Cultivated Therapeutic Landscapes: Gardening for Prevention, Restoration, and Equity

Author Biography

Pauline Marsh is a health geographer and senior lecturer at the University of Tasmania. Pauline was awarded a PhD in indigenous film theory; however, over the past decade her research has primarily been in therapeutic landscapes, specifically exploring how being in nature improves quality of life and health equities. She is particularly interested in the benefits of gardens and the outdoors for people with cognitive, emotional, and physical health challenges, as well as the impacts that gardeners and gardens have on the health and wellbeing of whole communities and the planet. She utilises methods of participatory action research, story-gathering and filmmaking and publishes in a range of academic journals. As a practitioner-academic, one of her greatest achievements is the co-founding of DIGnity Supported Community Gardening, a unique therapeutic horticulture model that operates in community gardens. Pauline is also a beekeeper and mother of two spectacular adults. She lives in a small beachside community at the bottom of the world. Allison Williams is a Professor at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario, in Canada. She is a social and health geographer with research interests in carer-employees, quality of life, critical policy/programme evaluation and therapeutic landscapes. Her research focuses on improving workplace practices for supporting employees with adult care responsibilities. Allison has received various awards for her work, having had three five-year Research Chairs funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. She currently holds a McMaster University Faculty of Science Research Chair and leads a Partnership Grant made up of more than 50 collaborators which mobilises carer-friendly workplaces. Allison has supervised more than 30 graduate trainees. Allison works with UN-Women across the world, specifically engaging in research on United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equity, and Target 5-4: Value unpaid care and promote shared domestic responsibilities. In addition to co-editing the Routledge Geographies of Health Series, Allison has authored five books, 30 book chapters, and more than 180 peer-reviewed journal articles. Her most recent book is entitled Geography, health and sustainability: Gender matters globally (Routledge, 2021). Allison has been Principal Investigator of over 25 research projects and serves on a range of national and international adjudication committees. She is a mother of two beautiful children and cares for her 90-year-old uncle, together with her ageing parents, both of whom are in their 80s.