abstract: This dissertation examines people's place experiences more fully than has been done by others in the field of education, and in doing so, it opens new ways of thinking about place in place-based education. Place-based education, in its effort to connect educational processes with the local places in which students and teachers carry out their daily lives, has become an increasingly popular reform movement that challenges assumptions about the purpose and meaning of education in a rapidly globalizing world. Though the scholarship on place-based education describes, justifies, and advocates for turning the educational focus toward local places, it does not necessarily bring forth an explicit understanding of how people experience place. Grounded in phenomenology, this qualitative study explores the place experiences of five individuals who were born and raised in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. Experiential descriptions were gathered through three, in-depth, iterative interviews with each participant. Documents considered for this study included interview transcriptions as well as photographs, observations, and descriptions of places in the White Mountains that were deemed significant to the individuals. A phenomenological framework, specifically Edward Relph's explications of place and insideness and outsideness, structured the methodological processes, contextualized participant narratives, and facilitated and informed an understanding of participants' place experiences. Through the coding and analyzing of interviews for common themes and subthemes, as well as through the crafting of individual profiles, participant place experiences emerged as a dialectical relationship between insideness and outsideness and consisted of Part-of-Place (play-and-exploration, cultivation-of-place, stories-of-place, dangerous-endeavors, and care-of-place), Place-Sensations (remarkable-moments, sensory-triggers, and features-marked-in-time), and Ruptures-in-the-Place-World (pivotal-moments, barriers-borders-boundaries, drastic-changes, and injuries). While the research was exploratory and only investigated a limited number of place experiences, the findings, coupled with theoretical and conceptual understandings of place anchored in phenomenological perspectives, strengthen a discussion in place-based education of place, how place is experienced, and how these experiences matter in people's lives. Furthermore, the findings of this dissertation support a proposed pedagogical method that blends place-based education and culturally relevant practices into a place-responsive pedagogy. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2015

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur lärare i årskurserna 4‑5 använder sig av närområdet i sin geografiundervisning, med fokus på varför geografilärare använder sig av detta samt hur de via närområdet ger eleverna en känsla av plats och identitet. Metoden som valdes var att göra intervjuer med lärare via semistrukturerade frågor och sedan analysera lärarnas svar gentemot litteraturförfattarnas syn angående närområdesstudier i geografiundervisningen. Resultatet för studien är att lärarna som jag intervjuade använder sig mestadels av närområdet i undervisningen för att förändring över tid av natur- och kulturlandskapen. Men att de kunde göra det på olika arbetsmetoder som ämnesöverskridande uppgifter till hemläxor eller genom studiebesök. Lärarna var också positiva till att göra fältstudier i området när de hade lärt känna sina elever då det finns många faktorer som ställs på spel, som elevernas egna ansvar och resurser.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A pesquisa realizou-se na comunidade do Beiral, área localizada à margem direita do Rio Branco, em Boa Vista-RR a qual apresenta problemas ambientais e sociais, também foi embasada com olhar geográfico e multidisciplinar, pois envolveu muitos conceitos das ciências sociais e antropologia para conseguir apoiar teoricamente de conceitos como: espaço, território e territorialidade. Como objetivo geral, buscou-se analisar as territorialidades persistentes no Beiral com a ocorrência das enchentes em Boa Vista RR. Assim, verificou-se por meio da aplicação dos questionários, a percepção dos moradores sobre o Beiral e identificar atributos que permitiram descrever melhor o fenômeno. A metodologia utilizada na pesquisa foi uma extensa revisão bibliográfica, aplicação de questionários, conversas informais com os moradores e observação recolhidas. E evidenciou-se que o mesmo Beiral é um lugar com ótima acessibilidade a todos os bairros da Cidade de Boa Vista. A comunidade ainda é carente em vários serviços essenciais como saúde e saneamento básico, mesmo assim os moradores têm apreciações que os levam a não querer sair de lá, porque além de ter construído o sentido ao lugar que ocupam e onde experimentam suas vivências e onde sua imaginação, memórias, percepções, desejos, medos e tensões, constroem socialmente e culturalmente um lugar com muito sentimento. Outro elemento imprescindível, demonstrar que a maioria dos moradores persistem em continuar morando no Beiral, pois a maioria não têm condições econômicas para morar em outro bairro, isso quer dizer que a economia e os sentidos de lugar são fatores chaves para que eles persistam em viver nesse lugar. Assim, os aspectos materiais e imateriais são responsáveis igualitários das territorialidades desenvolvidas neste lugar, e por último não pode se esquecer que as territorialidades são formas e conteúdos que geram funcionalidades a um