ENCOURAGING STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT BY DEFINING, CREATING, AND SHARING A SENSE OF PLACE IN THE BELGRADE LAKES REGION OF CENTRAL MAINE

The History, Geology, and Sense of Place Team at Colby College is working with the NSF-EPSCoR Sustainability Solutions Initiative to define, create, and share a sense of place among stakeholders in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine. The region was shaped by the geological processes of continual uplift and glaciation. Glaciation had an especially important impact, as it formed the pond basins that would become the lakes. Currently, the magnificent landscape of the Belgrades includes beautiful freshwater lakes, majestic mountains, and, in the warmer months, lush vegetation. The glorious beauty draws people to the region. It is no mystery that the Belgrades contribute significantly to Maine’s reputation as Vacationland, the ultimate summer getaway from the stresses of modern living. There, people get wrapped up in the carefree splendor of listening to the calls of the loons, fishing, boating, and eating after-dinner ice cream cones against summer sunsets. The geology and topography of the Belgrades provide a backdrop for people to connect with each other and place.

Our team is part of a larger effort involving scientific and social scientific study of the lakes and support for the lake associations to develop and promote sustainable environmental solutions for the region and for the entire state and beyond. One of the main focuses of the project is knowledge-to-action, or encouraging people to act effectively once they are supplied with the proper knowledge. We have discovered that caring about place is one of the key links between knowledge and action. Geologists have a special perspective on place by knowing the forces that have shaped the landscape and influenced the flora and fauna of the area.

We have been engaging stakeholders by conducting oral history interviews and distributing sense of place questionnaires. In addition, we have presented sense of place to regional environmental groups as a component of community building and activism. These various modes of concept exploration, data collection, and presentation allow people to reflect on their own experiences and share them, a critical step in defining and creating a shared appreciation for a place. Learning about self, place, and the relationship between the two empowers people to serve, enrich, and protect their communities.