We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Finding Satoyama – Forest bathing as a creative practice of knowledge creation and healing in/with/through damaged landscapes
Summary
This article investigates forest bathing as a creative practice for reconnecting people with natural landscapes. The study explores how walking, talking, and sitting practices in forest environments can serve as both research methods and mental health interventions, though this work is not directly related to microplastic research.
Many people in the Western world are estranged from the more-than-human world, which negatively impacts their health and well-being. This article investigates the effect of forest bathing as an intervention on how designers and other citizens can reconnect with nature. Walking, talking, and sitting spot practices are not only research methods that help to understand the histories and interdependencies of a landscape and contribute to society and science, but can also be used as mental health promotion tools to generate self-care, especially when dealing with the experience of wounds through the inner and outer landscapes in which we engage. This article is based on an extensive review of a multidisciplinary body of literature. Although mainly conceptual, this article is empirically informed and illustrated by my experiences in Japan. By sharing an autoethnography of experiencing a Japanese landscape through five walks along the same trail over 1.5 years while exploring the deepening journey into the forest bathing practice, this article illustrates the opportunities and benefits of deploying forest bathing in landscape architecture and other regional and urban planning interventions. It also examines the concept of self-care and environmental citizenship and how they emerge in the forest bathing practice.
Sign in to start a discussion.
More Papers Like This
Wasting the Restorative Potential: Influences of Plastic and Biowaste on Psychological Restoration After Real, Virtual, and Imagined Walks
Researchers conducted three studies examining how plastic litter and biowaste in natural environments diminish the psychological restorative benefits of spending time in nature, finding that even imagined or virtually depicted litter reduced positive affect and perceived restoration. The findings highlight pollution as a threat not only to ecological health but also to human mental wellbeing.
Plastic waste micro-management towards innovative sustainable living in inspiring art practice
This paper is not directly about microplastic science; it describes a participatory art project in a Malaysian village where artists and communities collaborated to manage plastic waste and raise awareness about plastic pollution through sustainable art practices.
Eco-Art and Reeling in Anthropogenic Adversity
This paper explores how eco-art practices can raise awareness of anthropogenic pollution, including microplastics, by engaging communities through creative and visual approaches. The authors argue that artistic interventions can complement scientific communication in addressing environmental adversity.
Quantifying, and assessing the impact of, microplastics in terrestrial samples
Researchers aimed to develop effective methodologies for quantifying and assessing the ecological impact of microplastics (1-1000 µm) in terrestrial environments such as woodlands, which have been understudied compared to aquatic and sediment systems. The study sought to fill knowledge gaps about microplastic concentrations and effects in terrestrial ecosystems to inform policy development.
Défragmenter notre personnalité par le dialogue art-science : pour une co-énonciation écologique, transformative et une éthique joyeuse, allant de soi
This paper is not about microplastics; it is a French-language philosophical essay on personal ecological ethics, proposing that individuals can develop a spontaneous, joyful environmental ethic through inner harmony achieved by integrating scientific and artistic sensibilities.