Paper short abstract:

Attachment to places and events has got too little attention in regional identity research. Identity is constructed personally in a process where historical consciousness plays a central role. This paper researches home experience in Finnish Järviseutu Region using geographic information system.

Paper long abstract:

The data consist of a sampling (N=117) made by the use of geographic information system (SoftGIS questionnaire) over the net and a series of group discussions which took place in Finnish Järviseutu in 2016.

Home is studied in its broader meaning of Heimat, as a question of belonging somewhere. How do the inhabitants of Järviseutu area see their homely sites and landscapes? What are the key factors and deeper structures of their home in historical and geographical perspectives? The experiential theory of home serves as a theoretical framework for the study. It provides that every person has a specific, unique perception of home that has been built and is continually being built from personal experiences. Home is a personal relation to both history and geography at the same time. In short, home as Heimat means the totality of the things among which an individual feels at home. The general view of the region as home will be outlined by way of the key factors indicated by the inhabitants themselves and by the deeper historical and geographical structures sketched by researchers. The data will be analyzed in three parts. The main emphasis will be firstly on the natural environment, secondly on the built environment, and finally on the social and mental environments of home.