This essay examines resident experiences and notions of the Gotland countryside and their ideas about the future. In particular the countryside is studied as both space and place. In space and place people interacting. People are therefore important components in the study of the landscape. One can say that the landscape and the interaction between people affect resident experiences and notions of the countryside, as well as people certainly affect the landscape. From that point of view is the landscape seen as a social construction. Moreover, the study examines the residents’ attitudes to tourism in the countryside, tourists being a group of importance for Gotland’s regional development. The study also identifies reasons behind experiences and attitudes. The study is based on questionnaires and interviews with residents’ and three different groups are studied; the general public, farmers, and public servants, who in one way or another work with regional development. The study shows residents’ positive and negative opinions as well as similarities and differences among the three studied groups. One important finding is that public servants tend to think that other people are more positive towards the future than they really are. Nevertheless, positive and negative perspectives are important to be aware of to understand residents’ situation, likewise to be able to have an influence on people, their attitudes and situations. Eventually, it is clear that sense of place and experience of space affect residents’ ideas about the future and vice versa. Therefore these aspects need to be taken into consideration in physical planning and regional development. / Denna studie om Gotlands landsbygd och invånarnas framtidstro är ett examensarbete i geografi, inriktning kulturgeografi, vid Södertörns högskola. Syftet är att beskriva hur invånarna upplever landsbygden och vad de har för tro på framtiden, vilket sker genom studier av tre grupper; allmänheten, tjänstemän och lantbrukare. Vidare är syftet att analysera vilka attityder och inställningar som finns till landsbygden samt identifiera påverkansfaktorer. Studien baseras på en enkätundersökning och åtta intervjuer. Geografiska teorier har sedan använts, framförallt teorier om ”sense of place” (medvetenheten om känslan till en plats). Hänsyn tas till samhällsutvecklingen som gett flertalet konsekvenser för landsbygden och dess befolkning samt turistnäringen som har blivit en allt viktigare näring för Gotland, när påverkansfaktorer samt människors upplevelser, inställningar och attityder undersöks. Studien har tillkommit utifrån en förförståelse om att Gotlands landsbygd sedan några decennier genomgått åtskilliga utmaningar, särskilt inom jordbruksnäringen (inom jordbruksnäringen avses både jord- och lantbruk) som är en betydelsefull näring för hela ön. Sedan något år tillbaka har landsbygden på ön dessutom stått inför särskilda prövningar i och med att industrier och andra verksamheter lagts ned eller flyttats. Skolor och övrig samhällsservice samlas allt mer i Visby, som är Gotlands enda stad. Den bild som skildras av landsbygden skiljer sig åt mellan allmänheten, tjänstemännen och lantbrukarna. Allmänheten och tjänstemännen upplever landsbygden och turismen på landsbygden positivt. När det däremot gäller samhällsutvecklingen ser tjänstemännen odelat positivt på hur den påverkar livsvillkoren på landsbygden, medan allmänheten tydligt visar en oro för dess konsekvenser för landsbygden. För de enskilda lantbrukarna spelar egen intressen och specialisering inom jordbruksnäringen stor roll för deras syn på landsbygden. Därtill är odlingsförutsättningar på olika delar av ön samt avstånd till samhällsservice (dvs. geologi och geografi) påverkande faktorer på deras upplevelse av landsbygden och är tillsammans med egenintressen också avgörande för lantbrukarnas framtidstro. I undersökningen framträder såväl den enskilde personens grundinställning som individuella och situationsberoende attityder. Både mer eller mindre positiva och negativa attityder kommer till uttryck vad gäller människors upplevelser och framtidstro. Sammantaget bidrar människors olika attityder till en mer sammansatt helhetsbild, vilken är av vikt att klargöra och beakta i en utvecklingsprocess. Studien visar också att allmänhetens syn på samhällsutvecklingen och landsbygdens befolkningsminskning, inte nödvändigtvis hör samman med den verklighet som råder idag. Bland annat skildras en upplevelse av avfolkning vilket egentligen speglar situationen på landsbygden för tio år sedan. En annan skillnad är att tjänstemännen tror att landsbygds-befolkningens framtidstro är positiv i större utsträckning än den faktiskt tycks vara. Samtliga undersökningsgrupper visar vidare en öppen attityd till turistnäringen. Det finns dock reservationer; att vissa platser överexploateras, att områden står outnyttjade större delen av året och att material, byggnadsstil och utformning stör den lokala miljön. I fysisk samhälls-planering och regional utveckling är det viktigt att ta hänsyn till landsbygdsbefolkningens känsla till platsen, upplevelse av rummet och framtidstro – eftersom det i studien framkommit att dessa aspekter understödjer en framgångsrik och hållbar regional utveckling.

