Venice and its Lagoon. The Environmental and Socio-Economic Dynamics of Climate Change Adaptation

Master's Thesis from the year 2024 in the subject Urban and Regional Planning, grade: with merit, University of Edinburgh (Biomedical Sciences), course: Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health, language: English, abstract: Anthropogenic climate change in European aquatic-terrestrial ecosystems affects ecosystem services and livability in coastal cities. The study examines the vulnerability of the UNESCO heritage site Venice and its Lagoon in the Northern Adriatic Sea. The critical literature review provides a framework for understanding the nature of the wicked problem of the threat of Sea Level Rise arising at the nexus of society and nature. It shows the scope of action for climate change adaptation employing a tentative governance model derived from synthesising literature. Essential governance principles of participation, adaptation, and anticipation are tested in this complex and highly dynamic setting of a managed intertidal wetland. The analysis of the research unit Venice and its Lagoon shows how adopting governance principles determines the definition of the problem and the target image, resulting in a specific operationalisation of environmental governance or pathway. The study shows the evolving pathway and path dependencies in a site-specific context and provides a research design for the implementation of high-level concepts. It adds to research on analysing and designing transformational governance programs and integrative environmental strategies. The generic model of pathway analysis is an ideal case in the Weberian tradition that can be further tested in comparative and empirical studies.