Applying Storytelling as a Communicative Planning Tool for Understanding and Interpreting Environmental Values - Yazd Province, Iran

The aim of this research is to introduce storytelling as a communicative planning tool for understanding of environmental values and interpretation them into environmental planning principles and rules. Through some informal meetings, interviews and field observations, the memories, stories, and environmental narratives of people of Khormiz, Tangchenar, Sarve, Bahadoran villages located in Mehriz County of Yazd Province recalled. Then their underlying environmental values explored with the aid of themselves. Also the environmental friendly built forms, activities and behaviors which have denoted to those values explored. Based on these results, the residents of villages have been addressing the most compatibility and less disruptions’ of the land due to their strong system of values and well understanding of their environment. This has been led them to some creative and compatible developments to capture their hard climate conditions; some more known as Ghanaat and Yakhchal to some other daily friendly behaviors. This research revealed that storytelling could be used to join communities’ environmental values with urban planning choices and it may be set within organizational planning process.