NS34 Workshop 39

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Title: Perceptions of polar regions as healing, therapeutic landscapes: Tourism as an active agent for good health  

Organisers: Allison M. Williams

Affiliation: McMaster University

Participation: The workshop is open to all conference participants. It takes place outdoors. Participants will meet in the venue lobby before departing together for an outdoor hike.

Description

In recent years, polar regions have received increased attention as tourist destinations; this newfound popularity is often attributed to the perceived precarity, novelty, and otherworldliness of Arctic and Antarctic landscapes. Although polar tourism has become the subject of a growing body of literature, little is known about how polar landscapes may influence the wellbeing of those who visit them. This session invites contributions focusing on polar regions as places of health and wellness and will proceed in the following four sections: (1) Introduction of the therapeutic landscape concept; (2) experiencing a short outdoor hike to connect to nature; (3) discussion of participants own experiences in polar regions, with respect to how polar regions have contributed to health and wellbeing: (a) physically, (b) psychologically, (c) emotionally, and (d) spiritually, and; (3) brief overview of research findings which explored how polar regions be understood as therapeutic landscapes (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-024-11260-x#Sec4).  In keeping with the conference theme, tourism as an active agent for good, this workshop will explore polar regions as novel places, the site of unique sensescapes, and sources of healing. The workshop will illustrate that polar regions operate as therapeutic landscapes, providing opportunities for polar tourism researchers to better unveil and understand the healing characteristics of polar geographies for tourism operators, health policy-makers, and a growing number of international visitors, while being understood within the context of the wider literature on last-chance tourism, therapeutic landscapes as places of refuge, and nature connection.