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

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.

“I show you my coast…”—a relational study of coastscapes in the North Frisian Wadden Sea

“…Coastscapes are understood as the realm "shaped" (scape) by human (embodied, material and mental) and natural action. Coastal landscapes are neither exclusively of the land nor the sea, but materially reside in the in-between, and those who live in and with them are often challenged by the variability and dynamics of their coastal surroundings (Holzhausen and Grecksch 2021). Even more, the experience of the coast with its dynamics seems to challenge the dualism of land and sea and opens up the comprehensiveness of spatial experiences rendering the separation between nature = sea/shore and culture = coastal landscape worthy of discussion (Castree 2005;.…”

That Fine Rain That Soaks You Through. Exploring the Role of Weather Lore, Cultural Identity, and Community Memory in Shaping Attitudes to Climate Change

“…Adding to growing literature addressing this gap (e.g., Holzhausen and Grecksch, 2021) this essay demonstrates how community and individual identity is informed by the weather. Using the case study of Manchester, England, and its meteorologically inaccurate reputation as the rainy city, I demonstrate the importance of contingent historical developments over and above rational meteorological statistics.…”

Navigating the currents of coastal narratives in search of sustainable futures

“…Coasts represent recreational, aesthetic, cultural, and spiritual spaces, providing specific senses of place and well-being as well as diverse coastal lifestyles. These representations often manifest themselves in narratives associated with place-attachment (Acott et al 2022;Burley et al 2012), coastal stewardship (Silbernagel et al 2015;Strand et al 2022) and changing environmental conditions (Miller et al 2018), as well as faith (Bertana 2020) and local or super-local history (Holzhausen & Grecksch 2021). The complexity of challenges that humanity faces are abundantly evident in urban and rural coastal regions due to the interdependence of such environmental, ecological, geophysical, demographic, and social factors.…”

“…As Paschen and Ison (2014) discuss, 'how a community 'stories' its past experiences and actions ultimately determines how it understands and practices future adaptation' (Paschen & Ison 2014). Historic narratives can greatly influence people's perception of local-to-global challenges (Holzhausen & Grecksch 2021), whilst the literary evocation of the relationship to the idiosyncratic place and lifestyles (Ritson 2018) can repeatedly anchor communities in a collective identity. For instance, narrations associated with traditional frames of reference and local interpretation of changes can be dominant, be that a conservation narrative in the case of Barra, Outer Hebrides ( (Brennan 2018) or a lifestyle maintenance one as in the North Frisian Islands, Wadden Sea (Döring & Ratter 2021).…”