The Facilitating Act Framework: A new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women, wild swimming and community

Abstract We present the Facilitating Act Framework (FAF) as a way to challenge more linear ways of thinking about cultural ecosystem services. The framework moves towards more relational and participant‐led processes to provide insights on how values emerge through engaging with nature. The FAF has...

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Main Authors: Lucy Barnard, Seb O'Connor, Klaus Glenk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-08-01
Series:People and Nature
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70077
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author Lucy Barnard
Seb O'Connor
Klaus Glenk
author_facet Lucy Barnard
Seb O'Connor
Klaus Glenk
author_sort Lucy Barnard
collection DOAJ
description Abstract We present the Facilitating Act Framework (FAF) as a way to challenge more linear ways of thinking about cultural ecosystem services. The framework moves towards more relational and participant‐led processes to provide insights on how values emerge through engaging with nature. The FAF has three pillars: (i) participant autonomy, (ii) open‐ended parameters, and (iii) focusing on processes over outcomes. We the FAF to a case study of women and wild swimming in Scotland, illustrating how each of the pillars can be applied in practice using a mixed methods approach with a Q methodology element at its core. We identify four factors, the ‘competitive edge’, ‘connection‐to‐nature seekers’, ‘sharers and carers’ and ‘enablers’ that variously characterised what was important to women when they participated in the ‘act’ of wild swimming. This case study revealed the importance of community and the key social dynamics through which values emerged and connected people to nature, pointing to a range of better targeted possible policy interventions. The FAF offers an avenue to deepen our understanding of how values emerge through interactions with nature as a way to better embed relational thinking in the context of cultural ecosystem services. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
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spelling doaj-art-4f67f8b83c34457d8de80d7d1497ca162025-08-20T03:39:15ZengWileyPeople and Nature2575-83142025-08-01781972198610.1002/pan3.70077The Facilitating Act Framework: A new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women, wild swimming and communityLucy Barnard0Seb O'Connor1Klaus Glenk2School of Geosciences University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UKSRUC, Department for Rural Economy, Environment & Society Edinburgh UKSRUC, Department for Rural Economy, Environment & Society Edinburgh UKAbstract We present the Facilitating Act Framework (FAF) as a way to challenge more linear ways of thinking about cultural ecosystem services. The framework moves towards more relational and participant‐led processes to provide insights on how values emerge through engaging with nature. The FAF has three pillars: (i) participant autonomy, (ii) open‐ended parameters, and (iii) focusing on processes over outcomes. We the FAF to a case study of women and wild swimming in Scotland, illustrating how each of the pillars can be applied in practice using a mixed methods approach with a Q methodology element at its core. We identify four factors, the ‘competitive edge’, ‘connection‐to‐nature seekers’, ‘sharers and carers’ and ‘enablers’ that variously characterised what was important to women when they participated in the ‘act’ of wild swimming. This case study revealed the importance of community and the key social dynamics through which values emerged and connected people to nature, pointing to a range of better targeted possible policy interventions. The FAF offers an avenue to deepen our understanding of how values emerge through interactions with nature as a way to better embed relational thinking in the context of cultural ecosystem services. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70077cultural ecosystem servicesfacilitating act frameworkQ methodologyrecreationrelational thinkingvalues
spellingShingle Lucy Barnard
Seb O'Connor
Klaus Glenk
The Facilitating Act Framework: A new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women, wild swimming and community
People and Nature
cultural ecosystem services
facilitating act framework
Q methodology
recreation
relational thinking
values
title The Facilitating Act Framework: A new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women, wild swimming and community
title_full The Facilitating Act Framework: A new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women, wild swimming and community
title_fullStr The Facilitating Act Framework: A new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women, wild swimming and community
title_full_unstemmed The Facilitating Act Framework: A new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women, wild swimming and community
title_short The Facilitating Act Framework: A new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women, wild swimming and community
title_sort facilitating act framework a new insight into cultural ecosystem services through investigating women wild swimming and community
topic cultural ecosystem services
facilitating act framework
Q methodology
recreation
relational thinking
values
url https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70077
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