sistema e que são compreendidas por elementos, os quais que tem uma finalidade dentro do espaço e atributos que condicionam ao mesmo. / The research took place in the community of "Beiral", an area located on the right bank of the Rio Branco riverside which presents environmental and social problems. The research was based with geographical and multidisciplinary look, because it covers many concepts of social and anthropological sciences to get us support theoretically based work concepts of space, territory and territoriality. As a general goal, sought to examine the persistent territorialities in "Beiral" with the occurrence of floods in Boa Vista-RR. Also, verify, through questionnaires, the perception of the residents about the "Beiral" and identify attributes that allow best describe the phenomenon. The methodology used in the research was an extensive literature review, questionnaires, informal conversations with residents and note taken. In addition, it evidenced that the same "Beiral" is a place with great accessibility to all districts of the city. The community is still lacking in many essential services such as health and others, yet residents have assessments make them not want to get out of there. Because as well as having built the sense of place that occupy and where they experience their livings and where it fits your imagination, memories, perceptions, desires, fears and tensions, build socially and culturally a place with a lot of sentimental. Another important element is that most residents persist in continuing living because they do not have economic conditions to live somewhere else. That means that the economy and the senses of place are key factors to which they continue to stay in this place and are responsible of egalitarian territorialities developed in this place. Finally, you cannot forget that the territorialities are forms that generate content and features to a system that is assumed for elements, which have a purpose within the space and some attributes that condition.

Effective coastal planning is inclusive and incorporates the variety of user needs, values, and interests associated with coastal environments. This requires understanding how people relate to coastal environments as ‘places’, imbued with values and meanings, and accordingly, tools that can capture place and connect with people’s ‘sense of place’ have the potential for supporting effective coastal management strategies. Realistic, immersive geographical visualizations, i.e., geovisualizations, theoretically hold potential to serve such a role in coastal planning. However, significant research gaps exist around this application context. Firstly, place theory and geovisualizations are rarely explicitly linked in the same studies, leaving questions around the (potential) relationship between these tools and sense of place. Secondly, geovisualization work has focused on terrestrial environments, and research on how to realistically model coastal places is currently in its infancy. This dissertation aims to address these gaps by pursuing two research objectives. The first objective is to explore the ‘human component’ of geovisualizations, referring to how these tools operate within the social and cultural dimensions germane to environmental management plans and processes. In accordance with the discussion above, this exploration is framed through place theories and concepts, and regards realistic geovisualizations as ‘place-based’ tools. The second objective concerns the coastal context, and it involves elucidating the considerations around developing and using terrestrial-to-marine geovisualizations as tools for inclusive coastal planning and management. The dissertation is composed of five manuscripts, which have been prepared as standalone articles for submission to academic journals. Each manuscript details a study designed to support an aspect of the research objectives, respectively serving (1) to develop a theory of geovisualizations as place-based tools, (2) to explore the theory in the coastal context, (3) to examine the relationship between sense of place and one’s mental visualization of place, (4) to develop a coastal geovisualization under place-based considerations and examine its capacity for connecting to sense of place, and (5) to assess the geovisualization’s potential as a tool for inclusive coastal planning efforts. The first and second study consist of literature review work. The third study involves a survey administered to residents of the Capital Regional District, which collected data for examining a potential relationship between the way people visualize coastal places and how they value and relate to these places. The fourth and fifth study involve developing a coastal geovisualization of Sidney Spit, and then employing focus groups to examine its ability for connecting with people’s sense of place (i.e., fourth study) and utility as a tool for inclusive planning (i.e., fifth study). Outcomes from the first study include a theory on how geovisualizations can function as place-based tools, and this was developed by integrating place concepts with ideas and conceptual models from human-media interaction and sense of presence research. The second study produced insight on how values and interests of different coastal user groups can influence understandings and perceptions of coastal places, and it used this insight to develop recommendations for coastal geovisualizations - full navigability, dynamic elements, and flexibility (i.e., allowing for continual modification and scenario