SOULFUL DWELLING

Soulful Dwelling: An International Comparative Ethnography of Places as Intentional Lifelong Learning Environments that Cultivate Meaning-Making and Human Flourishing

This project undertakes the first international comparative ethnographic study on Soulful Dwelling. It develops the concept of Soulful Dwelling as an analytical framework for understanding how places, as intentional environments of lifelong learning, cultivate meaning-making and human flourishing across diverse cultural contexts. It explores everyday practices of community care, conscious design, environmental psychology, belonging, contemplation, generosity, spirituality, ecological attunement, lifelong learning, and relationship building.

The study conducts international comparative ethnographic case studies at selected sites across multiple cultural and geographical settings. Methods include participant observation, semi-structured interviews, visual and spatial documentation, field notes, and comparative analysis to identify recurring and distinctive patterns in how such environments are formed and sustained.

The topic addresses a significant gap in current scholarship, in which research on meaning-making, wellbeing, community life, and environmental design remains fragmented and lacks an integrated comparative framework for understanding the lived environments of human flourishing.

Deliverables include a conceptual framework of Soulful Dwelling, an international ethnographic dataset, peer-reviewed publications, an open-access case studies repository, conference presentations, and a practitioner-oriented synthesis for educators, community leaders, and designers.

The project advances interdisciplinary understanding of how environments shape meaning and human flourishing, offering a new framework for analysing and cultivating places of relational life, purpose, lifelong learning, and human care.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks go to the incredible artist Kimvi Nguyen for first introducing me to the creative possibilities of Dwelling.