Got Nature? Blog

This Community Soundscape Planning Guide is to be used by communities in the United States and other places, to focus land use planning within the context of the sonic spaces of built and natural areas locally.

This guide focuses on:
– Learning the Basics: helping planners understand what a soundscape is and what is noise
– Impacts of Noise on People and Wildlife: summarizes what is known about how sound affects people and wildlife
– Soundscape Workbook: allowing individual planners or community groups to work through major issues related to natural and cultural soundscapes and the occurrence of noise in their community
– Planning Tools and Resources: which describes tools already in existence and new tools such as an app and online mapping system developed at Purdue University.

This planning guide is also associated with several Purdue Extension projects that are underway and which can be offered to communities. This includes the online GIS-based tool called Tipping Point Planner.

Resources
Center for Global Soundscapes, Purdue University
Soundscape Ecology Research Projects, Purdue University
Record the Earth, APP
Your Ecosystem Listening Labs (YELLS): The Science of Soundscape Ecology Instructor’s Guide, Grades 5-8, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Tipping Point Planner Website, Purdue University
Tipping Point Planner, The Education Store

Bryan Pijanowski, Professor of Landscape and Soundscape Ecology
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Kara Salazar, Assistant Program Leader and Extension Specialist for Sustainable Communities
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Dan Walker, Community Planning Extension Specialist
Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources