Identity, traditions and environmental behavior; “Gli sciusci di Gaeta” and “Our lady of the Hens”

Title: Place attachment and place identity: advances in theory and researchProposer: Dr. Patrick Devine-WrightSymposium summary: Place attachment, identification, and appropriation are fundamental aspects of environmental psychology research. This symposium presents recent empirical findings from research projects in four European countries: Spain, Italy, Poland the UK. Respected contributors discuss topical issues in the field such as the link between place attachment and action; place appropriation; identification with place at different scales and behavioural responses to place-related identity threats, using a variety of methodological approaches including qualitative and quantitative methods. The result is a symposium that reflects current directions in the field of study and will deepen understandings of place attachment and place identity. Paper 1: Place inherited or place discovered? On the relationship between different forms of place attachment and place-related action. Author: Maria Lewicka, Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Poland.Place attachment is usually defined as an emotional bond that people develop with their places (usually places of residence). Despite the apparent commonsense link between this concept and motivation to act on behalf of the place (place attached people should be more willing to be involved in various place-related activities), the empirical evidence for a direct link between attachment and action is usually quite weak and/or the link is mediated by other variables. In this paper I will distinguish between two different forms of place attachment, “place inherited” and “place discovered”, corresponding to D. Hummon's “everyday attachment” and “ideological attachment”, and present data from representative country surveys showing that the two forms of attachment, although correlated, form two qualitatively different ways of relating to a place. Place attachment understood as emotional bonds with place of residence was more strongly related to the concept of “place inherited” than “place discovered”. Of the two forms of attachment only “place discovered” was found to be systematically related to various forms of activity (e.g., membership in local organizations, or participation in actions of protest) . A large array of measures, including demographic variables, measures of cultural and social capital, and of accepted values, differentiated the two forms of place attachment. Key words: place attachment, activity, place inherited vs. place discoveredPaper 2: Malls as a place at Barcelona metropolitan area: Searching for appropriation phenomenaAuthors: Jose V. Pestana, Tomeu Vidal, Nuria Codina, Sergi Valera & Enric Pol (University of Barcelona, Department of Social Psychology, Barcelona, Spain).Malls constitute outstanding elements of the urban landscapes, not only for their presence in the built environment, but also for the human activities they comprise (Chebat, Gelinas-Chebat, & Therrien, 2005). These activities may influence from consumer habits (Green, Cordell, Betz & DiStefano, 2006) to the identifications among people and their environment (Childress, 2004) —what is interesting to the processes of space appropriation (Korosec-Serfaty, 1976, 1984; Moser, Ratiu & Fleury-Bahi, 2002; Pol, 1996; Vidal & Pol, 2005) and time appropriation (Codina, 2007). In this contribution, malls from Barcelona metropolitan area were analyzed through an on-line survey applied to a sample of 417 men and 384 women. Specifically, perceptions about malls, the activities performed in them, and the participants' attendance to other city spaces were studied. Results are discussed from a perspective based on space and time appropriation, as well as the social practices —environmental and culturally situated— that may indicate changes in the urban settings participation. This research has been supported by the Ministry of Education and Science from Spain (general project “Conflictive experiences in public space: New modes of coexistence, uses and opportunities for the participation in urban cohesion” —reference SEJ2006-08975/PSIC).Paper 3: Relations between place, landscapes and identity at different scalesFerdinando Fornara*, Renato Troffa°, Marina Mura°*University of Cagliari, Department of Psychology °University of Cagliari, Department of Economic and Social ResearchesLiterature on place identity and related issues has underlined how those places that are considered as the basis for the development of an identitarian bond may differ in scale (Lewicka, 2008). In the present time, the relationship among sovra-national, national and regional identification deserve to be studied, because of the different level of salience they are acquiring by virtue of the processes of integration and globalization (Martini, Forsthofer, 2000). The present contribution concerns an overview of a cross-cultural research project focusing on the relationship among place, landscape and identity. In particular, the target places are