Restoring relationships: Water heritage, sense of place, and community engagement

Abstract

Widespread deindustrialization has changed the landscape and the character of many Michigan communities. In response to these often devastating changes, natural resources agencies have invested in restoration projects along Michigan waterfronts to facilitate a shift from an industrial past to new recreation and tourism development. The process of restoration and community rejuvenation is possible because, and depends upon, residents’ deep, often historical, connections with the water, which are in turn rooted in the ways water has been used, enjoyed, and stewarded in their communities, their water heritage. Understanding these nested relationships and the ways residents value the resource is an important component of effective restoration efforts. But conversations about values in natural resources decision-making intended to inform action require a mechanism for values prioritization and an environment of trust. We conducted two community engaged Office of Great Lakes (OGL)-funded studies that focus on Michigan residents’ care for and about the water resources. Both studies used a values ranking activity, a mixed methods approach to studying subjective viewpoints that provides insight into values priorities. In this paper we share the outcomes of both studies to illuminate how values ranking activities can foster stakeholder engagement, facilitate concrete discussions about restoration and natural resources values, and identify patterns in community attitudes about conservation. The analyses provide valuable insight into community dynamics and the potential for restoration success, as well as illuminate the role of sense of place in understanding individual and community values related to water resources.