Good Nature Podcast” Selfridges [Online] https://www.selfridges.com/GB/en/features/articles/good-nature/good-nature-podcast/ Accessed 06/08/21

Selfridges (2021) “Good Nature Moodboard” Selfridges [Online] https://www.selfridges.com/GB/en/features/moodboard/ Accessed 06/08/21

Posted on

Preparing for Herb Event Intervention at Chelsea Collage of Arts

Event Details

Below outlines my plans with the Chelsea Collage of Arts for my Herb Event running next Tuesday and Wednesday, as agreed to by Dashnor the head of catering.

On Tuesday and Wednesday next week (20th and 21st July) between the hours of 11am- 4pm I will be running a Herb Event. This will involve me bringing an array of herbs to the site and setting up a stand in the middle of the outdoor cafe seating area with these herbs.


I will be present during all of this time and will ask customers if they would like to come and pick some of the herbs to add to their food or to take home with them. This will be done to measure whether this interaction with nature in the hospitality setting improves their connection to nature. Consequently, I will ask customers to complete a very short series of 4 questions utilising the academic measure of the inclusion of nature in self (Schultz, 2002: Kleespies et al., 2021) to rank their connection to nature on a scale of 1-10 initially, before providing them with the herbs. Then, before they leave I will re-ask the questions and see if their answers have changed at all, to determine if there has been a change in their connection to nature.


I will also provide customers who wish to take some of the herbs home with a card that explains different ways to utilise the herbs, as well as a link to an online survey form where they can provide added information as to whether taking this herb home and utilising it has aided their connection to nature. Throughout the event I will also talk with customers to discover more about their views of nature and how they feel their connection to nature could be best improved. 

Acquiring the Herbs

I secured a basket from my neighbours who I spotted were throwing it out, which was highly convenient as it made the perfect herb carrier.

I visited 6 florists that were selling herbs, after the meeting at Chelsea on Tuesday, I tried to visit places close to the campus so there could be a shorter journey to transport the herbs. I asked if they would be able to secure a selection of herbs at wholesale cost from the flower market. I sadly discovered it has been very hard to get herbs recently as there is a shortage in Holland, but I left my phone number with them all to get in contact if they were able to secure any. However, after a few days I hadn’t heard anything back from the florists and so I took to the only other place I knew I could find potted herbs, the supermarket. So, on Thursday I went to my local supermarket and bought pretty much all of the potted herbs they had. I also got some smaller pots and compost from my local hardware store and took my new purchases home. I then repotted all of the herbs to make more smaller plants so they could grow and settle into their new pots in time for my first herb event on Tuesday. You can see the finished herb basket with my repotted herbs below.

Creating a Report Method for Measuring Connection to Nature

To record the impacts of the herb event I am going to utilise google forms. And there will be two separate google forms utilised in the event.

1st Google Forms

I will be the only one with access to this google forms, as I am going to utilise it as a quick and efficient method to record customers responses to my initial questions regarding their connection to nature, and then again once they have interacted with the herbs. I can then easily view all the inputted answers digitally, after the event and analyse whether interacting with the herbs during the event impacted their connection to nature at all.

The three questions asked in this form are related to the academic scale of the inclusion of nature in self, which was originally developed by Schultz in 2002. The inclusion of nature in self scale has 3 key components, these being:

Cognitive Component – nature as part of self?

Behavioural Component – motivation to act in the interest of nature?

Affective Component – concern for nature?

Schultz’s (2002) original inclusion of nature in self scale kept it very simple in asking 1 question which asks what diagram fits the person’s relationship with nature best (see below).

The Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale (INS, Schultz, 2002). | Download Scientific Diagram

Scultz’s measure has been developed upon through an extension of the inclusion of nature in self scale by Kleespies et al. (2021). This extended scale looks to create a version of the scale for people with lowered abstraction and imagination, such as younger people or those in need of support. Additionally, there is another extended scale developed by Martin and Czellar (2016). This scale proposes a 4 item development of the inclusion of nature in self to explore spatial metaphors in relation to self assessment of connection to nature. However, Martin and Czellar’s (2016) scale although may provide a greater validity of results, it is rather complicated and so I think this may put off the general public responding accurately in my event.

