Curiosity, place and wellbeing: encouraging place-specific curiosity as a ‘way to wellbeing’

This paper advances understandings of relationships between wellbeing and place by exploring one mechanism by which place is mobilised in the pursuit of wellbeing: the cultivation and practice of curiosity. It does so through discussion of projects funded through the Decade of Health and Wellbeing in Liverpool, England. This scheme advances ‘five ways to wellbeing,’ one of which – ‘take notice’ – encourages curiosity in and about places. Three projects – memory boxes for people living with dementia; a community garden in an area experiencing socio-economic deprivation; and an urban photography project involving veterans – form the case studies on which this paper is based. We focus on two related sets of practices and approaches to curiosity: (1) learning to see places differently; (2) focussing on the micro-geographies of place – literally, curiosities – such as found objects. These practices suggest ways in which ordinary places may be a catalyst for curiosity in ways that may benefit both individual and collective forms of wellbeing. This allows us to see and understand place and wellbeing in relational terms. In so doing, this paper contributes to conceptual debates about wellbeing, place and curiosity, and the relationships between these.