An analysis of Welsh woodlands as sites of therapeutic experience and social engagement

Abstract

Against a backdrop of overlapping crises in human wellbeing, biodiversity, and rural economies, woodlands in Wales are increasingly the setting for nature-based interventions intended to tackle a multitude of contemporary challenges. Simultaneously, a growing body of research has examined the ways in which voluntary and community sector organisations are key spaces in which the policy goals of better wellbeing and enhanced employability are being pursued at the local level. While existing scholarship has shed light on the ways in which engaging in lifelong learning activities or spending time in ‘green spaces’ support positive wellbeing for many people, few studies have brought these fields together to consider adults’ experiences of woodlandbased skills training. This qualitative study therefore contributes towards a greater understanding of these spaces through an examination of Tir Coed, a small charity providing wellbeing and training activities in woodlands across rural Wales. This thesis draws upon participant observation from four Welsh counties, as well as in-situ and follow-up interviews with Tir Coed trainees, staff members and referral agencies to explore their perspectives on the purposes, practices, and effects of participating in woodland-based training courses. The findings explore trainees’ often therapeutic yet unpredictable encounters with elements of woodland training assemblages; how the transformations pursued in this naturebased intervention are entwined with neoliberal discourses of personal responsibility; outdoor practitioners’ contribution to organisational cultures of care, and trainees’ post-training progression routes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In so doing, I argue that the thus-far underexamined use of woodlands as training spaces for adult learners is deserving of sustained attention for what these activities can tell us about issues of interest to contemporary geography, including the construction of therapeutic assemblages and emerging cultures of care within third sector organisations in contemporary rural Wales.

Date of Award	2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Aberystwyth University
Supervisor	Gareth Hoskins (Supervisor) & Elizabeth Gagen (Supervisor)