powers of place rowing the field
home about people places experience research resources contact us
inquiries underway
interviews
new questions
projects
projects to ponder

What happens to groups in specific places?

How is awareness encouraged?

How can people-place relationships be nurtured?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How is awareness encouraged?

kiva
photo by Amy Lenzo

What can we learn from various people and cultures who live in deep and conscious relationship with their places?
What effects are there on their experience of living as a community and on the work that they do together? Locate such cultures (indigenous peoples, Eastern cultures) and interview one or more people from each. Analyze to uncover themes.

How does conscious awareness of place by participants at a gathering in a retreat site affect the meeting in terms of satisfaction (cohesiveness, flow, etc.) and in terms of outcomes or hoped-for results?
Research process includes identifying transformational meeting places (see PlaceBook listings for suggestions), creating and introducing an “awareness tool”, working closely with facilitators to weave the tool into the design of the meeting, and gathering data from participants through questionnaire, interview, and/or group reflection.

How have sacred places come to be identified as such and how do they affect group processes?
Identify “sacred places” and research them, focusing on ways in which groups of people have been affected by their relationship with them.