building). The third study produced empirical evidence that place-based values and interests (i.e., framed through sense of place and concerns for place) can influence one’s mental visualization of place in terms of the types of elements people include and perspectives they take in said visualization. The fourth study demonstrated that the presence of certain elements in coastal geovisualizations (such as people, dogs, birds, marine life, vegetation, and boats) can contribute to realism and sense of place; however, simultaneously, deficiencies in numbers and varieties of these elements can detract from realism and sense of place. In addition, the fourth study found that the incorporation of soundscape and viewshed elements is significant for the tool’s ability to connect with sense of place. The fifth study demonstrated the geovisualization’s usefulness for assessing certain qualities of management scenarios, such as aesthetics and functionality of fencing around a restoration area and potential viewshed impacts associated with locations of moored boats. The study also found that incorporating navigability into the geovisualization proved to be valuable for enhancing understandings around scenarios that hold implications for the marine environment because it allowed users to cross the land-sea interface and experience underwater places. / Graduate

This thesis examines the everyday experiences of Anglophone communities in three different regions of Quebec – the Gaspésie, Gatineau and Eastern Townships – with the aim to understand their sense of place. Specifically, the focus is on the role of different geographic contexts on everyday access to social services, particularly healthcare, and how these experiences contribute to Anglophones’ place attachment. Data collection involved semi-structured personal interviews with ten participants in each region. Comparative analysis yielded three main findings: (1) issues with accessing healthcare in English reinforces Anglophones’ minority status; (2) in spite of the challenges faced as a linguistic minority, Anglophones demonstrate a strong sense of place to their region; and (3) feelings of home, heritage, and rootedness constitute elements in Anglophones’ place attachment and contribute to their sense of place in Quebec. The study also concludes that age, mobility, and location are important variables in influencing everyday experiences in each of the three regions.

The relevance of places to people has been questioned in recent times, as the world has become increasingly globalised and people more mobile. The aim of this research was to explore the relationship between sense of place and people’s behaviour in ‘ordinary’, everyday places. This contrasts with much prior research, which has focused on ‘special’ places, such as national parks and impressive landscapes in order to investigate the components of sense of place. Most people do not live in such places, but inhabit ordinary places in (sub) urban contexts. The research questions were: How does sense of place manifest in an ordinary, everyday landscape? In what ways can social learning impact upon the dynamics of sense of place? Can a more salient sense of place affect people’s attitudes towards and behaviour within their local area? Using an action research approach, pre- and post-interviews and three workshops to create a sustainable future vision at a neighbourhood level of scale, and the town as a whole, were held with fourteen residents of East Bolton, in the North West of England. The activities were designed to facilitate interaction between the participants, so that meanings attributed to places could be shared and discussed. This approach allowed participants to see familiar places in new ways and to share perspectives. The key themes that emerged from this research were: the importance of childhood places; the impact of mobility – both physical and social mobility; the interdependence of places at various scales; and also self-efficacy and people’s ability to influence their surroundings. A key finding was that sense of place can be made more salient for people in ‘ordinary’ landscapes, particularly if people are given direct experience of their places and opportunities to share and reflect on their perceptions relating to place. Social learning, however, takes time and requires resources to create opportunities to influence the salience of sense of place. The findings point to the value of promoting social learning through engagement activities. Planners, regeneration project officers and citizen groups could utilise sense of place as an organising principle to explore place meanings and as a catalyst for stimulating local action. Participants found it more difficult to discuss sense of place at the neighbourhood level of scale than the town level of scale, partly owing to their differing conception of boundaries and lack of awareness of the neighbourhood beyond the home. This has implications for implementing the localism agenda, suggesting that local action and visioning needs to be situated within activities nested at a range of scales in order to be most effective. The drive towards localism may lead to more self-organising and activism emerging from outside of the formal planning system and becoming a force for collective place shaping. Thus, the benefits of developing a more salient sense of place may also have impacts in less formal ways, such as greater interest and involvement in neighbourhood affairs and increased capacity-building, from which community action could potentially emerge.

