Abstract
To address “wicked problems” that threaten the good ecological status of the Baltic Sea such as climate change with diverse stakeholder values and complex solutions, new interdisciplinary knowledge that incorporates citizen science is urgently needed. This paper scrutinizes environmental heritage in the Baltic Sea region by exploring what it means to persons living in the Baltic Sea environment. It asks the question, what is environmental heritage? It uses a qualitative research method using both texts and photographs—collected in an open competition—to consider humanistic viewpoints of persons living in the changing climate in the Baltic Sea Region. A thematic content analysis was utilized to identify emerging themes in the text and visual inquiry was used to decipher what meanings related to environmental change were conveyed in submitted the photographs. Some of the findings include that environmental heritage is perceived as experiences of living and interacting with the Sea and other non-human actors like animals, but also as material objects in the environment such as sustainable architecture. It also found that environmental heritage is articulated as a source of conflict, between users and uses and the traditional and new ways of life. Resolution of this conflict is important in guiding effective solutions to the challenge of climate change. It is thus important to develop interdisciplinary methods that facilitate the merging of different knowledge systems in order to generate effective solutions.
Highlights
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
This paper scrutinizes environmental heritage in the Baltic Sea region by exploring what it means to persons living in the Baltic Sea environment
What is environmental heritage? It uses a qualitative research method using both texts and photographs—collected in an open competition—to consider humanistic viewpoints of persons living in the changing climate in the Baltic Sea Region
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. According to Burke [14], knowledge of environmental changes can benefit from studying the experiences of people in their environment during these changes, exploring their perceptions and adaptations This is where citizen science plays a role and is the point of departure in this study of perceptions of environmental heritage in the Baltic Sea Region. This paper scrutinizes environmental heritage in the Baltic Sea region by exploring what it means to persons living and working in the Baltic Sea environment. This article is based on a case study of the Living with the Baltic Sea in a changing Climate—Environmental heritage and the circulation of knowledge (SeaHer)—project of the Academy of Finland (2018–2022) [15] In this project has practical and methodological objectives, which are closely linked to each other. The very understanding of the words, terms, and concepts that reside at the heart of academic endeavors is challenged. one key question of the project is what is meant by the words “the heritage” and “the environment.” When these concepts are used together, does the new phrase describe more than these almost effete words as they are?
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