ABSTRACT
Migration comes with a suite of new experiences and challenges, not least of which are issues related to social isolation, language barriers, and economic disadvantage. Building connections to the biophysical landscapes of the new host country is one means by which to mitigate some challenges. This chapter explores the therapeutic impacts of a conservation programme for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) adult migrants studying vocational-level English in Hobart, Tasmania. Using mixed-methods, we examine how a structured programme of plant nursery and field-based community conservation activities in community gardens, land care, and bush care projects helped overcome participants’ sense of feeling ‘out of place’. We found positive impacts on indirect health and wellbeing factors such as work skills, language acquisition, and social connection. Our findings demonstrate that activities also cultivated self-esteem, happiness, and social connection for people at risk of isolation. Participants felt they made a positive contribution to the ecological health of their new host country and expressed pro-environmental behaviours. This work expands our ideas of ‘cultivation’ in Australian cities and towns beyond planted gardens and parks, and includes the human and cultural benefits of environmental place-making. Implications for settlement strategies, conservation programmes, and notions of cultivated therapeutic landscapes are discussed.
