The need to ‘belong’: social connectedness and spatial attachment in Polar Eskimo settlements

Abstract

Climate and environmental change places a variety of different pressures on remote, indigenous Arctic communities. The sea ice is the platform on which the Inugguit culture of northwest Greenland is based and thus it is inevitable that its retreat will have implications for the indigenous notion of place and for the manner in which the Inugguit articulate their sense of belonging with respect to the natural environment. With the demise of storytelling, the traditional vehicle for knowledge transmission, and the squeeze on hunting by consumer society and the Greenland Self Rule imposed quota system, it is apparent that some younger people are now engaging with more western ontologies of place. The relationship between man and nature is for some beginning to be expressed in terms of detachment and not extension. Whilst the way the Inugguit relate to their immediate natural environment might be in flux, other social practices of belonging such as naming and visiting are unchanged and still characterise these communities. In northwest Greenland, the need to 'belong' remains the social imperative that it has always been and the mechanisms used to reinforce this remain intact.

A Narrative Literature Review Using Placemaking Theories to Unravel Student Social Connectedness in Hybrid University Learning Environments

“…Subsequently, 'sense of place' as a concept within placemaking is useful to apply [38]. Other concepts can also be considered, rather than 'sense of place', within placemaking and will also be indicated in the review to help extend understanding, but 'sense of place' offers a broad range of relations to place, including an identification to self (place identity), an attachment to place (place attachment), a sense of atmosphere (affective atmospheres), and also a feeling of disconnection, placelessness, or more-than-real [42,43]. By integrating a placemaking framework and the overarching concept of 'sense of place', this narrative literature review aims to help unravel the 3 proposed attributes of social connectedness from an innovative perspective.…”

“…Acton (2017) [21] X X Bilandzic and Johnson (2013) [57] X X Bøjer and Brøns (2022) [20] X X X Bülow (2022) [5] X X X Chayko (2014) [44] X Clarke and Koops (2017) [58] X Ellery and Ellery (2019) [38] X X Ellery et al (2021) [17] X X Ellison et al (2007) [53] X Eyal and Gil (2022) [1] X Foth (2017) [59] X X [29] X Goodyear (2020) [19] X X X Hesjedal (2022) [16] X James and Busher (2013) [30] X X Kohls et al (2022) [4] X X Kramer (2017) [13] X X X Larson (2021) [15] X X Lee et al (2011) [28] X Leonard (2014) [42] X Lischer et al (2020) [60] X X Lupton (2017) [61] X Marta (2019) [62] X X Mäkelä and Leininen (2021) [ Socialising has been examined in placemaking studies that fall outside the remit of the HULE. For example, links between placemaking and socialising are explored in a study of elderly people by Degnen [71] by looking at social memory, embodied knowledge, and the significance of the passage of time.…”

“…The relationship between place, and a need to belong, is outlined effectively in an earlier study of Inuit communities by Leonard [42]. The research is based on the Inuit, an indigenous Arctic community based in Northwest Greenland, and explores their sense of belonging through individuals' sense of social inclusion, interpersonal attachment, and relations with the natural environment through a 'sense of experience and phenomenology of locality' [42] (p. 138 from [77]). These concepts could be viewed as attributes to help measure a sense of belonging in the university student.…”

“…Identities to a certain group are made and reflected in the individual as a way of maintaining social acceptance and avoiding danger, as found in other research (for example, see [28,66]). This deep bond is intrinsically linked to the environment in both its physical and spiritual sense [42,66]. Recognising place as something beyond its physicality is a crucial aspect that this study illuminates through spirituality, which the HULE needs to address, as digital and physical spaces interact and either alter or maintain a student's sense of belonging [13,17].…”

Place-Related Concepts and Pro-Environmental Behavior in Tourism Research: A Conceptual Framework

“…Place is defined in various approaches by diverse factors (geographical attributes, social dimensions, physical characteristics, measurements, scales, etc.). Leonard [32] described a place as a combination of social and cultural interactions, a space or set of spaces that are assigned meanings through personal use and interaction [33], based on accumulated experiences in everyday life from where they play, work, and live [34]. In other words, a place can be defined as a space that holds meanings [35], known as a "meaningful location" [6].…”