Subsequently, due to my unknown customer range at the Herb Event, as it is at a cafe open to the public, I am going to employ the extended inclusion of nature in self scale developed by Kleespies et al. (2021) (see below). This is because the scale includes younger people as well as those that may require assistance in imagination or abstraction, while still catering for the original target audience of the inclusion of nature in self scale. This is an academically rigorous scale which is still simple enough for the public too quickly and accurately respond too.

Sustainability | Free Full-Text | Measuring Connection to Nature—A Illustrated Extension of the Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale

To create added depth in my feedback, I will also ask three questions before and after interacting with the herbs, each addressing one of the three components outlined in the inclusion of nature in self; to assess the customers connection to nature.

Questions to be asked before and after interaction with herb event (1st google forms):

  1. Which picture best describes you relationship with the natural environment? How interconnected are you with nature?
Sustainability | Free Full-Text | Measuring Connection to Nature—A Illustrated Extension of the Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale
  1. How do you rate your current connection to nature? On a scale 1-10 (1 being little connection)
  2. How do you rate the strength of your motivations to act in the interest of nature? On a scale 1-10 (1 being little motivation)
  3. How concerned are you for nature? On a scale 1-10 (1 being little concern)

link to 1st google forms: https://forms.gle/bkRc8U7kJDf8PZgs5

2nd Google Forms

The QR code which links to this forms is included in the cards I will be giving out at the event alongside the herbs. The first 3 questions are aimed at people who take herbs home with them from the event and aim to address the inclusion of nature in self scale by again targeting the 3 components. This google forms can also be completed by people during the event if they are willing to provided added details in their feedback and reflections on their personal connection to nature, as the later questions are more general about the event and their relationship with nature.

The questions include (2nd google forms):

  1. (If herbs were taken home) How has the continuation of the event through taking the herbs into your daily lives, influenced you connection to nature? eg: are you inspired to grow your own herbs or plants or spend more time in spaces incorporating nature? Please also give your connection to nature a rating out of 1-10 (1 being little connection).
  2. (If herbs were taken home) How has interacting with the herbs in your daily life impacted your concern for nature? Please also give your concern for nature a rating out of 1-10 (1 being little concern).
  3. (If herbs were taken home) How has utilising the herbs at home effected your motivations to act in the interest of nature? Please also give your motivations a rating out of 1-10 (1 being little motivation).
  4. How has interacting with the herbs during the herb event impacted you connection to nature?
  5. Was it the physical presence of the herbs at the event that you enjoyed or specifically your interaction with them? and why?
  6. Would you be attracted to visit a hospitality space if they were hosting events to incorporate nature and why?
  7. What would you like to see from hospitality spaces to bring you closer to nature whilst visiting them?
  8. Do you feel hospitality spaces make a conscious effort to bring nature to their customers? what examples do you like or dislike of this?
  9. What attracts you to nature or spaces including nature and why? eg: planting for their health benefits, or natural colours as they are exhilarating
  10. Which senses are most important to you to emulate an experience with nature, eg: smells, sounds, visuals, touch or tastes? Please give examples
  11. Are you keen to strengthen your relationship to nature? and why?
  12. How do you attempt to connect with nature in your daily life?

link to 2nd google forms: https://forms.gle/9tBK7NudHZtTWm3V6

Hand Out Cards

I have designed and then found a printer to create physical copies of these cards to compliment the Herb Event (see below). The cards are designed to accompany taking some of there herbs home whether this be a small plant or a bunch of picked herbs. The cards feature some tips of how to utilise the herbs as well as the QR code to the 2nd google forms.

I am aware that once customers take the cards and herbs home they are possibly less likely to complete the google forms, as there will be no physical presence asking them to do so. However, I hope after interacting with them at the event and also in giving them something for nothing, in letting them take herbs home, that they will provide some useful feedback.

Once the event is completed I will review all feedback gained and look as to how I can build from this in future iterations of the intervention.

Bibliography

Kleespies, M.W., Braun, T., Dierkes, P.W. and Wenzel, V., 2021. “Measuring connection to nature—a illustrated extension of the inclusion of nature in self scale.” Sustainability, 13(4), p.1761.

