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Ecocultural networks as grounds for spatial planning. A psychosocial approach applied to coastal development

Miguel Ángel Gandarillas (Psicología Social, del Trabajo y Diferencial, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain)
Michael K. McCall (Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico, Mexico)

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development

ISSN: 2044-1266

Article publication date: 15 July 2021

Issue publication date: 12 January 2023

187

Abstract

Purpose

This work critiques the situation of the ecological and cultural heritage in many coastal territories and analyses how current land planning methodologies are responding to it. The study builds a new integrated approach founded on ecocultural values and local knowledge as resources for an effective territorial planning and sustainable development.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed framework was developed through: (1) analysing coastal planning needs and problems in European coastal areas; (2) identifying ecocultural values, including local knowledge, in such areas; (3) selecting best approaches and tools in spatial planning; (4) applying the selected planning approaches to use ecocultural values as resources for spatial planning and sustainable development; and (5) validating the final methodology.

Findings

A dynamic approach for maritime-land planning was developed projecting coastal waters and river basins as strategic drivers for sustainable development, based on the natural capacity of water to shape and integrate the ecological and cultural territory. A participatory governance planning methodology supports the new articulations of space based on ecocultural value chains and networks as synergistic vectors, focusing on local knowledge as psychosocial capital for a collective mapping of cultural, historical, social, economic and ecological values into ecocultural littoral plans.

Originality/value

The results show the potentials of combining new approaches applying cultural and ecological heritage into an effective strategy of integration between society and territory as a powerful driver for effective sustainable planning and development.

Keywords

Citation

Gandarillas, M.Á. and McCall, M.K. (2023), "Ecocultural networks as grounds for spatial planning. A psychosocial approach applied to coastal development", Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 108-122. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-01-2021-0008

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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