10:45 AM - 12:15 PM
[HTT16-P04] Changes in awareness regarding the protection and utilization of natural scenic areas caused by the use of information and communication technologies
Keywords:natural park, information and communication technology, Cyberforest
The protection and utilization of natural scenic areas that are planned and implemented under the Natural Parks Act have been based on the premise that the related activities happen on site. However, with the recent spread of information and communication technologies (ICT) such as the Internet and social networking services (SNS), urban residents who live far from natural scenic areas can now see images and hear sounds from places they have never visited. This research aims to qualitatively grasp how urban residents’ awareness regarding the protection and utilization of unvisited natural scenic areas changes as the images and sounds of the natural environment become reconsidered as familiar natural resources.
We conducted action research in which urban residents who are experts in various fields, including science and art, viewed images and sounds of the natural environment and participated in workshop-like activities on the theme of the protection and utilization of natural scenic areas on the next generation. Specifically, such 10 experts were asked to speak, and their speeches and the question-and-answer sessions that followed were analyzed as follows. The data were first transcribed, two non-presenters independently summarized the content, and then they finalized the summaries by comparing and discussing each draft summary. Summarized items that were thought to be relevant to changes in urban residents’ awareness of the issues were interpreted and organized.
The following three main changes were found regarding awareness of the protection and utilization of natural scenic areas. The first was that the participants had an opportunity to consider topics on a different scale of time and space than they typically do in their daily lives. In particular, they commented that listening to the sounds of the forest in real time, not a recording, gave them a sense of being connected to the forest and made them more aware of the flow of time on the forest in their daily lives. The second point was that technology can be used to convey the time scale of the forest, which is longer than the human lifespan, to the next generation, as well as the way humans respond to it; such technology can serve an interpretive function in helping the general public, especially non-specialists, understand nature. While the above two points were positive, the third point was negative, pointing out the possibility of confusion if a participant has had little experience related to the place of the sounds heard remotely or that of feeling strange when listening to sounds that do not match the season.
We conducted action research in which urban residents who are experts in various fields, including science and art, viewed images and sounds of the natural environment and participated in workshop-like activities on the theme of the protection and utilization of natural scenic areas on the next generation. Specifically, such 10 experts were asked to speak, and their speeches and the question-and-answer sessions that followed were analyzed as follows. The data were first transcribed, two non-presenters independently summarized the content, and then they finalized the summaries by comparing and discussing each draft summary. Summarized items that were thought to be relevant to changes in urban residents’ awareness of the issues were interpreted and organized.
The following three main changes were found regarding awareness of the protection and utilization of natural scenic areas. The first was that the participants had an opportunity to consider topics on a different scale of time and space than they typically do in their daily lives. In particular, they commented that listening to the sounds of the forest in real time, not a recording, gave them a sense of being connected to the forest and made them more aware of the flow of time on the forest in their daily lives. The second point was that technology can be used to convey the time scale of the forest, which is longer than the human lifespan, to the next generation, as well as the way humans respond to it; such technology can serve an interpretive function in helping the general public, especially non-specialists, understand nature. While the above two points were positive, the third point was negative, pointing out the possibility of confusion if a participant has had little experience related to the place of the sounds heard remotely or that of feeling strange when listening to sounds that do not match the season.