Arts-Based Interventions as Catalysts for Strengthening Human-Nature Connectedness: A Case Study on the Biellese Landscape and its Local Food Practices

To reach a transformative change in a local food system, human-nature connectedness including sensory understanding of one’s natural environment and landscape is a crucial element. Hence, the research question guiding our inquiry is as follows: ‘How can human-nature connectedness be strengthened through sensory and arts-based interventions to nurture transformative sustainability change in a local food system?’ To investigate this, main focus of the study design was to create an arts-based intervention. It is defined as “primarily and fundamentally an experience-based process involving and engaging people both rationally and emotionally through either active or passive participation” (Schiuma 2009, 7). Therefore, art acts as a catalyst in order to immerse participants in a social experience as well as to trigger creative capabilities, emotions, imagination, and intuitive thinking that might be out of one’s comfort zone (Barone et al. 2011). The case study of this data set was located in Biella, Piedmont region, Italy. The arts-based intervention consisted of getting to know the local landscape through walks with a forestry guide, followed by a claying workshop with a local artist. The intervention was repeated 4 times. It concluded with 2 focus groups (table talks) at the end of the data-gathering cycle.

This dataset contains the data from a case study conducted in September-October 2023 in Biella, Italy. The nature of data is qualitative.