Network for Cultural Climate Adaptation

Europe

The Fall of Numenor

This is the cover of the 2022 edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's stories about the sunken island kingdom Numenor, with an illustration by Alan Lee. In Tolkien's oeuvre Numenor is geographically situated west of Middle-Earth and shows strong similarities to Plato's Atlantis....

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Values for survival: Vanishing homelands Bangladesh and Venice

I first became aware of the presence of climate refugees from Bangladesh in Venice, Italy, through a remark, Amitav Ghosh made in his book "The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable" from 2016. There the Indian-US-American novelist notes that Bengali...

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Time and Tide Bells

Since 2008 artist and bell-maker Marcus Vergette has been developing the multi-site installation series Time and Tide Bells in various coastal spots across the UK. The installations consist of two bells, one upside down on top of the other, set up in tidal zones so...

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The Bells of Aberdovey

A common theme in Northern European flood myths are the church bells of submerged cities. This motive can be found all along the ccoasts of Brittany, Wales, England, Germany and Poland. The popular folk song "Bells of Aberdovey" relates to the legend of the sunken...

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“The sea has covered the plain of Gwydneu”

A Welsh legend tells the story of the sunken land Gwydneu (also known as "Gwydno" and later Cantre'r Gwaelod, "antref Gwaelod", "Cantref y Gwaelod" and in English ": "The Lowland Hundred") off the coast of Wales, UK. It first appears in the Llyfr Du...

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Cohabitation and technical failure

Berlin once had the biggest, cylindric aquarium in the world, the Auqua Dome. In fact it was a hotel lobby dome, a modern cathedral with a giant tank filled with over 1.500 fish in the middle. The architectural concept is a twist on the submarine city, as we can find...

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The case for culture

In a very nice, comprehensive and extensive article, Dutch author Thijs Weststeijn, describes the role of culture in forming a climate conscience. The article not only describes the threats to cultural heritage the world over, particularly flooding, and the efforts to...

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Scipio looks back on the Ruins of Karthago

The greek historian Polybius, who lived in the era of the Punic wars around 200 BC reports about the Roman military leader Scipio after his troops conquered and burnt down Carthage: "Turning round to me at once and grasping my hand Scipio said, 'A glorious...

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