The Sensory Ecology of Water: A Multisensory Anthropological Study of Outdoor Swimming in the Arctic

Descripción del proyecto

Estudio de la natación al aire libre en pos de estrategias mundiales de bienestar

La natación al aire libre en Noruega está estrechamente vinculada a la sensación de bienestar. Durante la pandemia de COVID-19, se erigió como una práctica terapéutica muy apreciada. En el proyecto EcoSENSES, financiado por las acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, se empleará un planteamiento multidisciplinar a fin de examinar el concepto de bienestar dentro de los entornos acuáticos y la gestión responsable de los espacios naturales. Combinando elementos de antropología, etnografía sensorial cualitativa y análisis del discurso, se dilucidarán las interpretaciones históricas y contemporáneas del ocio al aire libre noruego. En la investigación se rastreará la forma en que las interacciones humanas con el agua contribuyen a enriquecer la experiencia sensorial. Los hallazgos del estudio ofrecerán conocimientos nuevos sobre el potencial de los ecosistemas sensoriales para mejorar la armonía mundial en la gestión de recursos hídricos.

Objetivo

My project aims to re-think human-more-than-human interconnectedness by examining entangled relationships between arctic waters, the senses, and place. As a community of practice, outdoor swimming in Norway provides a unique lens through which to examine a sharing in the sensible grounded-in holistic planetary wellbeing. Following the global COVID-19 pandemic and wellbeing crisis, practitioners, tourism agencies, and popular media outlets have lauded outdoor swimming as a therapeutic cure for human health, wellbeing, and for a perceived lack of connection to nature. Examining relational notions of wellbeing in blue-spaces, and stewardship of nature in immersive experiences outdoors, generates novel insights into sensory knowledges and the cultural values of waters in rapidly changing arctic climates. In doing so, this project expands the methodological affordances of anthropology by conjoining participant sensation in qualitative sensory ethnography with discourse analysis and close readings, in the pursuit of three objectives: 1) identify historical and contemporary meanings of Norwegian outdoor recreation (friluftsliv) and wellbeing as presented in and related to outdoor swimming; 2) trace how interactions with water and more-than-human others shape the swimming sensorium; and 3) uncover the potential for sensory ecologies to inform planetary conviviality in water management and competency policies. Sensory approaches used in this project may reveal power relations, local forms of water management and wellbeing resilience, the negotiated use of space, and formation of place-attachment. This examination of how the perceived therapeutic healing practice of outdoor swimming can be mobilized to include material and ecological strategies for advancing water security and ensuring quality water sources for all Europeans.