Search Results (24)

This article explores the pedagogical potential of soundscapes as creative learning tools for advancing environmental education in Chilean primary schools. Drawing on the Soundlapse project, we designed and implemented a school workshop that combined activity sheets, an online bird-sound repository, structured soundwalks, and immersive audio concerts with teachers and students in Valdivia. The study employed a qualitative, participatory design, analyzing teacher interviews through reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: (1) listening as pedagogical practice, (2) learning through place and the senses, (3) creativity and cross-disciplinarity, and (4) implementation challenges and opportunities. Teachers emphasized the transformative role of attentive listening, which reconfigured classroom dynamics through shared silence and cultivated students’ capacity for self-regulation. Soundwalks and sensory encounters with local wetlands positioned the environment as a ‘living laboratory,’ fostering ecological awareness, attachment to place, and intergenerational knowledge. Creative activities such as sound mapping legitimized symbolic and artistic modes of representation, while interdisciplinary collaborations between science and music expanded curricular possibilities. At the same time, institutional rigidity and lack of resources highlighted the importance of teacher agency, co-designed materials, and flexible frameworks to sustain these practices. We argue that soundscape-based education offers a timely opportunity to integrate sensory, creative, and ecological dimensions into school curricula, aligning with national and international calls for interdisciplinary sustainability education. By treating listening and creativity as core rather than peripheral, such approaches may open new pathways for cultivating ecological awareness, cultural belonging, and pedagogical innovation. Full article

Passive acoustic monitoring is a key tool for studying underwater soundscapes and assessing anthropogenic impacts, yet the high cost of hydrophones limits large-scale deployment and citizen science participation. We present the design, construction, and field evaluation of a low-cost hydrophone unit integrated into an acoustic toolkit. The hydrophone, built from off-the-shelf components at a cost of ~20 €, was paired with a commercially available handheld recorder, resulting in a complete system priced at ~50 €. Four field experiments in Greek coastal waters validated hydrophone performance across a marine-protected area, commercial port, aquaculture site, and coastal reef. Recordings were compared with those from a calibrated scientific hydrophone (SNAP, Loggerhead Instruments). Results showed that the low-cost hydrophones were mechanically robust and consistently detected most anthropogenic sounds also identified by the reference instrument, though their performance was poor at low frequencies (<200 Hz) and susceptible to mid-frequency (3 kHz) resonance issues. Despite these constraints, the toolkit demonstrates potential for large-scale, low-budget passive acoustic monitoring and outreach applications, offering a scalable solution for citizen scientists, educational programs, and research groups with limited resources. Full article

Ensuring a sustainable and healthy human environment in university dormitories is essential for students’ learning, living, and overall health and well-being. To address this need, we carried out a series of systematic field measurements of the noise levels at 30 dormitories in three representative major urban universities in a major provincial capital city in China and designed and implemented a comprehensive questionnaire and surveyed 1005 students about their perceptions of their acoustic environment. We proposed and applied a sustainability–health-oriented, multidimensional assessment framework to assess the acoustic environment of the dormitories and student responses to natural sound, technological sounds, and human-made sounds. Using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach combined with the field measurements and student surveys, we identified three categories and six factors on student health and well-being for assessing the acoustic environment of university dormitories. The field data indicated that noise levels at most of the measurement points exceeded the recommended or regulatory thresholds. Higher noise impacts were observed in early mornings and evenings, primarily due to traffic noise and indoor activities. Natural sounds (e.g., wind, birdsong, water flow) were highly valued by students for their positive effect on the students’ pleasantness and satisfaction. Conversely, human and technological sounds (traffic noise, construction noise, and indoor noise from student activities) were deemed highly disturbing. Gender differences were evident in the assessment of the acoustic environment, with male students generally reporting higher levels of the pleasantness and preference for natural sounds compared to female students. Educational backgrounds showed no significant influence on sound perceptions. The findings highlight the need for providing actionable guidelines for dormitory ecological design, such as integrating vertical greening in dormitory design, water features, and biodiversity planting to introduce natural soundscapes, in parallel with developing campus activity standards and lifestyle during noise-sensitive periods. The multidimensional assessment framework will drive a sustainable human–ecology–sound symbiosis in university dormitories, and the category and factor scales to be employed and actions to improve the level of student health and well-being, thus, providing a reference for both research and practice for sustainable cities and communities. Full article

