TY - JOUR

T1 - Perceived contributions of multifunctional landscapes to human well-being: Evidence from 13 European sites

AU - Fagerholm, Nora

AU - Martín-López, Berta

AU - Torralba, Mario

AU - Oteros-Rozas, Elisa

AU - Lechner, Alex M.

AU - Bieling, Claudia

AU - Stahl Olafsson, Anton

AU - Albert, Christian

AU - Raymond, Christopher M.

AU - Garcia-Martin, Maria

AU - Gulsrud, Natalie

AU - Plieninger, Tobias

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Authors. People and Nature published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society

PY - 2020/3/1

Y1 - 2020/3/1

N2 - Multifunctional landscapes provide critical benefits and are essential for human well-being. The relationship between multifunctional landscapes and well-being has mostly been studied using ecosystem services as a linkage. However, there is a challenge of concretizing what human well-being exactly is and how it can be measured, particularly in relation to ecosystem services, landscape values and related discussions. In this paper, we measure self-reported well-being through applying an inductive free-listing approach to the exploration of the relationships between landscape multifunctionality and human well-being across 13 rural and peri-urban sites in Europe. We developed a face-to-face online survey (n = 2,301 respondents) integrating subjective perceptions of well-being (free-listing method) with mapping perceived ecosystem service benefits (Public Participation GIS, PPGIS approach). Applying content analysis and diverse statistical methods, we explore the links between well-being (i.e. perceived well-being items such as tranquillity, social relations and health) and social-ecological properties (i.e. respondents' sociocultural characteristics and perception of ecosystem service benefits). We identify 40 different well-being items highlighting prominently landscape values. The items form five distinct clusters: access to services; tranquillity and social capital; health and nature; cultural landscapes; and place attachment. Each cluster is related to specific study sites and explained by certain social-ecological properties. Results of our inductive approach further specify pre-defined conceptualizations on well-being and their connections to the natural environment. Results suggest that the well-being contributions of multifunctional landscapes are connected to therapeutic well-being effects, which are largely neglected in the ecosystem services literature. Our results further point to the context-specific character of linkages between landscapes and human well-being. The clusters highlight that landscape-supported well-being is related to multiple interlinked items that can inform collective visions of well-being in the future. For landscape planning and management, we highlight the need for place-specific analysis and consideration of perceptions of local people to identify the contributions to their well-being. Future research would benefit from considering the experiential qualities of value and well-being as they relate to direct experiences with the landscape and wider psychological needs, specifically over time. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

AB - Multifunctional landscapes provide critical benefits and are essential for human well-being. The relationship between multifunctional landscapes and well-being has mostly been studied using ecosystem services as a linkage. However, there is a challenge of concretizing what human well-being exactly is and how it can be measured, particularly in relation to ecosystem services, landscape values and related discussions. In this paper, we measure self-reported well-being through applying an inductive free-listing approach to the exploration of the relationships between landscape multifunctionality and human well-being across 13 rural and peri-urban sites in Europe. We developed a face-to-face online survey (n = 2,301 respondents) integrating subjective perceptions of well-being (free-listing method) with mapping perceived ecosystem service benefits (Public Participation GIS, PPGIS approach). Applying content analysis and diverse statistical methods, we explore the links between well-being (i.e. perceived well-being items such as tranquillity, social relations and health) and social-ecological properties (i.e. respondents' sociocultural characteristics and perception of ecosystem service benefits). We identify 40 different well-being items highlighting prominently landscape values. The items form five distinct clusters: access to services; tranquillity and social capital; health and nature; cultural landscapes; and place attachment. Each cluster is related to specific study sites and explained by certain social-ecological properties. Results of our inductive approach further specify pre-defined conceptualizations on well-being and their connections to the natural environment. Results suggest that the well-being contributions of multifunctional landscapes are connected to therapeutic well-being effects, which are largely neglected in the ecosystem services literature. Our results further point to the context-specific character of linkages between landscapes and human well-being. The clusters highlight that landscape-supported well-being is related to multiple interlinked items that can inform collective visions of well-being in the future. For landscape planning and management, we highlight the need for place-specific analysis and consideration of perceptions of local people to identify the contributions to their well-being. Future research would benefit from considering the experiential qualities of value and well-being as they relate to direct experiences with the landscape and wider psychological needs, specifically over time. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

KW - ecosystem services

KW - free listing

KW - human well-being

KW - landscape planning

KW - multifunctional landscapes

KW - PPGIS

KW - quality of life

KW - self-reported well-being

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - Environmental planning

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088936421&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/1fc70eb9-b638-3aaa-b02d-5159ae3b44ab/

U2 - 10.1002/pan3.10067

DO - 10.1002/pan3.10067

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 2

SP - 217

EP - 234

JO - People and Nature

JF - People and Nature

SN - 2575-8314

IS - 1

ER -