In 1975, five European villages were visited by a group of Canadian soundscape researchers and members of the World Soundscape Project (WSP). The villages were in France, Sweden, Scotland, Germany, and Italy.

The Acoustic Environments in Change project, led by Dr Helmi Järviluoma from the University of Turku, is re-visiting the villages in 2000 to undertake comparative studies, and at the same time is adding new community based initiatives and approaches to the soundscape. In addition, the acoustic ecology of a village in Finland is studied.

The Tampere School of Art and Media is sending environmental and media arts students to each of the villages. From 4.2.2000 onwards they will send sound diaries, pictures and sounds daily to this internet site.