Therapeutic taskscapes and craft geography: cultivating well-being and atmospheres of recovery in the workshop

ABSTRACT

This paper presents empirical material drawn from a participatory ‘apprentice ethnographic’ research project examining the everyday geographies of a recovery-oriented wood workshop in Edinburgh, Scotland. It addresses two key literature gaps in human geography: firstly, empirically developing the concept of atmosphere within therapeutic landscapes research, and, secondly, exploring the notion of well-being in spaces of craft. The paper develops a more enlivened understanding of well-being as a dynamic and emplaced process, with the study’s methodological approach allowing the researcher to focus less on the individual psychological attributes of participants and more on the spatial aspects of journeys towards recovery and well-being. The paper highlights how ‘atmospheres of care’ are tentatively co-constructed and maintained in the taskscape of the workshop, creating a liminal space of recovery and transition. It concludes with implications for the wider study of social and ethical economic enterprises and institutions of care.

KEYWORDS:

• Craft
• atmosphere
• well-being
• workshop
• therapeutic landscapes
• social enterprise

MOTS CLÉS:

• travail manuel
• atmosphère
• bien-être
• atelier
• paysages thérapeutiques
• entreprise sociale

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• artesanía
• ambiente
• bienestar
• taller
• paisajes terapéuticos
• iniciativa social

Acknowledgments

I would primarily like to thank the participants at the Grassmarket Community Project, from whom I learned more than these words can express. I also extend sincere thanks to the three peer reviewers for their extensive and thoughtful engagement with the paper, as well as Dr Louise Reid for her help in steering the research upon which this paper is based.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. More specifically, given its focus on re-use and local production, I would assert that it fulfils the definition of ‘eco-social enterprise’ proposed by Johanisová and Fraňková (2013).

2. It should be noted that notions of liminality here draw on work by the anthropologist Victor Turner, and have been of long-standing interest in the therapeutic landscapes literature (Gesler, 1996).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Masaryk University, Postdoc@MUNI [CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/16_027/0008360]; University of St Andrews [7th Century Scholarship].