Martin, C. and Czellar, S. (2016) “The extended inclusion of nature in self scale.” Journal of Environmental Psychology, 47, pp.181-194.

Schultz, P.W., (2002). “Inclusion with nature: The psychology of human-nature relations.” In Psychology of sustainable development (pp. 61-78). Springer, Boston, MA.

Posted on

Immersive Art Exhibits With Hospitality Facilities

I have researched and comprised a list of immersive art installations and experiences which also host hospitality settings serving food and drinks. I am looking to contact these venues to ask if it would be possible to test my ideas and concepts in their spaces. Additionally, I am looking to visit some of these spaces over the coming days to gain inspiration for my ideas as well a knowledge into the practicalities of how immersive events are being run in these instances.

‘Terra Nexus’

  • 25 artists coming together to create a maze of immersive micro-installations on the South Bank, all about ecology.
  • immersive art with a message, so you can lose yourself and better yourself at the same time
  • Unfortunately, this event stopped running on the 30th June.
  • But I am still going to contact the organisers to ask about collaborating on further events they may be involved in alongside how they felt the event went and if there was anything they would change for future events, so I can aim to learn from their experiences.

(Art Rabbit, 2021) and (Proposition Studios, 2021)

'Wyrd Codex' by Sol Bailey-Barker
'Colony Collapse Disorder' by Food of War

Yayoi Kusama

  • Arguably the most famous immersive art experience in London at the moment is Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms.
  • Sadly, tickets are currently sold out and so I am unable to visit this exhibition.
  • However, it is being hosted at the Tate Modern which also homes the River Terrace serving food and drink and so I will contact them to enquire about testing in their spaces.

(Tate Britain, 2021)

Yayoi Kusama Chandelier of Grief 2016/2018 Tate Presented by a private collector, New York 2019 © YAYOI KUSAMA

Heather Phillipson

  • Hosted in Tate Britain’s enormous Duveen Galleries with a huge, free installation where viewers can meet mutant creatures and abandoned chunks of rotting technology, accompanied by enticing lighting schemes.
  • Rupture No 1: Blowtorching the Bitten Peach’ is at Tate Britain until January 23rd 2022. 
  • The technology utilised in this immersive experience coupled with Tate Britain’s Djanogly cafe facilities could help to host a type of natural immersive eating experience strengthening people’s connection to nature.
  • Tate Britain does usually host a restaurant as well as this cafe, but that is closed at present. Looking to the future, if this restaurant reopens I will certainly contact them with regards to testing my project ideas.
  • Therefore, I plan on visiting this exhibition and talking to the organisers to see if there could be an opportunity to test my ideas in any capacity to utilise these facilities.

(Tate, 2021)

Tate Britain Commission: Heather Phillipson: Rupture No.1: blowtorching the bitten peach © Tate photography (Oliver Cowling)

Ryoji Ikeda

  • Ryoji Ikeda’s biggest ever European show sends viewers through room after room of stunning light and sound installations.
  • The instillation is at 180 The Strand until the 1st August 2021
  • I will contact The Strand to discover more about their hospitality facilities to see if it would be possible to test my ideas there, as there is little mention of food and drink facilities on their website.

(180 The Strand, 2021)

Ryoji Ikeda_180 Strand_Test Pattern_16.jpg

Van Gogh

  • The immersive experience of Van Gogh’s work is being held at 106 Commercial Street in a 19th century stable building, opposite Old Spitalfields Market
  • The exhibition features two storey projections in 360 degrees, with virtual reality sparking real interaction
  • It is run by Fever and Exhibition Hub, which I will contact looking to collaborate in testing my ideas with similar technologies they have utilised here but naturally on a smaller scale to begin with.
  • From what I can tell the exhibition doesn’t host an hospitality facilities, but the technology utilised to create the event could be incredibly beneficial in how to approach hosting a similar experience for my project

(Van Gogh Expo, 2021)

Van Gogh Exhibition: The Immersive Experience - London

Camden Art Centre

  • This art centre presents a slightly smaller venue which it may be more possible to test in
  • There are strong community ties and an ethos of connecting to everyone’s creativity, which offer a potentially strong engagement in my work
  • The centre hosts a cafe alongside a garden space, which would serve as a brilliant premises for testing immersive natural instillations around the food, and so I am going to get in contact with the centre to explore any testing opportunities there

(Camden Art Centre, 2021)

Sadly, many of the smaller galleries I have found with immersive exhibitions don’t host hospitality spaces which presents an issue as the don’t fit my criteria needed for a testing environment. This applies to spaces such as: Work Gallery, October Gallery, Free Space Gallery and many more.

