Nature’s Contributions to People Shape Sense of Place in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia

Understanding the roots of a sense of place in farmlands is crucial for stopping rural exodus to urban areas. Farmers’ experiences related to their way of life, peace and quiet, rootedness, pleasure, and inspiration are fundamental components of a sense of place in farmlands. Here, we used the city...

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Main Authors: Murillo-López, Beatriz E., Castro Martínez, Antonio, Feijoo-Martínez, Alexander
Format: info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Language:English
Published: MDPI 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10835/13599
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author Murillo-López, Beatriz E.
Castro Martínez, Antonio
Feijoo-Martínez, Alexander
author_facet Murillo-López, Beatriz E.
Castro Martínez, Antonio
Feijoo-Martínez, Alexander
author_sort Murillo-López, Beatriz E.
collection DSpace
description Understanding the roots of a sense of place in farmlands is crucial for stopping rural exodus to urban areas. Farmers’ experiences related to their way of life, peace and quiet, rootedness, pleasure, and inspiration are fundamental components of a sense of place in farmlands. Here, we used the city of Pereira located in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC) to examine the role of nature’s contributions to people (NCP) in forming meanings and attachments that shape their sense of place to this region. This region has experienced intense agricultural lands abandonment due to rapid urbanization over the last decades. To do so, a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods was used, including semi-structured interviews, observation, and dialogue, to capture farmers’ perceptions and emotions associated with farmlands, reasons for remaining, and the diversity of NCPs. Results indicated that farmers recognized farmlands as a quiet and safe space that support family cohesion. Results also showed that the characteristics of the farms (e.g., agricultural practices, distance to cities, and gender) play an important role in articulating a farmer’s attachment to farmlands. Finally, farmers identified nonmaterial NCP (e.g., physical and psychological experiences and supportive identities) to be the most important contributions for shaping their sense of place. We call for the need to include robust and transparent deliberative and negotiation mechanisms that are inclusive of all relevant stakeholders, to aim to address unequal power, and to recognize and strengthen communities’ mechanisms of action on the CCLC.
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spelling oai:repositorio.ual.es:10835-135992023-04-12T19:00:35Z Nature’s Contributions to People Shape Sense of Place in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia Murillo-López, Beatriz E. Castro Martínez, Antonio Feijoo-Martínez, Alexander socioecological systems local identity rural abandonment agroecology world heritage site Understanding the roots of a sense of place in farmlands is crucial for stopping rural exodus to urban areas. Farmers’ experiences related to their way of life, peace and quiet, rootedness, pleasure, and inspiration are fundamental components of a sense of place in farmlands. Here, we used the city of Pereira located in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (CCLC) to examine the role of nature’s contributions to people (NCP) in forming meanings and attachments that shape their sense of place to this region. This region has experienced intense agricultural lands abandonment due to rapid urbanization over the last decades. To do so, a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods was used, including semi-structured interviews, observation, and dialogue, to capture farmers’ perceptions and emotions associated with farmlands, reasons for remaining, and the diversity of NCPs. Results indicated that farmers recognized farmlands as a quiet and safe space that support family cohesion. Results also showed that the characteristics of the farms (e.g., agricultural practices, distance to cities, and gender) play an important role in articulating a farmer’s attachment to farmlands. Finally, farmers identified nonmaterial NCP (e.g., physical and psychological experiences and supportive identities) to be the most important contributions for shaping their sense of place. We call for the need to include robust and transparent deliberative and negotiation mechanisms that are inclusive of all relevant stakeholders, to aim to address unequal power, and to recognize and strengthen communities’ mechanisms of action on the CCLC. 2022-04-07T17:55:43Z 2022-04-07T17:55:43Z 2022-03-24 info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2077-0472 http://hdl.handle.net/10835/13599 10.3390/agriculture12040457 en https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/4/457 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess MDPI
spellingShingle socioecological systems
local identity
rural abandonment
agroecology
world heritage site
Murillo-López, Beatriz E.
Castro Martínez, Antonio
Feijoo-Martínez, Alexander
Nature’s Contributions to People Shape Sense of Place in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
title Nature’s Contributions to People Shape Sense of Place in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
title_full Nature’s Contributions to People Shape Sense of Place in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
title_fullStr Nature’s Contributions to People Shape Sense of Place in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
title_full_unstemmed Nature’s Contributions to People Shape Sense of Place in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
title_short Nature’s Contributions to People Shape Sense of Place in the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia
title_sort nature’s contributions to people shape sense of place in the coffee cultural landscape of colombia
topic socioecological systems
local identity
rural abandonment
agroecology
world heritage site
url http://hdl.handle.net/10835/13599
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