Bioregionalism advocates the use of `natural' units rather than administrative units for the delivery\ud
of landscape management, planning and decision making. Over the past decade` bioregional'\ud
frameworks have been developed as a means of delivering landscape policy in an integrated\ud
manner, across the wider countryside in the United Kingdom. Important within bioregionalism is\ud
the hybrid relationship between people, place and non-human nature. This thesis acknowledges this\ud
relationship and investigates the concept of a sense of place in a UK bioregional context.\ud
Two types of bioregions were used as the basis for this study: Natural Areas and river catchments.\ud
Using evidence from document analysis, interviews and focus groups, I examined the way in which\ud
participants related to the bioregion in which they live. The evidence analysed suggests that a sense\ud
of place is more than just a concept and occurs at a range of different spatial scales. This sense of\ud
place is complex and integral to the relationship between people and non-human nature, with non-human\ud
nature being an important factor in how people relate to place.\ud
I concluded that although bioregional frameworks are a relatively recent development within the\ud
UK, participants could relate to these units and had a sense of attachment or sense of place in\ud
relation to these frameworks. A sense of place was important to the participants within this research\ud
and there is the potential to utilise this in relation to working at a wider and more integrated level\ud
with the planning, management and conservation of the UK landscape