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Sacred Places of Nature in Urban Low-income Neighbourhoods: Unveiling the Ancestral Essence of Health and Well-being

"Urban Sacred nature places are the translations of the ancestral spiritual knowledge of local native communities and the portals to higher spaces of consciousness that generate a different sense of mental health and wellbeing"

Role: Project Leader
Overview

Native Colombian communities have a long history of contestation and struggle for retaining their ancestral spiritual values. The massive migration of these communities to the main urban centres have prompted different spiritual practices with the natural physical environment that are materialised in nature-sacred places. These places have the potential to improve the mental health and general wellbeing of the communities which are sustained through a spiritual connection to a higher space or consciousness. However, there is a need for a phenomenological exploration of how the local spirituality relates to these places. This research project aims to initiate a journey of discovery into a topic that has been vaguely understood and researched in Colombian traditional communities living in urban centres. This study conducts interdisciplinary research in the fields of architecture, nature, spirituality, environmental psychology, and behavioural sciences to contribute to the discussion of the relationship between spirituality, the built environment, and the mental health of local traditional communities and aims to create a supportive network of nature-sacred places that connects communities with practitioners and academics around the world interested to promote the preservation of nature sacred places.

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