The occupation of Moutoa Gardens in 1995 highlighted efforts by Whanganui iwi to draw attention to the non-settlement of long-standing land grievances arising out of land confiscations by the Crown in New Zealand in the 1860s. Maori attitudes to land have not been well understood by successive New Zealand governments since that time, nor by many Pakeha New Zealanders. In an effort to overcome that lack of understanding, this thesis studies a particular genre of Maori composition; namely, waiata tangi or songs of lament, which contain a strong indigenous sense of place component. The waiata used in this study derive from my tribal area of Taranaki, which is linked historically and through whakapapa with Whanganui iwi. These waiata were recorded in manuscript form in the 1890s by my great-grandfather Te Kahui Kararehe, and are a good source from which to draw conclusions about the traditional nature of Maori feelings for place. Two strands run throughout this thesis. The first examines the nature of Maori feelings for place and land, which have endured through primary socialisation to the present day. By focusing upon a form of expression that reveals the attachment of Maori towards their ancestral homelands, it is hoped that the largely monocultural Pakeha majority in New Zealand will be made aware of that attachment. It is also hoped that Pakeha may be suitably informed of the consequences of colonialist intervention in the affairs of the Maori people since 1840, which have resulted in cultural deprivation and material disadvantage at the present day. In the current climate of government moves to address the problems bequeathed them by their predecessors, it is important that the settlement of land claims and waterways under the Treaty of Waitangi should proceed unhindered by misapprehension and misinformation on the part of the public at large. The second strand of my thesis concerns the waiata texts themselves, which I wish to bring to the attention of the descendants of the composers of those waiata, who may or may not know of their existence. Since so much of value has been lost to the Maori world it is important that the culturally precious items that remain should be restored as soon as possible to those to whom they rightfully belong. Key themes examined in this thesis are the nature of Maori "feelings" for place and a "sense" of place; Maori research methodologies and considerations, including Maori cosmology and genealogical lines of descent; ethical concerns and intellectual property rights; ethnographic writings from the nineteenth century which tried to make sense of Maori imagery and habits of thought; the Kahui Papers from which the waiata were drawn; and the content and imagery of the waiata themselves. I also discuss the use of hermeneutics as a methodological device for unlocking the meanings of words and references in the waiata, and present the results both from a western sense of place perspective and a Maori viewpoint based on cultural concepts and understandings.

The occupation of Moutoa Gardens in 1995 highlighted efforts by Whanganui iwi to draw attention to the non-settlement of long-standing land grievances arising out of land confiscations by the Crown in New Zealand in the 1860s. Maori attitudes to land have not been well understood by successive New Zealand governments since that time, nor by many Pakeha New Zealanders. In an effort to overcome that lack of understanding, this thesis studies a particular genre of Maori composition; namely, waiata tangi or songs of lament, which contain a strong indigenous sense of place component. The waiata used in this study derive from my tribal area of Taranaki, which is linked historically and through whakapapa with Whanganui iwi. These waiata were recorded in manuscript form in the 1890s by my great-grandfather Te Kahui Kararehe, and are a good source from which to draw conclusions about the traditional nature of Maori feelings for place. Two strands run throughout this thesis. The first examines the nature of Maori feelings for place and land, which have endured through primary socialisation to the present day. By focusing upon a form of expression that reveals the attachment of Maori towards their ancestral homelands, it is hoped that the largely monocultural Pakeha majority in New Zealand will be made aware of that attachment. It is also hoped that Pakeha may be suitably informed of the consequences of colonialist intervention in the affairs of the Maori people since 1840, which have resulted in cultural deprivation and material disadvantage at the present day. In the current climate of government moves to address the problems bequeathed them by their predecessors, it is important that the settlement of land claims and waterways under the Treaty of Waitangi should proceed unhindered by misapprehension and misinformation on the part of the public at large. The second strand of my thesis concerns the waiata texts themselves, which I wish to bring to the attention of the descendants of the composers of those waiata, who may or may not know of their existence. Since so much of value has been lost to the Maori world it is important that the culturally precious items that remain should be restored as soon as possible to those to whom they rightfully belong. Key themes examined in this thesis are the nature of Maori "feelings" for place and a "sense" of place; Maori research methodologies and considerations, including Maori cosmology and genealogical lines of descent; ethical concerns and intellectual property rights; ethnographic writings from the nineteenth century which tried to make sense of Maori imagery and habits of thought; the Kahui Papers from which the waiata were drawn; and the content and imagery of the waiata themselves. I also discuss the use of hermeneutics as a methodological device for unlocking the meanings of words and references in the waiata, and present the results both from a western sense of place perspective and a Maori viewpoint based on cultural concepts and understandings.

