Conversations at the poolside: A visual approach to studying private swimming pools and sustainability in Sweden
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School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
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en
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90
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Abstract
The thesis explores the notions of sustainability by looking at private swimming pools in Sweden. The aim of the thesis is to challenge an initial moralising personal standpoint. It explores how we can talk about sustainability in an empathetic way and what private swimming pools in Sweden can tell us about environmental sustainability. Since 2019, the number of private swimming pools in Sweden has increased rapidly. In a country with a Right of Public Access to nature and a short summer season, it seems unnecessary to have a private swimming pool in the garden. Seemingly, despite an ongoing climate crisis, households keep dreaming about consumption, and the private swimming pool is no exception. However, moralising people on an individual level, without a deeper understanding of the phenomenon in question, can be counterproductive. This is especially true if the goal is to enable long-lasting sustainable change. Through an empathetic, emic, and open-ended approach, the thesis visits four households with a private swimming pool in Sweden. The thesis uses qualitative methods from visual ethnography and presents a short documentary movie, accompanied by findings from semi-structured interviews from the visits covering four different themes. The findings lend insight into how the swimming pool is a place for finding recreation and enabling social activities with friends and family. The findings elaborate on how the swimming pool is a space to control and underline the idea of safety. Lastly, the findings highlight that any sustainability concerns of the pool owners largely focus on energy consumption. These findings are then connected to key theorical framings of this thesis, including the history behind private swimming pools, consumption as a concept, and moralisation within sustainability studies. The short documentary movie adds perspectives from the visits and involves other senses to promote an empathetic approach. The findings of the thesis provide a starting point for learning about different approaches for discussing sustainability in academia and with a broader audience.Description
Supervisor
Berglund, EevaThesis advisor
Paavilainen, HeidiAndell, Pia