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Open AccessArticle
Digital Walking Tours as a Tool for Assessing Place Attachment and Community Responses to Regional Environmental Change
by
Frances Simmons
Frances Simmons 1
,
Benjamin D. Hennig
Benjamin D. Hennig 2
and
Matthias Kokorsch
Matthias Kokorsch 1,*
1
Coastal Communities & Regional Development, University Centre of the Westfjords, 400 Ísafjörður, Iceland
2
Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Land 2024, 13(8), 1326; https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081326 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 13 July 2024
/
Revised: 14 August 2024
/
Accepted: 20 August 2024
/
Published: 21 August 2024
Abstract
Understanding a community’s place attachment is vital for effective land-use planning and disaster risk management that aligns with local needs and priorities. This study examines the methodologies employed to grasp these values, emphasising the significance of meaningful participatory approaches. It sheds light on the challenges encountered due to COVID-19 restrictions, which prevented direct face-to-face engagement with community members. To address this issue, researchers devised “digital walking tours” as an alternative to traditional walking transect methods, aiming to investigate the relationship between place attachment and perceptions of the landscape in Patreksfjörður, a small fishing community in the Westfjords, during the pandemic. The evaluation of this method demonstrated its suitability for conducting comprehensive and cost-effective community consultations. Participants expressed enjoyment and found the technology (online video calls and StreetView imagery) user-friendly and engaging. To further enhance the method, several recommendations are proposed, including the integration of virtual tours with in-person methods whenever feasible, incorporating additional sensory input, adopting a slower pace, and offering more opportunities for participants to divert to personally significant locations. Other contextual considerations encompass the use of participants’ native language and the facilitation of digital walking tours with pairs or small groups of participants.
Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Simmons, F.; Hennig, B.D.; Kokorsch, M.
Digital Walking Tours as a Tool for Assessing Place Attachment and Community Responses to Regional Environmental Change. Land 2024, 13, 1326.
https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081326
AMA Style
Simmons F, Hennig BD, Kokorsch M.
Digital Walking Tours as a Tool for Assessing Place Attachment and Community Responses to Regional Environmental Change. Land. 2024; 13(8):1326.
https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081326
Chicago/Turabian Style
Simmons, Frances, Benjamin D. Hennig, and Matthias Kokorsch.
2024. "Digital Walking Tours as a Tool for Assessing Place Attachment and Community Responses to Regional Environmental Change" Land 13, no. 8: 1326.
https://doi.org/10.3390/land13081326
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