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Strategic climate communication and the crafting of affective atmospheres in vulnerable touristic places

Porzionato, Monica LU (2022) Annual conference the International Place Branding Association
Abstract
• Aims
This research investigates how different ways of referring to anthropogenic climate change produce different sensory and affective perceptions of nature in an urban destination, and how such perceptions sustain or resist the branding strategy of such place. In doing so, it aims at showing that strategic climate communication works not only rhetorically at the level of representation, but also bodily and materially, implying a disciplining of the sensorium wherein people’s daily encounter with nature gets regulated and normalized accordingly.

• Theoretical framework
The theoretical framework adopts the non-representational notion of affective atmosphere (Anderson 2009, 2014) as well an understanding of communication... (More)
• Aims
This research investigates how different ways of referring to anthropogenic climate change produce different sensory and affective perceptions of nature in an urban destination, and how such perceptions sustain or resist the branding strategy of such place. In doing so, it aims at showing that strategic climate communication works not only rhetorically at the level of representation, but also bodily and materially, implying a disciplining of the sensorium wherein people’s daily encounter with nature gets regulated and normalized accordingly.

• Theoretical framework
The theoretical framework adopts the non-representational notion of affective atmosphere (Anderson 2009, 2014) as well an understanding of communication as constitutive transmission of affect (Ashcraft 2021) in order to explore both how affective experience of a destination is spatially and aesthetically staged through strategic climate communication, as well as which human/non-human agents contribute to its sustainment and resistance.

• Main research approach
In order to research this, the project takes as a case study the touristic destination of Venice, Italy. Through sensory ethnographic observations (Pink 2009) and walking interviews (Degen & Rose 2012) it looks at how the conceptualization of sea-level rise infiltrates the everyday bodily experience of touristic premises and relates to the strategic making and experiencing of Venice.

• Key arguments/findings
The project finds that the concept of Acqua alta – a mundane, well-known and predictable Venetian phenomenon – used to describe exponential sea level rise in the area contributes to the strategic crafting of an affective atmosphere wherein encounters with water ought to be experienced as with a familiar, safe and tamed natural element. Consequently, unruly affective responses (i.e., fear, panic, displacement) at the encounter with water in public spaces are communicatively marginalized and negotiated
(Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
conference name
Annual conference the International Place Branding Association
conference location
Aix-en-provence, France
conference dates
2022-10-12 - 2022-10-14
project
Rethinking urban tourism development: Dealing with sustainability in the age of over-tourism
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
275a9389-30ad-407a-898f-eaca71d69304
date added to LUP
2022-10-26 10:10:27
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:14:57
@misc{275a9389-30ad-407a-898f-eaca71d69304,
  abstract     = {{• Aims<br/>This research investigates how different ways of referring to anthropogenic climate change produce different sensory and affective perceptions of nature in an urban destination, and how such perceptions sustain or resist the branding strategy of such place. In doing so, it aims at showing that strategic climate communication works not only rhetorically at the level of representation, but also bodily and materially, implying a disciplining of the sensorium wherein people’s daily encounter with nature gets regulated and normalized accordingly. <br/><br/>• Theoretical framework<br/>The theoretical framework adopts the non-representational notion of affective atmosphere (Anderson 2009, 2014) as well an understanding of communication as constitutive transmission of affect (Ashcraft 2021) in order to explore both how affective experience of a destination is spatially and aesthetically staged through strategic climate communication, as well as which human/non-human agents contribute to its sustainment and resistance. <br/><br/>• Main research approach<br/>In order to research this, the project takes as a case study the touristic destination of Venice, Italy. Through sensory ethnographic observations (Pink 2009) and walking interviews (Degen &amp; Rose 2012) it looks at how the conceptualization of sea-level rise infiltrates the everyday bodily experience of touristic premises and relates to the strategic making and experiencing of Venice.<br/><br/>• Key arguments/findings<br/>The project finds that the concept of Acqua alta – a mundane, well-known and predictable Venetian phenomenon – used to describe exponential sea level rise in the area contributes to the strategic crafting of an affective atmosphere wherein encounters with water ought to be experienced as with a familiar, safe and tamed natural element. Consequently, unruly affective responses (i.e., fear, panic, displacement) at the encounter with water in public spaces are communicatively marginalized and negotiated<br/>}},
  author       = {{Porzionato, Monica}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  title        = {{Strategic climate communication and the crafting of affective atmospheres in vulnerable touristic places}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}