Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.
How do we hold onto friends and communities in a world that feels increasingly fragmented?
This timely collection explores how social connection unfolds across personal, physical, community and digital spaces. From loneliness to belonging, the collection explores the broader social forces that shape our interactions. Packed with fresh insights and accessible research, the contributors bridge theory and practice.
Offering practical strategies for policy and practice, this book charts paths to meaningful connection. An essential guide for policymakers, academics, and anyone seeking deeper connections, it provides hope-and action-for a more connected future.
1. Setting the Scene: Navigating Everyday Spaces for Social Connection - Milovan Savic, Roger Patulny and Jane Farmer Part 1: Personal Spaces 2. Male Friendships and Connections: Privileges and Pitfalls - Roger Patulny 3. The Price Tag of Social Connection: An Intersectional Analysis of Older Filipina-Australians’ Digital Care Practices – Earvin Cabalquinto 4. Good Practice in Finland: Designing for Wellbeing and Social Connection in Residential Aged Care - Jasmine Knox and Hannele Komu 5. Spending More Time Together: The Role of Cats and Dogs for Families with Children during COVID-19 - Shannon Bennets and Sharinne Crawford Part 2: Physical Spaces 6. Loneliness and the Built Environment – Marlee Bower, Jennifer Kent, Roger Patulny, Laura McGarth and Emily Rugel 7. Urban-Rural Disparities in Social Network Profiles among Older Koreans at the Early Stage of the Pandemic – Pildoo Sung 8. The Rise of Parkrun: Generating Social Connection in Everyday Sporting Spaces – Nicholas Hookway 9. United by Insects: Insect’s Control and Development of Social Connections in Large Cities – Olga Brednikova and Oksana Zaporozhets Part 3: Community Spaces 10. Exploring Nature-Based Social Prescribing: Empowering LGBTIQA+ Refugees and Asylum Seekers with Community Interventions – Nerkez Opacin, Nicholas Hill, Sarah Bekessy and Katherine Johnson 11. Demographic and Social Dimensions of Migrant Ageing and Wellbeing in Australia – Marika Franklin, Lucy Taska and Fei Guo 12. Coping with COVID-19: Surveying Social Networks and Resilience in the Italian-Australian Community – Simone Battiston and Damon Alexander 13. How People Make Spaces of Social Connection in Outer-Metropolitan Growth Areas – Jane Farmer Part 4: Digital Spaces 14. Lack of Trust, Fear, and Insecurity as Obstacles to Social Connectedness Online in Lithuania – Margarita Gedvilaitė-Kordušienė and Gražina Rapolienė 15. From Fluctuating Bonds to Resilient Networks: Unravelling the Role of Social Media in Pandemic Social Connections – Jessica Franks 16. Understanding and Responding to Loneliness in Later Life: The Role of Emerging Technologies to Enhance Social Connectedness in Care Homes – Barbara Barbosa Neves 17. Harnessing Digital Tools for Social Connection: Experiences of Residents on the City Outskirts - Milovan Savic and Anthony McCosker 18. Conclusion: Charting the Course for Future Research on Social Connections – Jane Farmer, Roger Patulny and Milovan Savic
Milovan Savic is Research Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology. Roger Patulny is Professor of Sociology at Hong Kong Baptist University. Jane Farmer is Professor of Health & Innovation at Swinburne University of Technology.
