'Facebook' of places goes online

People are urged to make films, poetry or music about their favourite place

People across Scotland have been encouraged to tell the world about their favourite places.

The Placebook Scotland website is looking for pictures, writing, film and music about what makes their place distinctive and gives it an identity.

The piece could be about their backyard, street, a local feature or countryside scene where they grew up.

Once the website is complete, organisers hope to put together an exhibition of the contributions.

'Familiar and commonplace'

The project is being backed by organisations including Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) and the Scottish Government.

The website was officially activated by pupils at Moncreiffe Primary School in Perth, along with Environment Minister Michael Russell and actress Daniela Nardini.

Simon Brooks, from SNH, said: "We often take for granted what is most familiar and commonplace around us, so this is a way of getting people to think about the commonplace and casting a bit of a spotlight on these places.

"It certainly isn't just the prettiest places. There's a lot of attention paid to Scotland's finest landscapes but this is just as much about the everyday, the commonplace.

"The aim is really to get people to pay a bit more attention to these places, to think about how these places are cared for and looked after and how they're going to change in the future so that they still maintain that specialness and the distinctiveness that gives these places their identity."