Surfing and the Senses: Using Body Mapping to Understand the Embodied and Therapeutic Experiences of Young Surfers with Autism

There is a growing body of evidence for the benefits of the use of water-based activities and environments as an alternative or complimentary therapeutic intervention to mainstream, medicalised approaches. Surfing is one such activity with the health benefits of surf therapy linked to the fluid and dynamic nature of surfing and the sea, while learning to surf in a group context can help enhance a sense of belonging and identity through shared experiences in the surf. This paper introduces the ways in which embodied and creative work in nature can empower young people with mental health difficulties, in particular Autism. The study explores embodied experiences and the use of a creative, participatory approach to evaluating a surf therapy intervention. As such, we investigate the usability of a novel participatory evaluation method, body mapping, to evaluate the feelings and emotional wellbeing of young participants in a surf therapy programme. Findings show how body mapping can be used to help create a richer picture of the potential health and wellbeing outcomes from engaging with the sea and highlights surfing as psychosomatic experience. The paper highlights the potential of in-situ embodiment practices and creative methodologies like body mapping to support therapeutic processes, in particular those related to the imagination and emotional body, in a playful and engaging way

Surfing and the Senses: Using Body Mapping to Understand the Embodied and Therapeutic Experiences of Young Surfers with Autism

There is a growing body of evidence for the benefits of the use of water-based activities and environments as an alternative or complimentary therapeutic intervention to mainstream, medicalised approaches. Surfing is one such activity with the health benefits of surf therapy linked to the fluid and dynamic nature of surfing and the sea, while learning to surf in a group context can help enhance a sense of belonging and identity through shared experiences in the surf. This paper introduces the ways in which embodied and creative work in nature can empower young people with mental health difficulties, in particular Autism. The study explores embodied experiences and the use of a creative, participatory approach to evaluating a surf therapy intervention. As such, we investigate the usability of a novel participatory evaluation method, body mapping, to evaluate the feelings and emotional wellbeing of young participants in a surf therapy programme. Findings show how body mapping can be used to help create a richer picture of the potential health and wellbeing outcomes from engaging with the sea and highlights surfing as psychosomatic experience. The paper highlights the potential of in-situ embodiment practices and creative methodologies like body mapping to support therapeutic processes, in particular those related to the imagination and emotional body, in a playful and engaging way

Tolerance to extreme hot and cold temperatures in the EU-protected terrestrial slug Geomalacus maculosus

N/

Nematode associates and susceptibility of a protected slug (Geomalacus maculosus) to four biocontrol nematodes

The impact of selected entomopathogenic nematodes and Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita on the European-Union-protected slug Geomalacus maculosus and the sympatric Lehmannia marginata was investigated. There was no significant difference in mortality between slugs treated with nematodes and their controls. The presence of P. hermaphrodita in two G. maculosus cadavers may be the result of necromenic behaviour. This study constitutes the first record of P. californica in Europe

Monitoring the EU protected Geomalacus maculosus (Kerry Slug): what are the factors affecting catch returns in open and forested habitats?

Geomalacus maculosus is a slug species protected under EU law with a distribution limited to the west of Ireland and north-west Iberia. The species, originally thought to be limited within Ireland to deciduous woodland and peatland, has been found in a number of commercial conifer plantations since 2010. While forest managers are now required to incorporate the protection of the species where it is present, no clear species monitoring protocols are currently available. This study examines the efficacy of De Sangosse refuge traps across three habitats frequently associated with commercial forest plantations in Ireland and compares them with hand searching, a commonly used method for slug monitoring. Catch data during different seasons and under different weather conditions are also presented. Results indicate that autumn is the optimal time for sampling G. maculosus but avoiding extremes of hot or cold weather. While refuge traps placed at 1.5 m on trees in mature conifer plantations and directly on exposed rock in blanket peatlands result in significantly greater catches, hand searching is the most successful approach for clear-fell areas. Hand searches in clear-fell preceded by rain are likely to result in greater numbers caught. The results of this study form, for the first time, the basis for G. maculosus monitoring guidelines for forestry managers. © 2016, The Ecological Society of Japa

Stakeholder perceptions of recreational and management impacts on protected coastal dune systems: A comparison of three European countries

Coastal dune systems are particularly susceptible to destabilisation through recreational pressure and because of this, conflicts frequently arise between those who want to use the dunes for recreational purposes and those who wish to see these fragile ecosystems protected. In addition, a range of approaches to resolving this conflict are being used in different countries with differing levels of success. To study this conflict, an approach based on the Q-method was applied to three European Union Member States i.e. Ireland, Scotland and Germany to determine the degree to which there are differences in opinion regarding recreational management in coastal conservation areas and to assess whether there are examples of perceived best management practice that could be applied to some or all of these countries. The Q-method involved using semi-structured interviews of stakeholders (conservationists and non-conservationists i.e. landowners, locals and landusers) to yield a set of statements relating to recreational and management impacts on protected coastal dune systems in each of the selected countries. Selected statements were then submitted to former interviewees for rating on a seven point scale from complete agreement to complete disagreement. Principle components analysis (PCA) of these ratings (Q-sorts) indicated that while there is much agreement overall (particularly relating to the protection of dune systems while still supporting recreation), stakeholder opinion can be separated according to country of origin. In general, this separation is reflected in the intensive recreational management regime (strict zonation and access restrictions) at the German sites compared to the Scottish (less recreational management) and Irish (absence of recreational management) sites. Significant differences in opinion are most apparent in the sections concerned with restricting access for recreation and the provision of facilities (less acceptable in Scotland and Ireland). We suggest that given Irish stakeholder opinions regarding the potential loss of naturalness through strict recreational management, the Scottish rather than the German model would be more suitable in the Irish context.peer-reviewe

Landscape values: Place and praxis

Proceedings of the international Landscape Values: Place and Praxis conference hosted by the Centre for Landscape Studies (NUI Galway) on behalf of UNISCAPE. 75 papers that consider how landscapes acquire, enshrine and amplify values, how they find expression, can be recorded, managed and valorised.Not peer reviewe

Landscape values: Place and praxis

Proceedings of the international Landscape Values: Place and Praxis conference hosted by the Centre for Landscape Studies (NUI Galway) on behalf of UNISCAPE. 75 papers that consider how landscapes acquire, enshrine and amplify values, how they find expression, can be recorded, managed and valorised.Not peer reviewe

Understanding the Dynamics of Green and Blue Spaces for Health and Wellbeing Outcomes in Ireland: A Systemic Stakeholder Perspective

Despite the recognised benefits to human health from green and blue spaces, socioeconomic inequalities in access to and use of such spaces have been observed. Using a multidisciplinary, multistakeholder systems approach and structural equation modelling, this paper examines the structural and behavioural dynamics of green and blue spaces, people and health and wellbeing outcomes. Systems thinking offers a deeper understanding of the dynamics of collective choices at all levels within the determinants and the circular causality of these processes. The resulting map shows that behavioural and structural dynamics of green and blue spaces reinforce social cohesion, mental and physical benefits and their circular causality. Acknowledging the importance of multiple uses of green and blue spaces, this paper concludes that delivering universal services at a scale and intensity proportionate to the degree of need is vital to ensure services and health and wellbeing benefits are available to all, not only the most advantaged