Sustainability has gained significant importance in today’s educational context due to growing environmental concerns. This highlights the need to address this concept in teacher education so that future educators are equipped to help students develop competencies in this area. This study explores the use of soundscapes in environmental education, focusing on exploratory listening in relation to natural and urban sounds within the context of sustainability. The study examined the ability of 151 pre-service teachers (62 in music education and 89 in general education) to identify, characterize, and respond emotionally to these sounds. The methodology included an ad hoc task based on Schafer’s principles to identify sound elements, the PANAS questionnaire to assess emotional states before the listening activity, and a questionnaire to evaluate the emotions experienced during the task. The results indicate limited competence in characterizing sound elements, with music education students performing better than their general education peers. Furthermore, natural environments were associated with positive emotions, while urban environments elicited negative feelings, with no significant differences between the two groups. These findings underscore the importance of integrating soundscape awareness into university curricula to promote greater environmental consciousness and emotional well-being. Full article

This paper explores the application of a specialized end-to-end framework, crafted to study historical soundscapes, with a specific focus on 18th-century Naples. The framework combines historical research, natural language processing, architectural acoustics, and virtual acoustic modelling to achieve historically accurate and physically based soundscape reconstructions. Central to this study is the development of a Historically Informed Soundscape (HIS) map, which concentrates on the urban spaces of Largo di Palazzo and Via Toledo in Naples. Using virtual and audio-augmented reality, the HIS map provides 3D spatialized audio, offering an immersive experience of the acoustic environment of 18th-century Naples. This interdisciplinary approach not only contributes to the field of sound studies but also represents a significant methodological innovation in the analysis and interpretation of historical urban soundscapes. By incorporating historical maps as interactive graphical user interfaces, the project fosters a dynamic, multisensory engagement with the past, offering a valuable tool for scholars, educators, and the public to explore and understand historical sensory environments. Full article

This study explores the impact of soundscapes on the emotional and academic experiences of preservice teachers enrolled in music education courses within an elementary education degree program. It focuses on the framework of critical music education and future teachers’ reflections on soundscapes, emphasizing the importance of fostering awareness of the acoustic environment. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, including a quasi-experimental design and group discussions, to assess the emotional and cognitive effects of listening to natural versus urban soundscapes among preservice teachers (n = 89). The results indicate that listening to natural soundscapes significantly increases positive emotions and reduces negative emotions, while urban soundscapes have the opposite effect. Group discussions revealed that university campus soundscapes, often dominated by traffic and construction noise, negatively impacts students’ socialization, relaxation, and concentration, potentially affecting their academic performance. The study suggests incorporating soundscape awareness and critical listening into music education programs to foster both environmental and social awareness among students and to support the development of critical consciousness in future educators and citizens. Full article

Transmodality—the process of transforming a text or section of a text into another mode or modes—enables readers to engage deeply and imaginatively with literature through interpretation and response. It is a valuable pedagogical approach in initial teacher education, where pre-service teachers are developing dispositions towards reading and cultivating knowledge of literature. In this article, two case studies are presented of undergraduate and post-graduate courses that aimed to engage pre-service teachers with children’s literature by asking them to respond to texts through embodied and multimodal modes. The work is underpinned by theories that highlight the role of semiotic modes in reading and writing, with a focus on the gestural, spatial, and auditory modes. The first case study examines the ways in which gesture and space worked to create multimodal ensembles that communicate and make meaning. The second case study considers pre-service teachers engaged in transferring meaning across linguistic and aural modes as they read a classic literary text and composed a soundscape. In both cases, we consider how mode-switching developed and demonstrated pre-service teachers’ aesthetic, cognitive, and affective engagement as part of their embodied experience with literary texts. This research has implications for the way teachers and teacher educators can inspire engagement with children’s literature through embodied and multimodal ways in English curriculum contexts and initial English teacher education. Full article

