Exploring the Venetian Lagoon: Toward A New Culture of Environmental Heritage

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58981/bluepapers.2025.2.07

Published

2025-12-16

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025): Water Management in World Heritage Properties at a Time of Climate Change

Section

methodologies and case studies

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Copyright (c) 2025 Maria Chiara Tosi, Luca Velo, Michela Pace, Mette Juhl Jessen

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Exploring the Venetian Lagoon: Toward A New Culture of Environmental Heritage. (2025). Blue Papers, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.58981/bluepapers.2025.2.07

Keywords:

UNESCO World Heritage, Amphibious, Dynamic, Collaborative, Contradictory

Abstract

Venice and its Lagoon, a UNESCO World Heritage property, epitomizes the challenges of water-related climate change. Historically, it has been an exemplary site of human life in close interaction with water. Today, with rising sea levels and intensifying storm surges, it offers a powerful case for developing cohesive, inclusive, and adaptive water management. The lessons emerging from Venice have relevance to other UNESCO heritage sites. In all its complexity, Venice underscores the need to recognize water’s dynamic nature in governance and to avoid reliance on rigid, fail-safe solutions, instead emphasizing collaborative actions supported by political commitment. This article reframes the heritage of Venice and its lagoon as a dynamic, amphibious process, and argues that collaborative, adaptive governance is the only viable path to a sustainable future.

Author Biographies

  • Maria Chiara Tosi

    Maria Chiara Tosi urbanist and PhD, is a full professor of urbanism at Iuav University in Venice where she is also the director of the School of Doctorate Studies. She has been the principal investigator in many national and international research projects on the study of urban settlements, with a focus on the Venice Lagoon. She is the Iuav representative in the Academic Council of Venice International University, has been an expert for the Research Foundation Flanders FWO-Belgium and currently she is responsible for the double degree in architecture with the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University.

  • Luca Velo

    Luca Velo architect and PhD, is an associate professor of urbanism at the IUAV University in Venice. He is involved in research and design experiences at the urban and territorial scale with a particular focus on environmental, landscape and territorial design issues in combination with policies. His research concentrates on the Venice Lagoon with specific attention to its ecosystems and transformations. He is the coordinator for Iuav of the Erasmus+ project: “MeLiMed-Métropoles du littoral méditerranéen, enjeux climatiques et solutions de résilience” with the schools of architecture ENSA Marseille, ULB Bruxelles and ENA Rabat.

  • Michela Pace

    Michela Pace architect and PhD, is a researcher and adjunct professor in urbanism at IUAV University in Venice. Her research focuses on the role of heritage in urban regeneration and land preservation projects that address the natural and built environments. She has explored the transition processes of cities and territories across a variety of countries, focusing on fragile environments and their relationships with spatial and economic consumption. She co-authored the book The Production of Heritage: The Politicisation of Architectural Conservation (Routledge 2019).

  • Mette Juhl Jessen

    Mette Juhl Jessen is a landscape architect with a BA in comparative literature and is a PhD fellow in landscape architecture and planning at the University of Copenhagen. Her PhD research focuses on climate adaptation and regional planning in coastal areas. She investigates concepts of vulnerability and water in contemporary planning, looking for ways to shift perspectives and imagine new narratives. Mette is a member of the editorial board of the Nordic journal Landskab and a visiting PhD fellow at IUAV University in Venice.

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