The role of collaboration within conservation is of increasing interest to scholars, managers and forest communities. Collaboration can take many forms, but one under-studied topic is the form and content of public discourses across conservation project timelines. To understand the discursive processes that influence conservation decision-making, this research evaluates the use of collaborative rhetoric and claims about place within discourses of conservation in the Adirondacks. Local newspaper articles and editorials published from January 1996 to December 2013 and concerning six major conservation projects were studied using content analysis. Results show that collaborative rhetoric increased during the study period, and conflict discourses declined, in concert with the rise of collaborative planning efforts. Data also show an increasing convergence between conservation sponsors and local communities regarding the economic benefits of conservation and the importance of public participation. The study has value in examining representations of place and media claims-making strategies within conservation discourses, an important topic as natural resource managers increasingly embrace community-based natural resource management.

Being Local; a sense of place - details a journey during which I explore the notion that one aspect of art is seen best as a local activity, with the artist exploring his/her sense of place. Reading of relevant texts, and research of the conceptual basis of the notion, resulted in written and visual works. The writing records selected aspects of my thinking, detailing arrivals and discoveries, the development of art objects. Ultimately the research suggests that a sense of place is unfinished business; an ongoing process, a constant part of any vernacular or local activity. ‘Place’ is a story to be told and retold, a relationship constantly being renewed. Specifically, the story told here is from my own past to arrival in the settlement of Gladstone where I live on a three acre farmlet. That farmlet is the particular site in which I have carried out work exploring my thesis during 2007. The idea that art works are intrinsically local, inherently determined by my relationship with the place where I work, is an important part of the story. The acting of creating, is one of many relationships entwined in stories without which there can be no place to have a sense of. Another is the sharing of food. I have combined both the making of objects, and the sharing of food, as relational activities expressing ‘know how’, an art project.

Nowadays, many cities try to turn their historic city centers into centers of attraction both for inhabitants and visitors by reorganizing and revitalizing them. These reorganization and revitalization processes change the users of the place as well as its physical structure. Thus, this change also creates deep impacts on human-place relationship. Traces of these impacts can be observed via &lsquo / sense of place&rsquo / and &lsquo / place image&rsquo / concepts. Studying these concepts is difficult due to their subjectivity / however, it is necessary to understand the change of place in all dimensions. It is possible to observe a similar process in Kalei&ccedil / i, the historic city center of Antalya. This research examines the process of change in Kalei&ccedil / i over the last five decades regarding the impacts on the &lsquo / sense of place&rsquo / and &lsquo / place image&rsquo / . It identifies &lsquo / physical setting&rsquo / , &lsquo / activity&rsquo / and &lsquo / meaning&rsquo / as observable components of these concepts / and it examines the change in these components through the in-depth interviews with three different user groups (i.e., users before 1980, those after 1980 and present users) and cognitive maps. The research considers that the first conservation practices in Kalei&ccedil / i started in 1980s, thus, it examines the change in &lsquo / sense of place&rsquo / under the headings of before 1980, after 1980 and present time. This research shows that the &lsquo / sense of place&rsquo / and &lsquo / place image&rsquo / between these user groups vary significantly. It indicates that the sense of place of the first user group is generated mostly regarding &lsquo / meaning&rsquo / component shaped by experiences / whereas the sense of place of the second and third category users mostly relates with physical environment and historical identity of the place. Besides, this research comes to a conclusion that there is a direct link between the change in sense of place and the efforts of turning the area into a center of attraction for tourism.

Maps are essential tools for providing tourism information. Hence, it is imperative for tourism marketers to understand how tourists perceive spatial information and sense physical places virtually presented in digital maps. Based on sense of place, spatial cognition, and virtual reality literature, this study constructed a conceptual framework to measure how different interactivity levels of a digital map interface affect potential tourists' experience when exploring maps. In addition, the study explored how individual characteristics such as place attachment and spatial ability affect virtual-spatial experiences. An experiment was conducted to test the developed Virtual Spatial Experience model. Google Earth maps were manipulated using two experimental conditions: low level (satellite view map only) vs. high level (three dimensional (3D) dynamic objects). The questionnaire included self-report items regarding perceived map interactivity, spatial ability, affective place attachment, spatial orientation, spatial imagery, and spatial presence. Responses from 211 students were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study results showed that map interfaces influence human perceptions of map interactivity. Perceived map interactivity positively affected virtual spatial experiences: spatial orientation, spatial imagery and spatial presence. Spatial ability positively influenced spatial orientation which in turn led to greater spatial imagery and ultimately greater spatial presence. The results further demonstrated that affective place attachment positively influenced spatial presence. The findings provided evidence that sense of place in the real world, such as affective place attachment to the experimental setting (Walt Disney World, Florida), influences spatial experiences of an environment virtually presented in the map. Therefore, by applying place attachment to virtual environment studies, this study expanded the scope of theories used in exploring human spatial experience. Moreover, evaluating the influence of map interactivity, this study provided practical implications for designing destination maps. By applying 3D dynamic objects as a design feature in an interactive map, tourism marketers can produce enhanced virtual spatial experiences. As this study used Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Park presented on Google Earth as the experimental setting, the collected data also informs the understanding of virtual experiences and perceptions of the park.

