Strengthening Subjective Links to Nature: The Psychology of Heritage Places in an Era of Rising Environmental Awareness

ABSTRACT

In the search for the psychology of heritage places, the tangible and intangible qualities of heritage are closely intertwined. This article sheds light on the sentiments, insights and attitudes that historic environments can evoke in people, by using the characteristics of old summer mountain farming landscapes as a platform to further discuss how the psychology of these heritage places can be linked to the present-day era of public environmental consciousness. These heritage places can be assets to the recreation and tourism industries. Mountain-farming landscapes can provide a rural escape from a commonplace urban lifestyle. The historical buildings on these historical farming properties, sometimes dating to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, can provide experiential value through the senses, such as touch, smell, sound and sight: the tangible and intangible aspects of aged wooden architecture. Such ‘landscapes with atmosphere’ and ‘landscapes of affect’ can fill an emotional need in people searching for a connection to nature, seeking solitude, silence and privacy, away from everyday routines in a crowded urban world. Increased public environmental consciousness and awareness of climate change, including seasonal alterations, also affect people’s views of the importance of safeguarding natural and cultural resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Summer mountain farms
• atmospheric landscapes
• affect
• senses
• heritage places

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Scannell and Gifford, “Defining place attachment,” 1.

2. Ibid.

3. Saglie and Swensen, “Reusing the past”.

4. Taugbøl et al., Hyttebygging i Norge.

5. See Anderson, “Affective Atmospheres”; Crouch, “Unravelling Space and Landscape in Leisure’s Identities”; Hamilakis, “Archeaologies of the Senses”; and Waterton, “Landscape and Non-Representational Theories”.

6. Ingold, The Perception of the environment; Mol, The Body Multiple; Thrift, “Intensities of feeling, Non-Representational Theory”; Howes, Sensual relations.

7. Anderson, “Affective”; Edensor, “Illuminated atmospheres”.

8. Frykman and Frykman, “Affect and Material Culture”.

9. Jones and Daugstad, “Usages of the cultural landscape concept”.

10. Harrison, “Beyond Natural and Cultural Heritage,” 24.

11. Antrop, “Balancing Heritage and Innovation,” 49.

12. Ibid.

13. Anderson, “Affective”; and Edensor, “Illuminated”.

14. Berberich et al., “Affective Landscapes”.

15. Anderson, “Affective,” 77.

16. Ibid., 77, 80.

17. Ibid., 78; see also Edensor, “Illuminated,” 1,114.

18. Anderson, “Affective,” 78.

19. Ibid., 80.

20. Edensor, “Illuminated,” 1,103.

21. Howes, “Sensual”; Howes and Pink, “The future of sensory anthropology”.

22. Ingold, “World of sensing and sensing the world,” 314.

23. Ibid., 316.

24. Anderson, “Affective,” 80.

25. Cresswell, Research Design; Curran and Perecman, A Handbook for Social Science; and Flyvbjerg, “Five misunderstandings”.

26. Miles, “Complexity, representation and practice,” 310.

27. Chase, “Narrative inquiry”; and Flyvbjerg, “Five misunderstandings”.

28. Statistics Norway.

29. Almås, Norges landbrukshistorie.

30. Store Norske Leksikon.

31. Saglie and Swensen, “Reusing”; Swensen, “Setra et gårdsbruk i miniatyr”; Swensen, “Unity, simplicity, and balance”; and Swensen, “Rural Tourism”.

32. Ibid.

33. Stensgaard, “Hvordan står det til på setra”.

34. Ibid.

35. Saglie and Swensen, “Reusing”; Swensen, “Setra”; Swensen, “Unity, simplicity”; and Swensen, “Rural Tourism”.

36. Highham et al., “National Parks policy,” 2.

37. Flemsæter et al., “Morality, mobility and citizenship”.

38. Ministry of Environment, Friluftsliv. Ein veg til høgare livskvalitet.

39. Flemsæter et al., “Morality,” 7.

40. Ibid., 8.

41. Ibid., 9–10.

42. Ibid., 12.

43. Ibid., 14.

44. Crowley, “Climbing mountains, hugging trees”; Henderson and Vikander, Nature first; and Higham et al., “National Parks”.

45. As referred to by both Crowley, “Climbing mountains”; and Flemsæter et al. “Morality”.

46. Abram, “The normal cabins revenge”; Abram, “Values of property”; and Lien and Abram, Hytta – fire vegger rundt en drøm.

47. Overvåg, “Second Homes”.

48. Ellingsen, “Rural second homes”; and Aall, “Energy use and leisure consumption”.

49. Halfacree, “Heterolocal identities”.

50. Overvåg, “Second Homes,” 4.

51. Halfacree, “Heterolocal identities,” 210.

52. Qviström et al., “Part-time amenity migrants,” 170.

53. Saglie and Swensen, “Reusing”; Swensen, “Setra”, Swensen, “Unity, Rural Tourism”; Taugbøl et al., Hyttebygging; see also Kaltenborn et al., “Amenity development in the Norwegian mountains”; Aall, “Energy use”.

54. Aall, “Energy use,” 738.

55. Taugbøl et al. Hyttebygging.

56. Swensen, “Setra”, Swensen, “Unity, Rural Tourism”; Saglie and Swensen, “Reusing”.

57. Gansmo et al., Norske hytter i endring.

58. McIntyre et al., Multiple dwelling and tourism; and Moss, The Amenity Migrants.

59. Swensen and Sætren, “Managing historic resources”.

60. Norwegian Agriculture Agency, Selected agricultural landscapes.

61. Scannell and Gifford, “Defining,” 1.

62. Saglie and Swensen, “Reusing”; and Swensen, “Setra, Unity, Rural.

63. See Poe et al., Sense of place, for a grounded analysis of the role of the senses”.

64. Varley and Sempe, “Nordic slow adventure,” 82.

65. Ibid.

66. Thompson, Ecology, community and delight.

67. Ibid., 15.

68. Oliver, Built to meet needs.

69. Thompson, Ecology, 7–8.

70. Dagens Næringsliv, “Den Norske Turistforening vokser videre”.

71. Flemsæter et al., “Morality,” 19.

72. Robinson and Novelli, “Niche tourism”.

73. Ibid.

74. Flemsæter et al., “Morality,” 9.

75. Kaltenborn, “Amenity,” 195, 197.

76. Balint et al., Wicked environmental problems.

77. Ibid.; Rauws, “Embracing uncertainty”.

78. Balint et al., Wicked, 2.

79. Swensen and Sætren, “Managing”.

80. Saglie and Swensen, “Reusing”; Swensen, “Setra, Unity, Rural”; Swensen and Sætren, “Managing”.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Grete Swensen

Grete Swensen is ethnologist and research professor at Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, NIKU. Her field of interests comprise studies related to how cultural heritage and cultural environments can be incorporated in today’s physical planning, including integration of cultural heritage as a vital component in sustainable development. She has published a series of scientific articles, the latest related to reuse of industrial buildings and activating green urban spaces. She is the co-editor of Heritage and Sustainable Urban Transformations. Deep Cities (Routledge, 2020).