Spirituality, Nature And Self-Transformation On The WWOOF Farm MSc Thesis Malou ter Horst (900125366010) Master Forest Nature Conservation (MFN) Forest Nature Conservation Policy group (FNP), Wageningen University Under supervision of Clemens Driessen & Birgit Elands 20th May 2016 1 Table of Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 6 List of tables ............................................................................................................................................ 7 List of figures ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 8 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1. Spirituality, self-transformation and nature ......................................................................... 10 1.2. The WWOOF organization .................................................................................................... 12 1.3. Tourism in the cultivated landscape ..................................................................................... 13 1.4. WWOOF: from motivations to outcomes ............................................................................. 14 Motivations and expectations ....................................................................................................... 15 Experiences and outcomes ............................................................................................................ 15 1.5. Researching spirituality ......................................................................................................... 17 1.6. Coming to research questions .............................................................................................. 17 2. Theoretical background ............................................................................................................... 19 2.1. Experiences ........................................................................................................................... 20 The lived experience ...................................................................................................................... 20 Experience and meaning ............................................................................................................... 21 2.2. Bringing in spirituality ........................................................................................................... 21 Experiencing flow .......................................................................................................................... 22 Mystical experiences ..................................................................................................................... 22 Flow and mysticism ....................................................................................................................... 23 Spiritual experiences ..................................................................................................................... 24 Nature, spirituality and the self .................................................................................................... 25 Collective spirituality ..................................................................................................................... 26 2.3. The different faces of nature ................................................................................................ 27 The use of symbols ........................................................................................................................ 27 Wilderness ideals .......................................................................................................................... 28 Home and away ............................................................................................................................ 29 2.4. Self-transformation ............................................................................................................... 30 Shift in meaning systems .............................................................................................................. 30 2 Spiritual development ................................................................................................................... 31 Learning and change ..................................................................................................................... 32 Sense of place ................................................................................................................................ 33 Connectedness .............................................................................................................................. 33 2.5. Coming to a conceptual framework...................................................................................... 35 3. Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 37 3.1. Approach and purpose of the study .......................................................................................... 38 3.2. Ethics ..................................................................................................................................... 38 3.3. Methods for data collection.................................................................................................. 39 Ethnography .................................................................................................................................. 40 Interviewing .................................................................................................................................. 44 Online investigation ...................................................................................................................... 46 Integration of methods ................................................................................................................. 47 3.4. Methods for data analysis ..................................................................................................... 48 4. Results ........................................................................................................................................... 50 4.1. Tables representing results ................................................................................................... 51 4.2. Types of experiences ............................................................................................................. 59 Pure experience ............................................................................................................................. 59 Deep experience ............................................................................................................................ 59 Joyful experience ........................................................................................................................... 60 Memorable experience ................................................................................................................. 61 Harmonious experience ................................................................................................................ 61 Connecting experience .................................................................................................................. 62 Integration of experiences ............................................................................................................ 63 4.3. Types of outcomes ................................................................................................................ 65 Connectedness .............................................................................................................................. 65 Adaptation .................................................................................................................................... 66 Sense of place ................................................................................................................................ 67 Change .......................................................................................................................................... 68 Learning ........................................................................................................................................ 69 Integration of outcomes ................................................................................................................ 71 4.4. Bringing together experiences and outcomes ...................................................................... 73 5. Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 77 5.1. Activities ................................................................................................................................ 78 3 5.2. Experiences and the natural environment ........................................................................... 79 Nature through spectacles ...........................................................................................................