Everyone has personal stories of place and belonging, waiting to be remembered or revealed.

Finding your sense of place stories can help you make sense of the past or present, and can help you feel more connected to who and where you are. Let’s find yours.

Honed by decades of hands-on work with individuals, groups, and organizations across the country, this powerful framework of tools and practices can help you in your personal work, your professional work, your community and beyond.

“If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are.” Wendell Berry

Sense of Place and Story

  • Discover your sense of place stories.

  • Cultivate meaningful connections.

  • Increase caring and stewardship.

In this TEDx talk I share a story about using one of my core practices “Check your Earthmail” with some students in LaCross, WI. Hear what happens as they gather on the bow to share how they feel.


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The Philosophy

Sense of Place Consulting is grounded the philosophy that personal sense of place stories increase our capacity for connection, which leads to caring for and about places. As Stephen Jay Gould wrote “We cannot save what we do not love.”

When people make the shift from just visiting places or being an observer, to feeling like they belong in some way, they gain a meaningful connection or relationship with a place.

This shift happens through finding personal stories.

Stories create caring. Finding your sense of place and your stories opens the door to creativity, caring and stewardship.


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What is a Sense of Place?

Sense of Place can be a vague term and a broad concept with many different definitions.

I began working with this concept decades ago in college. Here’s the way I think about it: Your sense of place is as unique as you are. It comes from your unique combination of what you know (facts, knowledge, and information) plus your personal experiences (your memories, story, meaning.) It’s at this intersection between facts and feelings, that you find your sense of place.

Engaging in your own process of discovery is what helps you “make sense of place.” For this reason, a sense of place is by nature inclusive, because it’s something you do. It isn’t something that someone does for you, or gives to you.


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Why it matters

A personal connection to place can activate a sense of belonging which can help shift the way we think about places and the way we care for places.

In our fast paced world, many people live far from where they grew up, and may be unfamiliar with the layers of story that a place holds. They might not see how the stories of others are connected their own today. But sense of place connections can be cultivated no matter where you are.

Sharing stories with each other about what places mean to us can help us find our common ground, which many feel is missing in our communities today.

Developing sense of place stories helps both people and places thrive.


The Sense of Place and Story Framework

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Knowledge of Self:
Awareness, Reflection, Discovery

Knowledge of Place:
Exploration, Learning, Discovery

Meaning Making & Integration:
Ideas,Themes and Stories

Story Technique & Craft:
Communication, Expression Engagement

If you want to:

  • Open doors to learning, creativity, and well-being.

  • Awaken curiosity and a deeper connection to yourself and your surroundings.

  • Enrich your writing, your life, and your work.

  • Inspire others to find their sense of place.

  • Activate caring and stewardship.

This sense of place framework can take you on a journey to find your sense of place, belonging, and creativity.

If you are:

  • An individual looking for a meaningful creative journey to feel more like yourself again or polish your craft

  • An interpreter wanting to hone your skills and techniques

  • A site with visitor services wanting to boost engagement and create more updated offerings

  • A community or mission-based organization seeking effective ways to engage the public and connect people and place

  • In the tourism and hospitality industry wanting to invite more people to understand and appreciate your area

  • A business looking for a unique, proven-effective way to team-build and realign with what matters

This approach is for you.

Following this framework of tools and practices will lead you on a powerful journey of learning and transformation, which you can apply to your personal work or your professional development.

Curious to learn more? Get in touch!

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Erica’s Sense of Place framework can help you uncover, develop and share personal stories and ideas to use in your work or life. It includes proven tools and techniques that have been honed by working with people across the country. It is effective for people with all levels of experience and for deepening a connection to all kinds of places.

She offers training for interpreters and educators, and her sense of place writing and creativity classes for all levels of experience as well as keynotes and community engagement programs.