Landscape Meanings and Personal Identities: Some Perspectives of East Anglian Children

Abstract

Landscape meanings raise questions about the relationships between people and place. The extent to which a given view can be associated with long-term residence in a particular locality is a matter of considerable curiosity for environmental education. In 1996 as part of the Land Use UK project (Robertson & Walford, 2000) young surveyors of the British landscape displayed quite distinct landscape preferences that were partly national but also to some extent specific to their regional location. To further test these findings a subsequent study has been conducted which focuses on children in one UK region – East Anglia. Twenty-one schools participated in this follow-up study. From the sample of nearly 800 individual pupils some clear generalisations are possible. While there are notable response differences associated with age and school location, the overall trends suggest personal geographies strongly linked to traditional cultural values.

Keywords:

• LANDSCAPE
• PERCEPTIONS
• YOUNG PEOPLE
• REGIONALISM
• NATIONAL IDENTITY
• VALUES