China has become one of the world’s economic engines. One major driving force is the rapid urbanization. Such fast development results in resource and energy depletion, pollution and environmental deterioration. The government has recently endorsed green buildings and urged ministries to work out a national action plan. It is predicted that green building will be the next big thing in China. But before importing any foreign green technology and green designs, is there something to be learned from the Chinese ancestors? In the long history of China, the Chinese have always employed a system of construction with the influences of geography, climate, culture, philosophy, economy and politics deeply rooted in China, making the Chinese traditional architecture distinct. Embedded in the formation of the city, siheyuan 四合院, the courtyard house in Beijing was one exceptional dwelling example that inherited the quintessence of the thousand years of building experiences and knowledge of the ancestors. This traditional urban type not only celebrated the rich and unique cultural heritage of China, it also played an important role in maximizing the natural forces to create a pleasant and comfortable environment for living. Population growth, political and economic reforms over time however have drastically changed the fate of this historical heritage. Especially under the pressure of the fast development and economic boom after the introduction of the Open Door Policy in 1978, the traditional courtyards were the first to be demolished due to the lack of modern facilities and the inability to accommodate the growing population. They were often replaced by apartment blocks and high-rise towers – imported types based on planning regulations developed in the West, outside the cultural and environmental milieu of Beijing. As a result, the city is now filled with many energy intensive buildings that eat away both the “city’s essence” and the valuable natural resources. With the current policy and ambition of China, the teardown courtyard sites within the old city wall that are still waiting for development offer the potential to address the remediation and reinterpretation of the traditional typology in a contemporary city. The thesis investigates the essences of the traditional courtyard house and explores the way to apply such qualities to the design of a new courtyard typology in contemporary Beijing. The proposal anticipates a holistic approach on both environmental, social, cultural and economic level, so as to carry out preservation that manifests in experience rather than physical restoration, and to create a project that is truly sustainable.

This qualitative study explored the potential for decolonizing the secondary English Language Arts classroom. An interdisciplinary approach was used to explore contemporary theories of literary criticism relevant to the study of Aboriginal literature, including an approach through colonial and post-colonial discourse and the growing body of theory and criticism written by North American Aboriginals; to incorporate literary theory and pedagogical knowledge of content into the development of Aboriginal literature units FOR secondary school classrooms; and to incorporate these new interpretive and pedagogical understandings into the practices of two secondary English teachers using North American Aboriginal literature in their classrooms.<p>A document was prepared that explored the interpretive potentials of postcolonial and Aboriginal literary theories and given to the two participating teachers who were able to use this information to develop instructional units for their literature classes. Action research framed the approach used to implement, revise, and evaluate the units of study in the two grade twelve classrooms. <p>The participating teachers found that the critical lenses enabled them to approach Aboriginal literature with more confidence and insight. They also found that their classroom use of Aboriginal literature disclosed the misconceptions their students held concerning Aboriginal peoples. The teachers were frustrated by the systemic racism evident in their classrooms. They were also frustrated by the resistance shown by their teaching peers toward incorporating Aboriginal literature and anti-racist methodologies into their instruction.<p>The findings of this study suggest that more exposure to critical literary theories and minority literatures in the context of teachers pre-service and in-service education may help to decolonize Canadian classrooms.

This qualitative study explored the potential for decolonizing the secondary English Language Arts classroom. An interdisciplinary approach was used to explore contemporary theories of literary criticism relevant to the study of Aboriginal literature, including an approach through colonial and post-colonial discourse and the growing body of theory and criticism written by North American Aboriginals; to incorporate literary theory and pedagogical knowledge of content into the development of Aboriginal literature units FOR secondary school classrooms; and to incorporate these new interpretive and pedagogical understandings into the practices of two secondary English teachers using North American Aboriginal literature in their classrooms.<p>A document was prepared that explored the interpretive potentials of postcolonial and Aboriginal literary theories and given to the two participating teachers who were able to use this information to develop instructional units for their literature classes. Action research framed the approach used to implement, revise, and evaluate the units of study in the two grade twelve classrooms. <p>The participating teachers found that the critical lenses enabled them to approach Aboriginal literature with more confidence and insight. They also found that their classroom use of Aboriginal literature disclosed the misconceptions their students held concerning Aboriginal peoples. The teachers were frustrated by the systemic racism evident in their classrooms. They were also frustrated by the resistance shown by their teaching peers toward incorporating Aboriginal literature and anti-racist methodologies into their instruction.<p>The findings of this study suggest that more exposure to critical literary theories and minority literatures in the context of teachers pre-service and in-service education may help to decolonize Canadian classrooms.