different regions of two EU nations, i.e. Italy and Spain. The main objective of the study was to verify how different landscape prototypes (derived by combining three dimensions in a 2x2x2 research design, i.e.: built vs. natural, European vs. non-European, Mediterranean vs. non-Mediterranean) can be perceived as sources of identification. Both a survey study (taking into account place identity at different territorial scales, i.e. regional, national, and European) and an experiment (using the Implicit Association test) were carried out. Results showed some differences across regions for as regards the identitarian value of the different territorial scales. Moreover, it emerged how prototypical European as well as natural landscapes are able to elicitate identitarian answers. Practical implications of the study will be discussed.Paper 4: Identity, traditions and environmental behavior: “Gli sciusci di Gaeta” and “Our lady of the Hens”Caterina Arcidiacono and Fortuna ProcenteseIncoparde(Intercultural, Community, Participation Development) Laboratory, University Federico II, Naples caterina.arcidiacono@unina.itAccording to Mankosky & Rappaport (1995) and Rappaport (2000) local memories, transmitted through art and collective stories of a community, are key elements for the construction of social identity, both individual and collective, connected to specific places. On these basis we investigate whether a rich cultural tradition constitutes an element of social identity and how it influences environmental behaviour. More specifically we examined how the representation of traditions can affect social identity and how the cultural heritage of the town influence environmental behaviour in two local contexts: Pagani (a small town which has many ancient cultural traditions linked to specific locations and their rituals such as the festival of Our Lady of the Hens) and Gaeta( an old historical centre with a very long tradition of collective popular ritual songs “Gli sciusci”). Our contribution tends towards a qualitative approach in examining the data gathered and a participative methodology for examining social identity and the relationship of the inhabitant with ancient towns where history and traditions are still very much alive. Narrative interviews with various protagonists of the local culture (grass-root experts) in both towns, analysed by grounded theory, showed a strong social identity connected to place identity. We explored then the possible actions that could be taken to promote sustainable development and at the same time we focus on how feelings of impotence and social distrust influence relations between citizens and their local environment.Key-words: traditions; place identity; place attachment; environmental behaviour; community trust, agency. Paper 5: Rethinking NIMBYism: emplacing identities, social representations and valuesDr. Patrick Devine-Wright*Manchester Architecture Research Centre, School of Environment and DevelopmentUniversity of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UKpdwright@manchester.ac.uk*(from September 1st, I will take up the position of Professor of Environmental Psychology, School of Geography, University of Exeter, UK)Expanding the generation of energy from renewable sources, in order to counter the threat of climate change, is one of the most formidable challenges facing policymakers. This paper argues that the application of theoretical concepts from environmental and social psychology can help to meet this challenge. To date, the ‘NIMBY' concept (‘Not in my back yard') has been the typical means used by policy makers and industrialists to explain renewable energy opposition, whereby individuals or groups are thought to support renewable energy in principle, yet due to supposed ignorance or selfishness, oppose specific projects in their locality. I propose that so-called ‘NIMBY' behavioural responses (e.g. signing petitions or joining a protest group) arise in contexts where the changes proposed to specific places (e.g. from siting a wind farm) are constructed by local residents as a threat to place-related identity processes. To empirically examine this proposal, public responses to a proposed offshore wind farm in North Wales were investigated, with data collected from residents in two coastal towns using group discussion and survey methods (n = 501). Analysis suggests that opposition was founded in the symbolic contradiction between divergent representations of a scenic, natural and restorative place on the one hand, and a large-scale, industrial technology project on the other, prompting negative emotional responses (anger, anxiety and threat), and protest behaviour. Opposition to the wind farm was more likely in residents with a strong sense of attachment to the locality, who emphasised social values of conservatism over openness to change, and who placed more trust in the local opposition group than the project developer. Implications of the research for theory, policy and practice are discussed. Key words: NIMBYism, renewable energy, place identities, social representations, values.