Wild Spot AUC was developed as a temporary urbanism intervention with Anthropologies of Community students from Amsterdam University College in the framework of the T-Factor project. Over one semester of encounters and workshops, students reappropriated an underused pond area of the campus.

A Wild Spot is a special hotspot: it is a community wellbeing area to disconnect from digital mindless scrolling and anxiety, and reconnect with nature and others. Starting from a critical view of the digital landscape in cities, the wild spot methodology looks into nature and the intentional use of attention to creating urban wilderness areas, restorative spaces away from the cognitive burden of the digital everyday. The installations ideated and built by students are based on research on the community’s everyday stressors and anxieties, well-being practices and ways to relate to nature.

The Wild Spot participatory process and pedagogical content were ideated and facilitated by Marta Arniani, founder of the Wild Spots collective. Wild Spots promote nature connectedness as a mental and physical wellbeing resource in the digital age.

More information: https://www.t-factor.eu/the-wild-spot-an-interspecies-well-being-hotspot/