abstract: This dissertation addresses empirical, applied, and theoretical issues in the place literature through an ethnographic study of the volunteer stewards in the nonprofit McDowell Sonoran Conservancy (Scottsdale, Arizona). The first phase of study explores Conservancy stewards’ phenomenological place meanings through participant observation, a photovoice protocol (N=18), and life-history interviews (N=53). Findings indicate that being a steward fosters deep, identity-based place meanings within the conservation land (the McDowell Sonoran Preserve) and City of Scottsdale. The second phase of study measures stewards’ psychometric place attachments to the Preserve and broader community using the Place Attachment Inventory (PAI) survey. New stewards’ (N=29) PAI scores—collected before attending orientation and one year after—demonstrate a rise in Preserve place attachment and place identity in the first year of service. Established stewards’ (N=275) PAI data suggests no correlation between place attachment and volunteer intensity. These findings are complemented by phase I results and suggest that stewards experience a rise in place identity after earning the identity of an environmental steward, regardless of engagement. The third phase of study experimentally combines the data from established stewards who participated in phase I and II (N=48) to test the hypothesis that those with identity-based place meanings would possess higher place identity scores. Data analysis found no significant differences in place identity scores between those with and without a Predicted High Place Identity. The outcomes of this experiment suggest construct validity issues with the widely used place attachment and place identity constructs. While it is established that volunteers arrive at an organization with a strong sense of place, this study demonstrates empirically how place attachments increase and place meanings deepen further after joining a volunteer organization. Communities and organizations can learn from the Conservancy’s practices that help stewards easily establish and perform a place-based steward identity. Finally, the experimental mixed methods findings suggest a sense of place research program that measures attachment to a place’s meanings rather than attachment to a place. This shift will allow place meaning and place attachment to be studied concurrently, advancing the sense of place construct and broader place theory. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2020

This degree project is focusing upon the use and relevancy of the phenomenon of ‘a sense of place’ within Swedish municipal spatial and strategic planning practice. The aim is to investigate if, when and how Swedish municipalities are working with the phenomenon of ’a sense of place’, which includes investigating possible motives and problems towards working with this. Furthermore the aim is also to investigate different theoretical, as well as empirical, understandings of the concept as ‘a sense of place’ is a highly ambiguous concept.Various theoretical understandings and definitions of the concept are acknowledged within the study, however a broader definition is primary used within the empirical investigation, whereas ‘a sense of place’ should be understood as: the particular qualities and atmosphere that makes a place unique, this is embedded within peoples understanding about place, which is affected by the physical environment, human activities and social relations.The empirical investigation is primary based upon qualitative interviews with public officials in seven Swedish municipalities. The study concludes in that ‘a sense of place’ as defined within the study, is highly relevant and present in Swedish municipal planning practice. Furthermore the study concludes in that there are possibilities to gain both economic and social benefits from incorporating a‘a sense of place’ perspective to planning, arguing for a relationship between social sustainability and ‘a sense of place’. / Denna studie undersöker fenomenet ‘a sense of place’ relevans samt aktualitet inom svensk kommunal planeringsverksamhet. Syftet med studien är att undersöka om, när och hur svenska kommuner arbetar med fenomenet ’a sense of place’ med fokus på planeringsprocessen. Vidare är syftet med studien även att verka teoretiskt samt empiriskt begreppsutredande kring ’a sense of place’ samt angränsande begrepp, då det är högst mångtydiga koncept.Studien diskuterar och reflekterar över flertalet tolkningar och definitioner av begreppet ’a sense of place’. För att konkretisera och underlätta den empiriska undersökningen appliceras en bredare definition av begreppet som: ’a sense of place´ är de specifika egenskaperna och atmosfären som gör en plats unik, vilket är inneboende i människors upplevelse av plats, vilket i sin tur påverkas av platsens fysiska karaktär, mänsklig aktivitet samt sociala relationer.Studiens empiriska undersökning är främst baserad på en kvalitativ intervjustudie med tjänstemän från sju svenska kommuner. Det empiriska materiaet kompletteras även av kommunala handlingar samt tre kvalitativa intervjuer med kommunstyrelseordföranden. Studiens slutsatser är att ’a sense of place’ som definierat inom studien, är ett högst relevant och aktuellt ämne inom den svenska kommunala planeringsverksamheten. Vidare är studiens slutsatser att arbete med ’a sense of place’ inom kommunal planeringsverksamhet har potential att påverka flera aspekter av samhällets hållbara utveckling; som ekonomisk tillväxt, samt ett mer socialt hållbart samhälle, där studien argumenterar för ett samband mellan ’a sense of place’ och social hållbarhet.

