Communities can be empowered by understanding 'emotional geography'

A national report launched in Parliament on putting culture at the heart of place-based development and renewal features a key article by Dr Tony Sampson from Essex Business School.

Produced by the Key Cities Innovation Network, ‘Culture, Place and Development’ is a collection of peer-reviewed papers reporting on innovative approaches to using culture to develop successful places which benefit their populations.

Developing ideas presented at the Key Cities Innovation Network Conference held at the end of last year, the report presents projects which have been selected not only for their local relevance but also their potential for replicating in other places.

Chair of Key Cities, Cllr John Merry, said: “If we want to build resilient, inclusive places, we need to start by recognising the culture already within them—and build from there.”

The Centre for Coastal Communities, based at the University of Essex, is a member of the Key Cities Network and Dr Sampson was joined by Centre Director Dr Emily Murray at the official launch.

Dr Sampson’s paper titled ‘Leveraging emotional geographies to boost community empowerment’ discusses strategies for connecting with local communities and ways to foster successful approaches.

Dr Sampson, who is an associate member of the Centre for Coastal Communities, said: “Emotional geography provides a powerful framework for understanding the relationships between people, spaces, and cultures. By acknowledging and leveraging these emotional dimensions, communities can deepen their engagement with heritage and culture, encouraging development that is inclusive, caring, and rooted in shared emotional experiences.”

In the introduction to the paper, Dr Sampson said: “The paper is structured around two proposed strategies. The first builds on existing academic literature to describe emotional geography concepts and methods. The objective has been to learn from this literature and the Cultural Engine Research  Group’s pilot studies to develop a research toolkit that leverages local engagement with heritage and culture to boost community development and empowerment. However, the success of this approach is contingent on structural issues of local governance.

“The second strategy therefore considers the advantages of what the Cultural Engine Research Group have termed an enhanced mezzolevel. In short, in response to current national government proposals for fewer and larger local authorities, the mezzolevel bridges a growing gap between macrolevel policy mechanisms and the microlevel needs of local communities.”

Read the full report here: Culture, Place and Development - Key Cities

Upcoming event

The ideas highlighted by the article by Dr Sampson will be put into action at the first Wild Essex Imaginarium Symposium: Re-enchanting the Essex Landscape in Times of Climate Crises organised by the Cultural Engine at Essex Business School on Saturday 27 September 2025.

Book a place or offer to contribute