Wednesday 5 March 2025, 6pm at the Bevy Pub.
Speakers: Dr Catherine Kelly and Sadie Rockcliffe
Have you have ever felt better just by being next to the sea? Come and listen to our research into how and why ‘blue spaces’ can make you feel well.
We explore why seas, oceans, rivers and lakes matter to people. We look at the various wellbeing impacts that being in or next to blue spaces can bring.
For some of us there will be physical benefits, related to movement; for others, the benefits may be stress-relief related, or indeed, social, through connections and communities of other blue space users.
We present some of the research on this alongside accounts of lived experiences from real people.
Working with the Environment Agency on the National Blue Space Forum, Dr Catherine Kelly discusses some findings from eight national workshops that explored inequality of access to water for wellbeing. Exploring this for one particular demographic, people with visual impairments, Sadie Rockcliffe discusses research that challenges the often forgotten area of sensory inequalities and accessibility, focusing in particular on outdoor swimming experiences and challenges. We also touch on our other university-funded research projects that link blue space wellbeing to environmental activism, social-prescribing and to the arts in Brighton.
Join us for some blue space calm and wellbeing.
Dr Catherine Kelly is the author of the best-selling book Blue Spaces: How and Why Water Can Make You Feel Better. A geographer based in the School of Business and Law, her research interests centre around blue space use, stakeholder engagement, wellbeing, accessibility and inclusion, and environmental stewardship. She is an experienced wellbeing practitioner and coastal educator, as well as an executive board member of the Sussex UNESCO Biosphere ‘The Living Coast’.
Sadie Rockliffe is an ESRC SCDTP-funded PhD student, whose research interests lie within the themes of wellbeing and therapeutic landscapes; placemaking and custodianship; and the importance of accessibility and inclusivity within blue space engagement.