Energy, Industry & 'Therapeutic Landscapes'? Exploring health and well-being in an industrial steelworks town

Rosie's research relates to health and energy geographies as it explores the ‘therapeutic landscapes’ of the coastal industrial town of Port Talbot, South Wales. Port Talbot is a heavy industrial town, with one of the largest steelworks in Europe. HerPhD explores how the industrial setting hinders or promotes therapeutic experiences, adding to the complexities of ‘therapeutic landscapes’. She undertook ethnographic fieldwork living in Port Talbot, using a variety of methods from walking interviews, semi-structured interviews, creative writing/ story-telling, drawing and print-making. She worked with a men’s charity, conducting walks with ex-steelworkers and interviewed stakeholders in the town including councillors, trade unions, environmentalists and Tata steel, to build up a picture of well-being. Her PhD draws on cultural geography studies on toxic landscapes, as well as feminist geographies exploring pollution and the body, whilst building on the health geography concept of therapeutic landscapes - extending it to industrial coastal environments.