Reflection

I will continue to research further immersive experiences across London, especially those which also host hospitality facilities. I aim to visit Tate Britain tomorrow to view the Heather Phillipson exhibit and I will post an update on my visit on my blog afterwards. Whilst I acknowledge it may be difficult to test my concepts with such large institutions as the Tate, I do feel contacting them is beneficial to gaining greater knowledge and inspiration into the practicalities of creating immersive events; and may even lead to contacts which will allow me to test. I feel that targeting the hospitality settings in these large institutions should provide a little leeway into being able to test in the spaces, rather than direclty asking to utilise their exhibition spaces. Targeting the cafes in this way may also be beneficial to them as it may attract greater customers to the spaces who would otherwise have stuck to only visiting the exhibitions. In a way, testing my concepts in the cafe turns the cafe into an exhibition and experience in itself.

I am very excited to explore this avenue further in my project, as I feel such immersive experiences are gaining a lot of traction in their own right around London at the moment. Therefore, combining my quest to connect people to nature with an immersive experience encapsulating the senses and evoking the benefits of biophilic environments could create vastly effective change and engage a multitude of people. Consequently, I am very hopeful exploration into this area may provide some fruitful insights and findings. Even if it does result that utilising technology is not the most effective way to connect people with nature, I am hopeful this avenue will at the very least help to engage venues and customers that may have otherwise been disinterested in a project looking to bring nature into spaces in a more traditional and physical sense.

I feel that supper clubs and further restaurant pop-ups will also be good spaces to host these technological tests to connect to nature and os they may be perfect venues, interested in such an immersive art and nature fusion of experience. Therefore, I will also look to contact supper clubs and more pop-up restaurants in the future.

Bibliography

Art Rabbit (2021) “Terra Nexus” Art Rabbit [Online] https://www.artrabbit.com/events/terra-nexus-proposition-studios Accessed 01/07/21

Camden Art Centre (2021) “Welcome” Camden Art Centre [Online] https://camdenartcentre.org Accessed 01/07/21

HackneyWicked

Proposition Studios (2021) “Terra Nexus” Proposition Studios [Online] https://www.propositionstudios.com/terra-nexus Accessed 01/07/21

Van Gogh Expo (2021) “Van Gogh the Immersive Experience” Van Gogh [Online] https://vangoghexpo.com/london/?utm_content=van-gogh-exhibition-london&utm_source=secretldn&utm_medium=post&utm_term=cta3 Accessed 01/07/21

Tate Britain (2021) “Tate Britain Commission, Heather Phillipson, Rupture No 1: Blowtorching the Bitten Peach” Tate Britain [Online] https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/heather-phillipson Accessed 01/07/21

Tate (2021) “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms” Tate [Online] https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/yayoi-kusama-infinity-mirror-rooms Accessed 01/07/21

180 The Strand (2021) “Exhibitions: Ryoji Ikeda” The Strand [Online] https://www.180thestrand.com Accessed 01/07/21

Posted on

Technobiophilia

Technobiophilia: nature and cyberspace, By Sue Thomas

Thomas coined the term technobiophilia, founded in her discovery that the utilisation of nature metaphors in internet culture was the result of biophilia (Thomas, 2013).

Technobiophilia – the innate attraction to life and lifelike processes as they appear in technology (Thomas, 2013).

Even through the crowds of technology facing the modern world, we are still drawn to nature and incorporating nature in the technological innovations in our lives. We even term technological developments after accepts of nature, such as storing data ‘in the cloud’ or your computer ‘getting a bug’ (Barreiros et al., 2018).

