Nature as pathway

This research project focused on the emerging field of Green Care: nature-based activities contributing to different social needs through innovative solutions contributing to health and wellbeing, social inclusion, learning and recreation in nature.

Angela looked at Green Care from three main theoretical and conceptual angles:

Social entrepreneurship: by engaging closely with practitioners and their networks of stakeholders, the research investigated the cross-sectoral collaborations and strategies mobilized to realize the practices, but also the values, motivations, and visions underlying them;
Place-based resourcefulness: by mapping the vast array of resources needed to foster Green Care practices, the research provided a comprehensive overview of what entrepreneurs consider enabling or constraining resources on various levels (structural, organizational, community, and personal);
Caring as transformative paradigm: delving into the literature on care ethics and relational approaches to sustainability, the research informed the current debate on transformative change, towards inclusive, interdependent socio-ecological systems.

The empirical work was based in Finland, where Angela carried out a participatory action-oriented process, engaging with three small communities of practitioners (and their networks of stakeholders) in a process of iterative learning and co-production of knowledge:

a care farm involving a group of mentally disabled people in sheep husbandry and farming activities for therapeutic reasons;
a biodynamic farm engaging different target groups in farming practices for social inclusion and pedagogical purposes;
a nature-tourism company offering outdoor sports, wellbeing, educational, and recreational activities to a variety of target users.

Methods used include: Semi-structured interviews coupled with participatory mapping; Participant observation; Photo-voice with vulnerable groups; Co-creation workshops using participatory and creative methods, structured along Theory U & Appreciative Inquiry tenets; Questionnaire surveys; Video interviews.

Keywords: Green Care; social entrepreneurship; place-based resourcefulness; transformative change; caring practices and ethics; participatory action-oriented approaches; Finland.

News

New publication: A care-based approach to transformative change: ethically-informed practices, relational response-ability & emotional awareness by Moriggi et al.

Children’s Book | Once Upon the Future: Everyday Adventures that Change the World

New publication: Caring in, for, and with Nature – An Integrative Framework to Understand Green Care Practices by Moriggi et al.

Video: Nature as pathway – A participatory action research project

Children’s Book | Once Upon the Future | Foreword by Susanne Moser

Researcher: Angela Moriggi