Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Historic narratives, myths and human behavior in times of climate change: A review from northern Europe's coastlands

2021; Wiley; Volume: 12; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/wcc.723

1757-7799

Jessica Holzhausen, Kevin Grecksch,

Sustainability and Climate Change Governance

Abstract Decision‐making about climate change is not only shaped by rational considerations, but also influenced by how communities define themselves, by historic or fictional narratives and collective memories. We add a historical perspective to this discussion and ask how regional collective identities and knowledge shape the perception of climate change. We look at coastal communities in northern Europe, which have lived with the threat from the sea for generations. “Deus mare, Frisia litora fecit.”—God created the sea, the Frisians created the coast, a famous quote in Eastern Frisia, shows how important the landscape and the battle against the sea are for a collective identity. We argue that these perceptions can influence the adaptive capacity to climate change positively, if values and collective identities of people are taken into account, or negatively, if people see their values and collective identities not taken into consideration or even threatened. This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > Ideas and Knowledge