In the book Thomas (2013) states that technobiophilia practises and artefacts contribute to wellbeing via a tech-nature balance (Thomas, 2013). However, looking to critically analyse this finding, I wonder if utilising technology to connect with nature could produce the same benefits or even increased benefits, than incorporating natural design through standard Biophilic design such as planting, colour, textures, sounds etc. In summary, if we incorporate nature in technology, do we get the same wellbeing benefits from interacting with nature in this way or are the benefits slightly lowered or even heightened?

Relating This New Knowledge Into My Project

If technology does provide similar levels of benefits as more traditional or standard biophilic schemes, there is a large potential to utilise technology in my project. Technology could be utilised to develop a method of implementing nature into hospitality spaces in a fully immersive and easily changeable manner. For instance, natural scenes accompanied by their soundscapes and scents could be shown in restaurants instead of standard art work. Of course there is the cost element of this application to consider, as the technology needed may be expensive. However, if done on a rental basis of the technology in a trail to prove its efficacy and then if the concept proves value, an investment could be made by businesses into the needed technology.

This link of utilising technology in my project directly relates to key discussions had in my panel discussion with the biophilic experts. It was raised that technology is currently overlooked a lot in biophilic design, with designers falling into the trap of thinking that technology and nature need to be kept separate. Additionally, in the panel the vast importance of creating dynamic and changing spaces has on the success of continuously attracting customers to spaces, as many shames require refurbishment after a few years in order to modernise and keep customers engaged. Technology if successfully utilised in the way I am envisaging could create changeable, dynamic and evolving spaces that fully immerses customers in nature and consequently improving their wellbeing by re-connecting them with nature. Creating such spaces not only addresses the key points raised in my expert discussion, but also the needs of the hospitality professionals I have spoken to throughout the course of my project so far. I have learnt that hospitality spaces are generally receptive to including nature in their spaces, but they cannot afford large scale refurbishments nor can the afford to be closed for the time these refurbishments need to take place. Therefore, utilising technology which can be easily implemented into existing spaces or even utilise some of the existing technology they already have, such as speakers, could help to create an immersive natural experience in the space without obstructing the business and instead attract greater customers in.

Delving deeper in Thomas’s work around technobiopilia, it becomes apparent that she focuses on how technology could be utilised to enhance our experiences of nature or how nature can be brought more into our lives by technology via mobile tech such as smart phones, apps or wearables (Thomas, 2020). She wishes to develop a way of measuring the benefits to wellbeing that living a technobiophilic lifestyle can have. For example, an app or wearable tech that can measure heart rate changes based on different environments people are in (Thomas, 2020). Suggesting, my idea of developing immersive natural spaces may be a new and unusual take on her concept.

Reflections – the breakthrough moment

I feel that delving deeper into technobiophilia and looking at how to utilise technology in a beneficial way to connect people with nature has really been a breakthrough moment in my work. I believe trying to tackle re-connecting people to nature from this angle is so exciting and currently I can’t find it being done like this in any hospitality spaces which is such a groundbreaking thing for me. So far I have mainly been looking at new ways to combine design ideas that are partially out in the general field of biophilic design; but, this avenue feels new and even slightly liberating!

Next Steps:

I am looking to get in contact with Sue them stop discuss these concepts further over the coming week. I believe she was actually invited into class as a part of the guest speaker project so hopefully she will also be willing to assist in my work.

My big task over the coming weeks is to secure venues to begin testing my concepts in. I have a possible contact of a hospitality manager in Edinburgh, who seems keen but is yet to confirm if this keenness is more a reflection of their kindness. I also have contacts I have built through LinkedIn and Facebook groups that are hospitality managers, who I am reaching out to work with. However, last night I actually met a hospitality manager for the restaurant JOY at Notting Hill who seemed very interested in my work. I have been in contact with him today and I am hopeful something may come of that connection.

Bibliography

Barreiros, C., Veas, E. and Pammer, V., (2018) “Bringing nature into our lives.” In International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 99-109). Springer, Cham.

Thomas, S., 2013. Technobiophilia: Nature and cyberspace. A&C Black.

Thomas, S. (2020) “Technobiophilic Design Challenges for Developers” https://suethomasnet.wordpress.com/whatistechnobiophilia/designchallenges/