**6. Sense of place as a cultural ecosystem service indicator for water quality**

Sense of place is sometimes identified as a cultural ecosystem service [48, 49]. The term "cultural ecosystem services" is used to represent a range of non-material benefits that humans receive from their interactions with the environment, including esthetic appreciation, spiritual services, cultural identity, recreation experiences and more [49, 50]. These types of benefits provide some convincing reasons for environmental protection that may be compelling to different audiences than those who prefer other ecosystem service benefits [51]. Because of the importance of cultural ecosystem service benefits to humans, their assessment is critical for understanding the impact of environmental change, including water quality degradation or improvement.

Although cultural ecosystem services are one of the core components of most ecosystem services frameworks, their assessment and use remains relatively limited [48, 51]. This is due, in part, to the challenge of calculating the economic value of the benefits, resulting in the frequent omission of the value of non-material cultural services [51]. Over the past few decades, a number of survey scales to capture sense of place attitudes for various geographies have been developed. As discussed throughout this chapter, very little of this work has been conducted in freshwater places and even less has been done in saltwater places.

Here, we propose a set of scaled sense of place questions (**Figure 2**) with the purpose of understanding the social impacts of water quality changes through recreation. These questions were compiled and modified from past work on sense of place in both water recreation areas as well as in other contexts. The questions are derived most directly from the work of Jorgensen and Stedman [26], Williams and Vaske [23], and Mullendore et al. [31]. In addition to the nine quantitative, Likertscale questions, we also include open-ended, qualitative questions that can be used to further explain sense of place responses. We developed the scale questions and the qualitative follow-up questions to attempt to address some of the issues mentioned above. The scale is intended for increased consistency in data collection and an increased ability to compare sense of place across different geographic places. The qualitative questions are intended to capture some of the nuance associated with the complexity of sense of place and to better capture place meanings. In future work, we will explore the use of our sense of place scale to further elucidate variations in economic values for changes in water quality, an area that has not been explored by researchers to date.

To develop the quantitative and qualitative questions, we began with a set of open-ended qualitative questions gleaned from the past sense of place research. We then modified a number of these questions and, through further focus group testing, reduced the set to nine questions capturing the three subcomponents of sense of place. The two qualitative questions were also refined through focus group testing.

As discussed earlier in this chapter, scaled sense of place questions have been used in a range of different research efforts. These include connecting sense of place

**29**

**Figure 2.**

*context of coastal recreation.*

*Sense of Place and Water Quality: Applying Sense of Place Metrics to Better Understand…*

with support for environmental actions, recreation behaviors, and perceived environmental quality. Our scaled questions provide specific metrics for quantifying place dependence, identity, and attachment with the ability to use the data to better understand the impacts of changes in water quality at recreational sites. By coupling the sense of place data with biophysical data, we will be able to conduct analyses of how sense of place is affected by water quality. These analyses will connect site-level water quality data such as water clarity via Secchi depth measurements, bacteria counts from beach monitoring, or chlorophyll *a* to the sense of place measurements,

*Sense of place scale and qualitative questions developed for use in water quality social assessments in the* 

In the past, a great deal of the sense of place research has focused on qualitative exploration of the concepts of place attachment, identity, and dependence

like in the work of Stedman [20] in Wisconsin lakes.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91480*

*Sense of Place and Water Quality: Applying Sense of Place Metrics to Better Understand… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.91480*


#### **Figure 2.**

*Water Quality - Science, Assessments and Policy*

**quality**

dation or improvement.

explored by researchers to date.

desired competing economic outcomes. Cox et al. [47] also investigated water quality perceptions and found a weak connection with the number of visits, which then indirectly affected other quality of life indicators, including sense of place. In a qualitative investigation of sense of place, Lukacs and Ardoin [12] found that the perception of the environmental attributes and biophysical resources influenced

**6. Sense of place as a cultural ecosystem service indicator for water** 

Sense of place is sometimes identified as a cultural ecosystem service [48, 49]. The term "cultural ecosystem services" is used to represent a range of non-material benefits that humans receive from their interactions with the environment, including esthetic appreciation, spiritual services, cultural identity, recreation experiences and more [49, 50]. These types of benefits provide some convincing reasons for environmental protection that may be compelling to different audiences than those who prefer other ecosystem service benefits [51]. Because of the importance of cultural ecosystem service benefits to humans, their assessment is critical for understanding the impact of environmental change, including water quality degra-

Although cultural ecosystem services are one of the core components of most ecosystem services frameworks, their assessment and use remains relatively limited [48, 51]. This is due, in part, to the challenge of calculating the economic value of the benefits, resulting in the frequent omission of the value of non-material cultural services [51]. Over the past few decades, a number of survey scales to capture sense of place attitudes for various geographies have been developed. As discussed throughout this chapter, very little of this work has been conducted in freshwater

Here, we propose a set of scaled sense of place questions (**Figure 2**) with the purpose of understanding the social impacts of water quality changes through recreation. These questions were compiled and modified from past work on sense of place in both water recreation areas as well as in other contexts. The questions are derived most directly from the work of Jorgensen and Stedman [26], Williams and Vaske [23], and Mullendore et al. [31]. In addition to the nine quantitative, Likertscale questions, we also include open-ended, qualitative questions that can be used to further explain sense of place responses. We developed the scale questions and the qualitative follow-up questions to attempt to address some of the issues mentioned above. The scale is intended for increased consistency in data collection and an increased ability to compare sense of place across different geographic places. The qualitative questions are intended to capture some of the nuance associated with the complexity of sense of place and to better capture place meanings. In future work, we will explore the use of our sense of place scale to further elucidate variations in economic values for changes in water quality, an area that has not been

To develop the quantitative and qualitative questions, we began with a set of open-ended qualitative questions gleaned from the past sense of place research. We then modified a number of these questions and, through further focus group testing, reduced the set to nine questions capturing the three subcomponents of sense of place. The two qualitative questions were also refined through focus group

As discussed earlier in this chapter, scaled sense of place questions have been used in a range of different research efforts. These include connecting sense of place

sense of place and watershed group participation in Appalachia.

places and even less has been done in saltwater places.

**28**

testing.

*Sense of place scale and qualitative questions developed for use in water quality social assessments in the context of coastal recreation.*

with support for environmental actions, recreation behaviors, and perceived environmental quality. Our scaled questions provide specific metrics for quantifying place dependence, identity, and attachment with the ability to use the data to better understand the impacts of changes in water quality at recreational sites. By coupling the sense of place data with biophysical data, we will be able to conduct analyses of how sense of place is affected by water quality. These analyses will connect site-level water quality data such as water clarity via Secchi depth measurements, bacteria counts from beach monitoring, or chlorophyll *a* to the sense of place measurements, like in the work of Stedman [20] in Wisconsin lakes.

In the past, a great deal of the sense of place research has focused on qualitative exploration of the concepts of place attachment, identity, and dependence

(e.g., [15, 32, 40]). The symbolic and complex meaning of sense of place and its components makes agreement/disagreement with simplified statements, like those required to develop a scale, difficult to capture in their entirety [5]. Qualitative questioning, including the two qualitative questions proposed in **Figure 2** ("Why did you choose that place? (Please describe)" and "What is important to you about that place, if anything?") allows for deeper exploration of the meaning behind the responses given in the quantitative scale and an extension of sense of place meanings.
