Surveying a Sense of Place

This is awesome. Alex Kudryavtsev, a PhD candidate in Cornell University's Department of Natural Resources, has put together a relatively short video explaining the value of measuring "sense of place" for environmental education programs. Kudryavtsev has recently worked closely with urban environmental education groups in the Bronx, NYC over the past few years.

Though his explanations might be a little technical for those unfamiliar with basic statistical operations he presents a very good explanation of the component parts of this fascinating concept. Kudryavtsev is obviously steeped in a strong academic understanding of the conceptual territory of place yet delivers a measured and fairly accessible monologue on the topic.

Mr. K. keeps it simple by suggesting that both place attachments and place meanings figure into the overarching concept of sense of place. He also hints at the component parts of attachment: place identity and place dependence. Identity is how we internalize a special place as it grows to be "part of who we are." Dependence speaks more to the value of what we "get out of a place," or how it "serves ones needs" in terms of amenities and/or resources that might be perceived as only available in a given locale.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that the library this video was filmed in looks like my fantasy parlor lounge. Full of books, with a nice large table, a plush leather sofa, rich red carpet, and even marble busts of ancient philosophers (though I suspect one might be "place" demigod and Cornell faculty member, Professor R.C. Stedman). But that's fine. The room rocks.

Overall, the video is a great, short overview of basic place concepts and offers some excellent short clips of students and instructors working in the Bronx as part of various environmental education programs. Nice work! More common-language explanations such as this are needed if academics expect to create relevance for themselves and their work outside of the "Ivory Tower."

To give the reader a better sense of how these concepts are measured, I will include the battery of questions provided by Kudryavtsev. As he suggests, it is a fairly standard set of questions for this type of survey work. These questions, as seen below, are focused on the place-specific site of "The Bronx" but this locale could be substituted for any relevant place.

Below are two Sense of Place survey scales, one for place attachment and one for ecological place meanings. In responding to these statements, one would be asked to rank them on what are called "Likert scales" which, in this case consist of  a 5-point measure ranging across a spectrum of "Strongly disagree," "Somewhat agree," "Neutral," "Somewhat disagree," and "Strongly agree".

Place Attachment Scale
1. The Bronx is the best place for what I like to do
2. I feel like the Bronx is part of me
3. Everything about the Bronx reflects who I am
4. I am more satisfied in the Bronx than in other places
5. I identify myself strongly with the Bronx
6. The Bronx is not a good place for what I enjoy doing [reverse coding]
7. There are better places to be than the Bronx [reverse coding]
8. The Bronx reflects the type of person I am

Ecological Place Meaning Scale
1. The Bronx is a place to connect with nature
2. The Bronx is a place to watch animals and birds
3. The Bronx is a place where people can find nature
4. The Bronx is a place where trees are an important part of community
5. The Bronx is a place where people have access to rivers
6. The Bronx is a place where people come to community gardens
7. The Bronx is a place where people have access to parks
8. The Bronx is a place to canoe and boat
9. The Bronx is a place to have fun in nature
10. The Bronx is a place to learn about nature
11. The Bronx is a place to enjoy nature's beauty
12. The Bronx is a place to grow food