https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2016/webprogram/Paper74182.html
Monday, 11 July 2016: 00:00
Room: Dachgeschoss
Distributed Paper
One can view peoples’ perspectives of parks and protected areas along a
continuum ranging from anthropocentric to bio-centric. Those who fall
toward the anthropocentric end tend to view parks and protected areas as
places in which to recreate, while those on the bio-centric end of the
scale often see the same settings as places to be preserved; where human
recreation activities should not be allowed. Understanding this can be
related to how a person feels a setting should be managed; where we
often use zoning techniques in an attempt to meet the desired leisure
experiences of various users and user groups. What then are the drivers
of this anthropocentric or bio-centric paradigm? This discussion will
focus on the perceptions of people from three distinctly different
geographic regions; Austria-Germany, Brazil and the United States. Von
Ruschkowski et al. (2013) Burns, Arnberger, and von Ruschkowski (2010)
and Burns and Moreira (2013) suggested several reasons for these varying
viewpoints, which will be discussed during the session. A typology of
underlying sociological reasons will be discussed, based on empirical
research conducted by the presenters. Arnberger et al (2012) suggested
that peoples’ affinity toward parks and protected areas may be a
predictor of support for positive attitudes toward parks. The role of
national legislation and its impact on how people perceive parks should
be used will also be discussed. The overall discussion will be a
synthesis of a body of work that seeks to explain behavior from a social
and political perspective.