This study investigates visitor soundscape perceptions in Queulat National Park (QNP), Chile, to inform biodiversity conservation strategies amid rising anthropogenic pressures. By analyzing responses at two sites—Lagoon and Overlook—during peak tourist periods, this research examines how visitor experiences align with protected area management goals. A one-minute listening exercise was followed up by a survey to gather data on perceived sounds and their appeal. The results highlight the importance of involving visitors in monitoring acoustic environments, providing managers with insights into visitor-perceived soundscape dynamics. Unique QNP ecosystem characteristics emerged, with visitors identifying anthrophonic sounds as problematic, especially at the Lagoon site. Perceptions aligned with management concerns about noise impacts from congestion, showing visitors can discern when soundscapes diverge from protected area objectives. These findings underscore the need to integrate visitor engagement into acoustic monitoring to enhance biodiversity conservation. This study advocates ongoing sound level monitoring, protective policies, and tools derived from visitor input. It promotes protected areas as educational venues in order to deepen connections with local environments through sound recognition and calls for signage to inform visitors about noise impacts. Future research should continue to explore these strategies and the potential of visitor soundscape perceptions to reshape conservation strategies and support biodiversity preservation. Full article

In the area of dental healthcare services, where patients and professionals deal with multiple auditory stimuli, this cross-sectional study reports on the various dynamics of sound preferences, noise obstacles, and the profound impact of music on anxiety reduction within dental office settings. The sample comprises 134 dental patients, primarily females (56.7%), with varying age groups, education levels, and therapy durations in the university clinics of the Department of Dentistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and four private dental offices at the metropolitan area of Athens, Greece. Notably, 92.5% of the participants reported no hearing loss, and 56.7% exhibited some level of noise sensitivity. This study reveals a moderate to good perceived health status (M = 3.84, SD = 0.95) among participants, with low perceived noise disturbance in university dental clinics. Preferences for instrumental music, foreign pop, and classical music are prominent during waiting times. Potential irritations include impersonal treatment (44%) and staff behavior (41.8%). Correlations and predictors indicate associations between age, gender, educational status, music preferences, and noise disturbances. Findings aim to optimize eco-soundscapes in dental offices, contributing to enhanced patient well-being. The research underscores the potential of music interventions to alleviate dental anxiety and improve the overall dental experience and quality care. Full article

This paper provides a reflective review of an architectural design studio that utilized both social architecture and soundscape approaches to create human-centered and context-based designs for urban public spaces. During field research, students in the studio analyzed four different public spaces in Marina Central BID, Singapore, employing a combination of social architecture (behavioral trace and activity mapping) and soundscape (acoustic measurement and soundwalk) methods. Through this process, the students identified issues related to social architecture and soundscapes and developed soundscape design strategies to improve the quality of the public spaces. The soundscape design strategies were categorized into three groups: the introduction of desirable sounds, the reinforcement of desired sounds, and the reduction in unwanted sounds. This paper shows that the integration of social architecture into soundscape design education enables students to better comprehend the social–behavioral aspects of the environment and create more comprehensive and enjoyable public soundscapes. Full article

Within the MARCET European project and community framework, a Waveglider^®™ SV2 vehicle was deployed, equipped with a passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) device, in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). The soundscape was continuously recorded from 23 July 2018 until 30 July 2018 and was primarily used for marine mammal sound detection. This study aims to compare these automatically embedded detections from the Waveglider^®™ with human expert detections. Furthermore, it provides an assessment of the performance of the automatic detector and discusses the use of this type of technology to monitor wildlife, particularly cetaceans. The MARCET project and this study are only possible due to the multidisciplinary integration of veterinary sciences, ecological, zoological, and biological knowledge and mechanical, communication, and electronics engineering. It represents an excellent example of new technologies, capacities, skills, and cutting-edge knowledge where veterinary science education and training should progressively be involved to contribute to the surveillance and control of ocean health. Full article

