Places of Climate Change

The notion of ‘place’ has long been recognised in human geography and other areas as a locational concept to which humans feel attached in some way (e.g., emotionally, culturally or through a sense of responsibility and ownership). Climate change happens globally but is felt locally, in the places where we live and to which we feel attached.

We organise meetings, thematic sub-groups and activities such as seminars and grant writing sessions. If you are interested in joining the group, contact us at plocc@bangor.ac.uk for more information. Participants are welcome from all Schools and Colleges within the University. 

The PloCC group includes PhD students, early career researchers, lecturers, professors, and other research staff from across the University, connected by our interest in place and climate change. Undergraduate and postgraduate students are also welcome where our activities align with their dissertation studies. 

Researchers involved in the PloCC group explore the connection between places and climate change from various perspectives such as:

• Sociological research on community actions to preserve or develop meaningful places, or on local values attached to places threatened by climate change, etc.
• Psychological effects of emotional attachment on climate related behaviour, etc.
• Geographic distinctions between valued and neglected places in the context of climate change (hot spots and blind spots), etc.
• Linguistic representations of place in relation to climate change, analysis of public and personal discourse in relation to local engagement, etc.
• Natural sciences effects such as flood risk, land use change, altered risk to places, ecosystems or heritage
• The role of business and the financial sector in altering investment behaviour, mitigating risk or adapting in the light of climate change or policy, e.g. greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets
• Artistic views on how local threats to heritage affect people’s sense of place
• Scientific insights on how climate change affects local heritage, e.g., building structures and material decay, sea-level rise and erosion
• Historical insights on how local efforts have managed to preserve meaningful places during challenging times of change, including climate-based threats
• Geographic Information Science models of how individual and socially embedded place notions are affected by climate change