Cross-pollination for social well-being : an interdisciplinary pedagogy linking art, nature, and well-being

Abstract

This is a reflexive paper about a collaborative workshop aimed at nurturing artists' creativity and well-being through nature, as part of the SPRING Artistic Programme for Emerging Artists of the Gabriel Caruana Foundation (GCF). Artists, well-being facilitators and environmental educators collaborated from across GCF, the Centre for Environmental Education Research (CEER) and the International Master in Adult Education for Social Change (IMAESC). The authors offer a critical reflection on how this cross-pollination of different disciplines with a place-based pedagogy contributes to social well-being, including implications for further practice and research. The design included conceptual and contextual preparation, project planning, and design workshops that optimised collaboration and alignment. Understanding the broader social context informed the guiding principles, constraints, needs, and objectives that framed the cross-pollination with a learner-centric pedagogy of place. The multi-pedagogical delivery allowed emergent coproduction of knowledge among the facilitators and participants. Leveraging nature created an embodied learning experience of well-being and creativity. The evaluation included participants’ and facilitators’ input. Participants’ structured criticism and feedback loops throughout the workshop fostered conditions for creativity, critical dialogue, and co-creation. Embracing collaboration and connection to self, others and nature were central to the lessons learned. The facilitators’ retrospective session revealed the transformative power of collaboration across disciplines, broadening CEER's scope to promote sustainability and community engagement as well as GCF’s well-being initiatives for artists. Overall, the paper showcases the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and working at the edges to scale the impact of place-based pedagogy in fostering creativity, well-being, and sustainability.