ClicherComm: Climate change, Cultural heritage and Communication in North Wales

Places of Climate Change (‘PloCC’)

Giuseppe Forino, Lecturer in Human Geography, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University

The Clicher project aimed at exploring ways in which the publics, stakeholders and policymakers view cultural heritage (inc. the value they place on its preservation) and the existential threat those cultural assets are now facing in terms of a changing climate and its associated threats. The project has been funded by the NERC Cross-discipline research for Discovery Science and addressed the following research question: How can valuing cultural heritage better aid the public's understanding of climate change? In February 2023, we have conducted two workshops at Plas-y-Bwlch with local communities, practitioners, policymakers and academics to explore perceptions and values of local communities about North Wales’ cultural heritage (i.e. storytelling, lived experiences, discursive reflections), and considerations around climate change, and related risk. In these workshops, different themes were discussed in recorded break-out groups. We have conducted a preliminary analysis of data from audio records and retrieved main emerging themes. This analysis was presented at an outreach public event with stakeholders held at Bangor University in March 2023. I will present and discuss these themes, highlighting challenges and opportunities for future research.