Aspley Woods and Heaths' (England)
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CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY HELEN KING PEOPLE IN NATURE AND NATURE IN PEOPLE: A CONSTRUCTIVIST EXPLORATION OF ECOSYSTEM CULTURAL SERVICES PhD Thesis Academic Year 2011 – 2012 Supervised by Dr. Paul Burgess CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF APPLIED SCIENCES Centre for Environmental Risks and Futures PhD Thesis Academic Year 2011 – 2012 HELEN PAULA KING People in nature and nature in people: a constructivist exploration of ecosystem cultural services Supervisor: Dr. Paul Burgess Submitted 31.05.2012 This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD © Cranfield University 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright owner. i ABSTRACT The ecosystem services approach is a set of institutional practices which aim to improve natural resource management and policy making, by highlighting the relationship between well-functioning ecosystems and human wellbeing. Within the approach, cultural services (CS) signify the psycho-social aspects of people-nature interrelations. This concept is an understudied area, and is recognised to exhibit high levels of complexity which make it difficult to evaluate. This thesis deconstructs, explores, clarifies and enhances the CS concept. A flexible, phased research design explores cultural services in relation to a specific case-study site, 'Aspley Woods and Heaths' (England). Cultural services are examined through a series of lenses: as an interdisciplinary construct, as an experience of place, as context, as a resource regime, as a discursive resource and as a personal discourse. Mixed qualitative methods identify how CS is constructed through action, speech and text; via an in depth analysis of primary data from semi-structured visitor and expert interviews, unstructured key informant interviews, and marginal participant observation. Additional data informs the enquiry, from a discourse analysis of key study site documents, and a review of site-related historic, ecological, land management, and policy documents. Results from this thesis subsequently challenge the current published definition and subcategorisation of cultural services. The notion that cultural services are nonmaterial is disputed due to the centrality of physical activities, physical sensations, and access management regimes which require material inputs. The benefits premise is challenged since CS experiences included references to anxiety, injury and conflict. The notion that CS are obtained is disputed due to the reciprocal nature of information exchange between people and features of the environment. The idea that CS are solely from ecosystems is challenged due to the part played by interpretative socio- cultural contexts, and natural and social processes which occur outside site boundaries and specified time frames. Instead, this thesis recommends that cultural services be redefined as the ways that humans use discourse to construct and communicate perceptions of nature. CS arise from processes of interaction (activities) and reciprocal information exchange (information functions) with ecosystems. CS subcategories are hence a series of cognitive, retrospective, intuitive, creative, communicative and regenerative interpretative repertoires, which form the basis of social practices such as designation, restoration and policy. The propensity of environments to embody discourse is concluded to be crucial in defining what is valuable about natural ecosystems, and how these contribute to wellbeing. Keywords: social, psychological, qualitative, discourse, environment, wellbeing Cranfield University Helen King, 2012 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my fantastic supervisor Dr Paul Burgess, for his optimism, stability and open mindedness throughout the study. Thanks also to my associate supervisor Dr Paul Trawick and personal tutor Dr Sean Tyrrel, for their well-timed advice and encouragement. I am grateful to Dr Matt Cook for initiating the study and early supervision, and to Professor Richard Carter for supervision and continuing friendship. I would like to extend my appreciation to Professor Mark Kibblewhite, Eileen Lewis and Caroline Finil in regards to funding support. This study was made possible through bursary support from Cranfield University School of Applied Sciences. I am grateful to all who took part in the research, particularly: The Bedford Estate, Central Bedfordshire Council, The Greensand Trust, and all interview participants. Thanks to my proof readers, Susan Hacon and Greg King, my confidantes Lauren King and Nancy, and to all family and friends who helped me to keep the different aspects of my life in balance throughout this process. My heartfelt appreciation goes to Mike Dove for his clarity, support, and ability to always make me smile. This PhD thesis is dedicated to my wonderful children Amiel and Ella-Rose, my brightest inspiration. I hope you all like the thesis. Cranfield University Helen King, 2012 iv Oh nature ! Woods, winds, music, vallies, hills, And gushing brooks, in you there is a voice Of potency, an utterance which instils Light, life, and freshness, bidding Man rejoice As with a spirit's transport : from the noise, The hum of busy towns, to you I fly; Ye were my earliest nurses, my first choice, Let me not idly hope nor vainly sigh; Whisper once more of peace- joys- years long vanished by ! Excerpt from ‘Aspley Wood’ by J.H. Wiffen, 1820 Cranfield University Helen King, 2012 v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................................................i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF PLATES ................................................................................................................ xvi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... xviii 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 2 Literature review .................................................................................................... 11 3 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 37 4 Cultural service as social construct ........................................................................ 81 5 Cultural service as interdisciplinary construct ..................................................... 101 6 Cultural service as experience of place ................................................................ 113 7 Cultural service as context ................................................................................... 177 8 Cultural service as resource regime ..................................................................... 209 9 Cultural service as discursive resource ................................................................. 241 10 Cultural service as personal discourse ................................................................. 271 11 Synthesis ............................................................................................................... 353 12 Implications for Policy and further research ........................................................ 377 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 381 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................. 413 Cranfield University Helen King, 2012 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................................................i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... xiii LIST OF PLATES ................................................................................................................ xvi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... xviii 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Rationale ............................................................................................................ 2 1.2 People in nature and nature in people .............................................................. 3 1.3 An exploration.................................................................................................... 3 1.4 A constructivist perspective ............................................................................... 4 1.5 The case-study site: Aspley Woods and Heaths ................................................ 4 1.6 Overview of the thesis ......................................................................................