The role of natural environments within the emotional geographies of visual impairment

40多年前，视障歌手兼作家汤姆·沙利文(Tom Sullivan)辩称：“视觉描绘了一幅生活的图画，但听觉、触觉、味觉和嗅觉实际上就是生活本身。”这对世界卫生组织估计患有视力障碍的全球2.85亿人、他们的家人和照顾者以及预计未来将遭遇失明的越来越多的人(糖尿病和人口老龄化等根本原因的发病率上升)来说是一个重要的信息。认识到更广泛的感官的活力影响，对于研究人员探索自然环境体验对人类情感、健康和福祉的积极影响也很重要。这些作品大多强调视觉，突出了色彩的重要性，人们在观看，观看遥远的地平线，以及通过与这些场景的视觉接触而获得的空间感。然而，当我们停下来思考全球普遍存在的视力障碍(现在和未来)时，我们意识到，视力不能被视为与自然世界互动的最重要手段。这个未来研究领袖项目的目的是探索自然环境(包括我们的后花园、当地公园、林地、乡村和海岸线)如何以及为什么出现在失明患者的日常生活中。它将研究不同的视觉障碍如何塑造人们在本质上获得积极和治疗体验的机会。本课程亦会探讨不同生活史的人士，包括先天视力受损人士和日后失明人士之间的差异，并会采用两阶段深入研究的方法来探讨这些问题。在第一阶段，将花3-4个月的时间在英格兰西南部的视障支持团体中做志愿者(被称为人种学参与)，帮助开展室内和室外的娱乐和支持活动。在此期间，通过最大限度地利用机会与患有视觉障碍的成年参与者相处和交谈，将建立宝贵的关系，并获得对这些人更广泛的感觉能力和经验的初步了解。第二阶段将包括对处于不同人生阶段和不同形式失明的视障成年人进行两组访谈。第一次访谈(一次深入的“叙事性”访谈)将考察视力障碍对他们日常生活和场所互动的各个方面的影响。它还将探索这些经历在其一生中的回忆变化。第二次面试(“顺其自然”面试)将在每个参与者认为是当地“自然”环境的环境中进行，在这种环境中，他们会感到一种幸福感。在此期间，参与者将被要求反思和解释他们在那个环境中经历的不同感觉、情感和社会层面。在探索这些方面的体验时，这项研究将为我们对自然界中的非视觉线索做出反应提供新的理解。它将呼吁探索使视力障碍患者能够繁荣生活的条件，而不是只关注损失的叙述，并将促进参与提供社会包容性自然环境互动的不同利益攸关方更多的感官意识。贝尔博士将召集和领导一系列利益相关者的参与和传播活动，同时制作备受瞩目的学术成果，以提高人们对视障人士如何通过与自然环境互动来支持和维持幸福感的认识。通过这样做，并通过一个量身定制的技能发展计划，她将加强自己作为未来研究领导者的地位。

Over 40 years ago, visually impaired singer and author, Tom Sullivan, argued that "sight paints a picture of life, but sound, touch, taste and smell are actually life itself". This is an important message for the 285 million people worldwide that the World Health Organisation estimates to live with visual impairments, for their families and carers, and the growing number of people anticipated to encounter sight loss in the future (with the rising incidence of underlying causes such as diabetes, and an ageing population). Recognising the vitalising influence of the wider senses is also important for researchers exploring the positive impacts of natural environment experiences on human emotions, health and wellbeing. Much of this work emphasises the visual sense, highlighting the importance of colours, people 'watching', viewing distant horizons, and the sense of space achieved through visual encounters with these settings. Yet, when we stop to think about the global prevalence of visual impairment (now and in the future), we realise that sight cannot be taken for granted as the most important means of interacting with the natural world. The aims of this Future Research Leaders project are to explore how and why natural environments (including our back gardens, local parks, woodlands, countryside and coastlines) feature within the everyday lives of people living with sight loss. It will examine how diverse visual impairments shape people's opportunities for positive and therapeutic experiences in nature. It will also explore how this varies between individuals with different life histories, including those born with a visual impairment and those faced with sight loss later in life.An in-depth two-phase research approach will be used to explore these issues. In Phase I, 3-4 months will be spent volunteering with visual impairment support groups across the south west of England (described as 'ethnographic participation'), helping out with indoor and outdoor recreational and support activities. Through maximising opportunities to spend time with and talk to adult participants living with visual impairments during this period, valuable relationships will be built and initial understandings gained of the wider sensory abilities and experiences of these individuals. Phase II will involve two sets of interviews with visually impaired adults at different life stages and with varying forms of sight loss. The first interview (an in-depth 'narrative' interview) will examine the impacts of visual impairment on varied aspects of their daily lives and place interactions. It will also explore recalled shifts in these experiences during their lifetimes. The second interview (a 'go along' interview) will take place in a setting identified by each participant as a local 'natural' environment in which they feel a sense of wellbeing. Whilst there, participants will be asked to reflect on and explain the diverse sensory, emotional and social dimensions of their experiences in that environment.In exploring these aspects of experience, this research will provide novel understandings of the non-visual cues in nature that we respond to. It will address calls to explore the conditions that enable flourishing lives amongst individuals living with visual impairments rather than focusing solely on narratives of loss, and will promote greater sensory awareness amongst the diverse stakeholders involved in the delivery of socially inclusive natural environment interactions. Dr. Bell will convene and lead a series of stakeholder engagement and dissemination events, alongside the production of high profile academic outputs, in order to raise awareness of how visually impaired individuals can support and sustain a sense of wellbeing through interactions with the natural environment. In doing so, and through a tailored skills development plan, she will strengthen her position as a future research leader.