Digital Walking Tours as a Tool for Assessing Place Attachment and Community Responses to Regional Environmental Change

Abstract

Understanding a community’s place attachment is vital for effective land-use planning and disaster risk management that aligns with local needs and priorities. This study examines the methodologies employed to grasp these values, emphasising the significance of meaningful participatory approaches. It sheds light on the challenges encountered due to COVID-19 restrictions, which prevented direct face-to-face engagement with community members. To address this issue, researchers devised “digital walking tours” as an alternative to traditional walking transect methods, aiming to investigate the relationship between place attachment and perceptions of the landscape in Patreksfjörður, a small fishing community in the Westfjords, during the pandemic. The evaluation of this method demonstrated its suitability for conducting comprehensive and cost-effective community consultations. Participants expressed enjoyment and found the technology (online video calls and StreetView imagery) user-friendly and engaging. To further enhance the method, several recommendations are proposed, including the integration of virtual tours with in-person methods whenever feasible, incorporating additional sensory input, adopting a slower pace, and offering more opportunities for participants to divert to personally significant locations. Other contextual considerations encompass the use of participants’ native language and the facilitation of digital walking tours with pairs or small groups of participants.