Social Farming at the Intersection of Spirituality, Well-Being, and Human Health: A Qualitative Inquiry

Eliška Hudcová^1,2*

• ¹Departement of Social Work, Protestant Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
• ²Univerzita Karlova, Prague, Czechia

It has been reported many times that nature-based connections enhance human well-being, represented by a balanced physical, psychological, and social state. Nonetheless, the spiritual dimension is increasingly consideredreported as an integral component of human well-being. Social farming as one of the forms of nature-based interventions representsis one approach to social work in both urban and rural spaces, rooted in the fields of informal social care, social prevention, supported employment, and community-based social work. This study examines, using semi-structured in-depth interviews (N = 45), the ways social farming influences humans' spiritual needs, as presented by John Fisher. The interviews indicatesuggest that the practice of social farming fosters an environment where human spirituality is expressed across all four dimensions—personal, communal, ecological, and transcendental. Findings suggest that when appropriately facilitated, natural and agricultural environments can cultivate the spiritual dimension of the individual and, consequently, enhance the complexity of human well-being. It can also further bridge the research on eco-spirituality and environmental social work.