Yuri Na

Affiliated Researcher

Well-being through Crafting: Developing Co-crafting Programs as Creative Cultural Activities based on Sustainable Hedonism

This postdoctoral research aims to promote the well-being of the general public in everyday life by means of crafting as a creative activity at the individual, community and cultural levels. In this interdisciplinary research with the arts and social sciences, craft is a tool to improve individuals’ quality of life through ‘making’, and to bring out not only physical but also psychological and social pleasures. This study utilizes craft for individual well-being to develop creative programs in local communities through the ‘co-crafting’ principle implemented with professional craftspeople as part of continuing education. The significant aim for this research is developing craft programs fulfilling both hedonistic and altruistic values through the participatory and ‘co-crafting’ nature of cultural activities conducted by and in collaboration with professional and non-professional people.