Emplaced climate imaginaries: The regional construction of climate futures on the German Wadden Sea Coast

Martin Döring; Cormac Walsh; Beate Ratter

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.02.010

Emplaced climate imaginaries: The regional construction of climate futures on the German Wadden Sea Coast

Martin Döring^*
, Cormac Walsh
, Beate Ratter

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Hamburg

Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

It is increasingly recognised that the perceptions and lived experiences of climate change are grounded in places. This paper brings together work on place and climate imaginaries to develop a situated and emplaced understanding of climate change futures. Empirically, the paper examines local climate imaginaries on the North Frisian Wadden Sea coast of Germany. The low-lying islands are vulnerable to anthropogenic sea-level rise and face an uncertain future. Based on 21 semi-structured interviews conducted with coastal dwellers, the study examines all interviews from a grounded theory perspective. A refined in-depth analysis of the language helps to reveal climate imaginaries and systematise the ways through which local climate futures are articulated, structured and constructed. The aim of the paper is threefold: to synthesise research undertaken on place and climate imaginaries, to empirically analyse emplaced climate imaginaries and to explore – though tentatively – their role in developing regionally grounded climate change adaptation.

Original language	English
Journal	Geoforum
Volume	137
Pages (from-to)	222-229
Number of pages	8
ISSN	0016-7185
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.02.010
Publication status	Published - 01.12.2022
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research has been financed by the Helmholtz Climate Initiative REKLIM (Regional Climate Change) and was partly conducted within working group 7 ‘Risk analysis and risk management for integrated climate strategies’. The other part of the work was conducted in the context of the cluster of excellence CLiCCS (Climate, Climatic Change and Society), Project C3 – Sustainable Adaptation Scenarios for Coastal Systems. This research was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany‘s Excellence Strategy – EXC 2037 'CLICCS - Climate, Climatic Change, and Society' – Project Number: 390683824. We, furthermore, would like to thank Brigitte Nerlich (Nottingham) and the three anonymous reviewers for their productive criticism and help in improving the paper.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action

Research areas and keywords

Climate change
Climate futures
Imaginaries
North Frisia Germany
Place

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Sociology and Political Science

Access to Document

10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.02.010

Cite this

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title = "Emplaced climate imaginaries: The regional construction of climate futures on the German Wadden Sea Coast",

abstract = "It is increasingly recognised that the perceptions and lived experiences of climate change are grounded in places. This paper brings together work on place and climate imaginaries to develop a situated and emplaced understanding of climate change futures. Empirically, the paper examines local climate imaginaries on the North Frisian Wadden Sea coast of Germany. The low-lying islands are vulnerable to anthropogenic sea-level rise and face an uncertain future. Based on 21 semi-structured interviews conducted with coastal dwellers, the study examines all interviews from a grounded theory perspective. A refined in-depth analysis of the language helps to reveal climate imaginaries and systematise the ways through which local climate futures are articulated, structured and constructed. The aim of the paper is threefold: to synthesise research undertaken on place and climate imaginaries, to empirically analyse emplaced climate imaginaries and to explore – though tentatively – their role in developing regionally grounded climate change adaptation.",

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note = "Funding Information: This research has been financed by the Helmholtz Climate Initiative REKLIM (Regional Climate Change) and was partly conducted within working group 7 {\textquoteleft}Risk analysis and risk management for integrated climate strategies{\textquoteright}. The other part of the work was conducted in the context of the cluster of excellence CLiCCS (Climate, Climatic Change and Society), Project C3 – Sustainable Adaptation Scenarios for Coastal Systems. This research was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany{\textquoteleft}s Excellence Strategy – EXC 2037 'CLICCS - Climate, Climatic Change, and Society' – Project Number: 390683824. We, furthermore, would like to thank Brigitte Nerlich (Nottingham) and the three anonymous reviewers for their productive criticism and help in improving the paper. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Elsevier Ltd",

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N2 - It is increasingly recognised that the perceptions and lived experiences of climate change are grounded in places. This paper brings together work on place and climate imaginaries to develop a situated and emplaced understanding of climate change futures. Empirically, the paper examines local climate imaginaries on the North Frisian Wadden Sea coast of Germany. The low-lying islands are vulnerable to anthropogenic sea-level rise and face an uncertain future. Based on 21 semi-structured interviews conducted with coastal dwellers, the study examines all interviews from a grounded theory perspective. A refined in-depth analysis of the language helps to reveal climate imaginaries and systematise the ways through which local climate futures are articulated, structured and constructed. The aim of the paper is threefold: to synthesise research undertaken on place and climate imaginaries, to empirically analyse emplaced climate imaginaries and to explore – though tentatively – their role in developing regionally grounded climate change adaptation.

AB - It is increasingly recognised that the perceptions and lived experiences of climate change are grounded in places. This paper brings together work on place and climate imaginaries to develop a situated and emplaced understanding of climate change futures. Empirically, the paper examines local climate imaginaries on the North Frisian Wadden Sea coast of Germany. The low-lying islands are vulnerable to anthropogenic sea-level rise and face an uncertain future. Based on 21 semi-structured interviews conducted with coastal dwellers, the study examines all interviews from a grounded theory perspective. A refined in-depth analysis of the language helps to reveal climate imaginaries and systematise the ways through which local climate futures are articulated, structured and constructed. The aim of the paper is threefold: to synthesise research undertaken on place and climate imaginaries, to empirically analyse emplaced climate imaginaries and to explore – though tentatively – their role in developing regionally grounded climate change adaptation.

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Emplaced climate imaginaries: The regional construction of climate futures on the German Wadden Sea Coast

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Research areas and keywords

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

Access to Document

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Cite this