Denna studie har för avsikt att undersöka begreppet platsidentitet i relation till vad personer boende i Fellingsbro förknippar med sina liv. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vad personer i Fellingsbro förknippar med sina liv ur ett nutida och historiskt perspektiv samt om, och i så fall hur, personernas platsidentiteter har förändrats mellan 1970-talet till idag 2021.Begreppet platsidentitet har många olika definitioner. Platsidentitet kan förstås som dels baserad på platsens identitet, dels baserad på personernas identitet kopplat till platsen. Den här studien utgår från personers identitet kopplat till platsen men definitionen har även fått en egen prägel för att passa just den här studien. Det är vad personer förknippar och har förknippat med sitt liv, och därmed deras identitet i Fellingsbro, som är fokus i den här studien.Studiens empiriska undersökning är baserad på en flermetodsforskning där kvantitativa enkäter och kvalitativa intervjuer har kompletterat varandra. Enkätundersökningen låg till grund för avgränsningar i studien och intervjuerna gav fördjupad information om de olika teman som uppstod genom enkäten.Vidare är studiens slutsatser att de respondenter som har deltagit i denna studie har annorlunda platsidentiteter idag i jämförelse med vad de hade under 1970-talet. Respondenternas förändrade identiteter kan förstås genom ortens fysiska förändring, rörelsemönster och känsla för platsen. Dessa förändringar mynnar ut i att en majoritet av respondenterna idag ser andra orter som mer viktiga i sina liv än vad de var på 1970-talet. Samtidigt som respondenterna idag associerar sammanhållningen i Fellingsbro med de närmsta grannarna snarare än med Fellingsbro i stort som de i högre grad gjorde under 1970-talet.

Idag byggs urbana, rekreativa grönområden ofta bort till följd av förtätning, samtidigt som städernas kyrkogårdar lämnas orörda. Studien syftar till att i en svensk kontext, undersöka möjligheterna att planera för att urbana kyrkogårdar även ska fungera som rekreationsområde, utan att platsens spirituella dimension går förlorad. Studien har en abduktiv ansats, där kvalitativa intervjuer med planerare samt en representant från Svenska kyrkan utförts. Vidare har platskänsla använts som verktyg för att tolka materialet. Slutsatsen är att det idag finns olika intressenter, tillika platskänslor, att ta hänsyn till vid kyrkogårdsplanering. Några strategier, för att balansera de rekreativa och spirituella värdena, är att låta kyrkogården ha olika funktioner på olika ytor eller tidpunkter. En annan strategi är att anpassa vilken typ av rekreation som platsen uppmanar till. Det finns också möjligheter att utveckla kyrkogårdens spirituella värden som kan betraktas som rekreativa i sig. / Today, urban recreational green areas are gradually removed as a result of densification, while urban cemeteries are left untouched. This study aims to investigate the possibilities for urban cemeteries in Sweden to function as recreational areas, without losing the spiritual dimension. The study takes an abductive approach, where qualitative interviews with planners and representatives from the Church of Sweden were conducted. Furthermore, the concept of ‘sense of place’ has been used as a tool for interpreting the material. The conclusion is that there are many stakeholders, and different senses of place, to take into account in cemetery planning. Strategies for balancing the recreational and spiritual values involve working with different spaces and analyzing how they are used at different times. Adapting what type of recreation that is encouraged, is another approach. Lastly, some planners believe that the cemetery's spiritual values can be considered recreational in itself.