Meaningful, special or recreational places? Different approaches to mapping sense of place for resilient river management

River landscapes are complex social-ecological systems and provide many benefits for people. A common challenge among river planners and managers is to consider people-place bonds potentially affected by river interventions, as these are often not included in monitoring and assessment frameworks. As such, there is a need for applying integrated methods and indicators for measuring place-based values, that enable the exchange of values, preferences and knowledge between the different actors involved (e.g. citizens and planners). In this presentation, I will compare different approaches to mapping sense of place (i.e. place meanings and place attachment) in river landscapes using case studies from Denmark, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and The Netherlands. The case studies were set in different geographical, institutional and management contexts, but had in common that they were multi-actor, collaborative research projects with the intent to use the collected data for planning or adaptive management. The case study analysis was guided by two main questions: (1) how is sense of place conceptualized and measured? and (2) how can the outcomes support and/or inform participatory processes? Our findings show that sense of place is conceptualized and measured in different ways and can be linked to different evaluative frameworks, i.e. to map places of recreational value, meaningful places, or in relation to different river intervention scenarios. The choice in concepts and methods depends strongly on the purpose of the study and needs to be consciously made in order to yield relevant sense of place outcomes for management, such as river planning or evaluating impacts of river interventions. Finally, we will give examples of how mapping sense of place can facilitate public involvement in monitoring and managing rivers, for example, through stimulating citizen initiatives, providing tangible information for discussion, and identifying specific needs or concerns of particular stakeholder groups.