Experiences of interconnectedness with nature

Findings of a participatory, multi-perspective research approach

Abstract

Our current environmental crisis underscores the need to transform both our awareness of nature and our actual environmental behavior. This mixed-methods study investigates an approach to addressing this challenge through facilitated solo time in the wilderness. Solo time is an ancient, ritualized, and cross-cultural practice of spending time alone in nature that is increasingly being reintroduced into contemporary culture. The study focuses on the phenomenology of young adults’ solo times and examines the long-term effects of these experiences on their personal development, their relationship with nature, their social commitment, and their ecological behavior. However, the research project does not focus solely on the subject of investigation but also on how the research itself is conducted. On a methodological level, the study explores and integrates an expanded worldview and a corresponding methodology. This is reflected, among other things, in using participants’ dreams as a data source and incorporating multiple paths to acquire knowledge as part of an expanded understanding of validity. In addition, the researcher’s own experiences and self-reflections are included into the findings as a parallel perspective. In this way, the study not only addresses the growing alienation between humans and nature, but also questions conventional research practices and their tendency to break down complex phenomena into isolated parts.