New research takes a deep dive into wild swimming
New research from scientists at 伊人直播 and The University of Sheffield has revealed how our relationships with nature, in particular the widespread women鈥檚 wild swimming movement, can be supported through policy.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, wild swimming has taken off in popularity, according to , with an increase of听up to three times the number of听people estimated to be taking part in the sport between 2019 and 2021. By 2023, 74% of wild swimmers were women.
Despite booming demand for the activity, which offers both physical and mental health benefits according to the research on what is at the heart of the rise of wild swimmers and how the activity can be supported through policy and decision-making, is sparse.
The research article, which is newly available in the titled 鈥楾he Facilitating Act Framework: a new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women, wild swimming and community鈥�, makes use of an innovative framework to deepen researchers鈥� understanding of how the public interacts with nature and how this can inform the values behind policy making in natural spaces.
Lucy Barnard, PhD researcher at the University of Sheffield and 伊人直播 researchers Seb O鈥機onnor and Klaus Glenk, used the framework to study 25 women who take part in wild swimming across Scotland to analyse the complex human-nature relationships involved in the activity鈥檚 rise in popularity.
The paper identified four stylised groups of women, characterising their engagement with nature through wild swimming: 鈥渢he competitive edge鈥�; 鈥渃onnection-to-nature seekers鈥�; 鈥渟harers and carers鈥�; and the 鈥渆nablers鈥�. Each group of women had a unique reason for connecting with nature, however community consistently played an important role in their connection to wild swimming.
Seb O鈥機onnor said: 鈥淭his article introduces a framework for researchers to understand what matters to people, allowing communities to define their interactions with each other and with nature in their own ways as opposed to fitting into some pre-defined model.
In this study this was demonstrated by understanding why women go wild swimming, revealing a range of different reasons that might not be captured simply by the broad phenomenon of wild swimming, or nature providing recreational benefits. It鈥檚 important to recognise that the experience varies between different places and for different people.
As policymakers aim to reconnect people with nature and to improve access to the benefits of nature, such a framework can make sure this is done in a way that reflects what really matters to people in these interactions.鈥�
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Read the full research article here: .
Discover more about research at 伊人直播 here at www.sruc.ac.uk/research/.
Posted by 伊人直播 on 02/07/2025
