QUALISCAPES - Assessing tipping points in Baukultur qualities

The pervasive effects of social and economic globalization processes have led to an unprecedented trivialisation of Baukultur, posing significant threats to people's sense of place. This gradual and often imperceptible process results in the alienation ofindividuals from their surroundings, contributing to massive social, physical, andmental health problems that lie outside of past experience. A low sense of place is known to lead to a loss of people’s ability to actively engage in the Baukultur processes, which in turn increases the vulnerability of Baukultur to globalization.Breaking this vicious circle calls for identifying tipping points in Baukultur qualities leading to a loss of sense of place, and promoting an active and co-creative Baukultur process to secure people’s stewardship for place and its associated services.The main aim of QUALISCAPES is thus to assess critical tipping points in Baukultur qualities as a basis for activating placemaking, i.e., an intentional change in the cultural landscape to create sense of place. To achieve this, we propose anunconventional, transdisciplinary approach that integrates design, land systemscience, cognitive-psychology, geography, and social science using advanced 3D digital technologies. Through empirical and experimental investigations, QUALISCAPES aims to (1) unravel established and new elements of Baukultur qualities crucial for fostering a sense of place, and (2) activate Baukultur to secure co-evolutionary processes between people and place to reduce vulnerability to global processes. Anchored in a set of demonstrators in Switzerland experiencing trivialisation of Baukultur, QUALISCAPES will have impact far beyond developing a new tool foractivating Baukultur processes. It aspires to promote novel ways of deliberative decision-making and governance, laying the ground for developing stewardship strategies by providing insights into the processes that link people's sense of place to their actions. Ultimately, QUALISCAPES aims to empower communities so that they can claim agency over their built environment, and support them in co-creating cultural landscapes of high Baukultur.