Against the backdrop of the global aging trend, the proportion of the elderly population is severely increasing in the urban areas of underdeveloped regions. Despite evidence that urban forest parks are effective at enhancing the physical and mental well-being of the elderly, little has been done to investigate the connection between urban forest parks and the elderly in underdeveloped regions, and landscape studies in particular are lacking. This study attempted to address this gap, using a subjective evaluation method in which 725 elderly respondents were engaged in a questionnaire survey on their soundscape preferences in the urban forest parks of an underdeveloped city in China. The results revealed the elderly people’s preferences for soundscapes, and a further analysis demonstrated the relationships between these preferences and landscape features. The effects of personal traits and living situations on soundscape preferences were determined by analyzing the impacts of living conditions, occupation, and education on soundscape preferences. By building a model with regression coefficients, the most powerful factors influencing soundscape choice were investigated. It was found that (1) the types of sound sources preferred by the elderly, in descending order, were natural sound, livestock sound, bird song, musical sound, other sounds. (2) The differences among education, occupation, and age all affected the participants’ soundscape preferences, i.e., the mean values of the soundscape preferences among older adults varied with education, occupation, and age. The mean value of soundscape preference was higher among older adults who had received higher education, were government officials and business managers, and belonged to higher age groups. (3) Among the various factors influencing the soundscape preference of the elderly, the most influential factors were the length of time spent in the waterfront environment, the time spent in the forest park, and the importance of road signs. (4) The preference for soundscapes was strongly connected with happiness in life. (5) Wearing a mask significantly reduced soundscape perception scores under epidemic conditions, while vaccinated individuals were more tolerant of various noises. Recommendations for landscape design to improve the soundscape perception of elderly people are accordingly provided. Full article

The soundscape was used as the basis of the research carried out by the Teaching Faculty of the Universitat de València Spain. The research focused on two aspects: (i) study the relationship between environmental sounds and emotions as a base to promote environmental awareness; and (ii) analyze the usefulness as an educational resource for the development of social and environmental competences of teachers in training. Thus, a didactic sequence was designed using 360º virtual recordings of natural and human landscapes in which participants described sound and visual elements that they associated with a range of emotions. Moreover, participants identified environmental problems and reflected on the usefulness of the sound and visual landscape in the acquisition of social and environmental competences. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this study and 327 teachers participated in the training. The findings show the observation of sound and visual elements can facilitate the understanding of environmental problems. The natural soundscape was associated with positive emotions, while more industrial or urban landscapes were associated with negative emotions. This can affect on people’s well-being. Moreover, the participants had a good perception of the development of their social and environmental competences, and considered that the activity promoted the transfer of knowledge and developed argumentative and critical capacities. This approach offers the opportunity to create learning environments contextualized in the landscape that facilitate the connection of scientific and artistic disciplines from an experiential perspective. It is essential to continue studying and implementing educational strategies that promote the integration of theory and practice. Full article

Soundscapes are one of the main means of creating a religious atmosphere in Han Chinese Buddhist temples, which are the most important religious sites in China. This paper selected several representative forest-type and urban-type Han Chinese Buddhist temples and employed a questionnaire and sound level measurement methods to conduct a comparative analysis of four aspects of acoustic environment evaluation, i.e., quietness, comfort, harmony, and sound preference, to identify and compare the characteristics of respondents’ soundscape evaluation in these two types of temples. The results showed that compared with urban-type temples, respondents found the acoustic environment in forest-type temples to be quieter, more comfortable and more harmonious with the religious atmosphere. The sound level, measured with the questionnaire and respondents’ social characteristics, such as age, occupation, level of education, purpose and frequency of visiting the temples, and attitude towards Buddhist thought, influenced their soundscape evaluation of urban-type and forest-type temples to different degrees. Among the various kinds of sounds in the temple, natural sounds, such as the sounds of flowing water, birds and insects, and rustling leaves, were preferred in forest-type temples, while Buddhism-related human-made sounds, including chanting and background music, were preferred in urban-type temples. Full article

The acoustic environment has been pointed out as a possible distractor during student activities in the online academic modality; however, it has not been specifically studied, nor has it been studied in relation to parameters frequently used in academic-quality evaluations. The objective of this study is to characterize the acoustic environment and relate it to students’ satisfaction with the online learning modality. For that, three artificial neural networks were calculated, using as target variables the students’ satisfaction and the noise interference with autonomous and synchronous activities, using acoustic variables as predictors. The data were obtained during the COVID-19 lockdown, through an online survey addressed to the students of the Universidad de Las Américas (Quito, Ecuador). Results show that the noise interference with comprehensive reading or with making exams and that the frequency of noises, which made the students lose track of the lesson, were relevant factors for students’ satisfaction. The perceived loudness also had a remarkable influence on engaging in autonomous and synchronous activities. The performance of the models on students’ satisfaction and on the noise interference with autonomous and synchronous activities was satisfactory given that it was built only with acoustic variables, with correlation coefficients of 0.567, 0.853, and 0.865, respectively. Full article