by Jacc Griffiths
The Venetian laguna is in a “continual state of instability” – as is the case of innumerable ecosystems across the globe – and its survival relies upon its communication with the sea, through its tidal exchange, which continues to form and deform the small Italian archipelago every day. The urban eco-organism that is the city of Venice, with its arterial canals and skeletal bridges, is thus plagued by eustatic anxiety, suffering continuous climate crises, whose symptoms notably broke out five years ago, when in November 2019 the acqua altera once again flooded The Floating City.
The “geomorphological landscape” of Venice and the laguna is a “living historical archive of interactions between humans and the geoenvironment”. In this archive, lest we forget, we (re)discover a significant centre of European colonialism and capitalist dominion, which wrought disparity and destruction still felt today. Perhaps that Venice is destined for the past – a relic – whose etymology (from Latin relinquere) denotes “that which remains” or “to leave behind, forsake”. Forsaken, not quite, but condemned, it seems, to reap the fruits of destruction sowed by its own capitalist-colonialist apparatus. High time, then, to reckon with the ailing symbiosis of city and laguna – “inseparable elements of a single system”, where “the health of Venice depends on the health of the lagoon system and vice versa”.
In this article, we present the Critical ChangeLab project’s Critical Literacies Framework as a tool to analyse the intersecting ecologies of Venice and the laguna, both historically and presently. This approach is drawn from the Critical ChangeLab methodology, which seeks to engage youth participants in participatory action research labs, with the goal of fostering critical consciousness and working towards change. Rooted in the seminal work of Paolo Freire (1970), critical consciousness, or conscientização, empowers individuals to identify and challenge prevailing power dynamics and systems of oppression within society. The dimensions of the Critical Literacies Framework are as follows:
- Understanding
- Identifying
- Deconstructing
- Activating change
- Processes of becoming
To apply the framework to the issue of ecological instability in Venice, we can map each dimension of the framework to different aspects of Venice’s environmental crisis, focusing on the intersection of ecologies (human, non-human, historical, future) in the region.
Understanding
At this initial stage, it is essential to develop a foundational understanding of the ecological, historical, and social systems that are found in Venice. This includes an examination of how anthropocentric thinking has shaped Venetian environmental policy, and how it relates to historical and present issues such as flooding and pollution. Furthermore, a discussion of how water rights, environmental laws, and urban development policies are shaped by democratic and legal institutions, investigating how and why they prioritise short-term economic gains (such as tourism) over long-term ecological stability or inclusive post-humanist practices. Providing a historical overview of Venice’s relationship with the laguna allows us to look at key moments where human intervention has altered the balance between the built environment and the natural ecosystem.
Identifying
Next, we can identify the key conflicts and contradictions that shape, and have shaped, Venice’s ecological instability. Firstly, the conflict between Venice’s position as a global tourist hub and its urgent need for ecological and socioeconomic preservation. Secondly, tracing how decisions made in the past, such as dredging canals and diverting rivers, have contributed to present-day Venice’s ecological difficulties, such as subsidence and water pollution. Lastly, recognizing the lived experience of Venetians, whose homes are increasingly threatened by flooding, as well as the embodied experience of non-human entities such as the laguna and local marine life, which also suffer greatly from ecosystem disruption.
Deconstructing
The deconstruction phase examines Venice’s ecological crisis from multiple angles, challenging assumptions and analysing power relations. In order to disrupt the commonplace, questioning the traditional view of Venice as a “city of human heritage” allows us to reframe the discussion – seeing it instead as a complex ecological system where water, plants, animals, and humans are all interconnected, and all have intrinsic value. Through challenging the dominant discourse of progress and growth that has long driven development in Venice, we can question whether policies aimed at economic expansion are compatible with a long-term view of ecological survival.
Embracing multiple perspectives is essential to moving beyond the dualism of human/nature, seeking a post-binary approach that recognizes the non-human actors that are integral to Venice’s identity. Thinking about Venice not only as a human city but as its own ecological entity with multiple, co-existing, interrelated ecosystems will open further questions about a post-human Venice. Broadening the scope, we can reflect on how past interventions (within the remit of the magistrato alle acque) continue to affect present-day Venice, as well as how our responses today could shape future approaches to managing impact in the laguna.
Finally, the process of deconstructing should include intersectional analyses of how power dynamics (for example, between government officials, tourists and residents) contribute to ecological instability. This approach highlights how anthropocentrism (notably eurocentrism) and capitalism underpin policy decisions that neglect the agency of non-human elements, such as water and biodiversity. To examine who benefits from Venice’s current approach to water rights (e.g., large-scale developers, international tourists) and who suffers from it (local communities, future generations, non-human entities) can reveal the historical and present power dynamics as well as the breadth of their influence.
Activating Change
This dimension focuses on applying the critical insights gained, from interaction into action. From this process we can propose alternative futures for Venice: an exercise in both rational, democratic decision-making as well as radical, creative reflection. For example, drawing inspiration from the work of indigenous activists in global cases such as the 2008 Constitution of Ecuador or the Whanganui River in New Zealand, the people of Venice could grant legal personhood to the laguna. By encouraging legal recognition and protection, we could recognise its “right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes” and its “right to be restored”. Engaging in speculative design, we could envisage solutions such as nature-based flood defences, reducing reliance on tourism, or promoting sustainable urbanism that puts ecological health at the centre of further development. Finally, we could seek–or create–local initiatives that have meaningful impact, such as community-led conservation efforts, ecotourism models respectful of environmental regulation, or educational campaigns that raise awareness about Venice’s fragility.
Processes of Becoming
The final stage of the Critical Literacies Framework encourages ongoing reflection and personal transformation. For example, through a process of self-examination, we are encouraged to reflect on how our understanding of ecology, agency, and power has evolved throughout the process. Has our perception of Venice changed from a human-capital tourist destination to a living, breathing ecological system? What of this change? To sustain critical reflection is to foster learning, questioning and engaging with sustainable futures, and to act upon this reflection is to advocate for change.
When put into practice, the Critical ChangeLab Critical Literacies Framework empowers participants to not only understand Venice’s ecological instability but also to actively challenge and reshape the socio-political structures that maintain it. Taking a posthumanist perspective shifts the focus from merely preserving Venice for human benefit to recognizing the inherent rights and agency of its ecosystem(s), envisioning sustainable futures where all entities can thrive – human and non-human, city and laguna.
For more information about the Critical ChangeLab project and the Critical Literacies Framework, check out criticalchangelab.eu or follow #criticalchangelab on social media. Critical ChangeLab is a Horizon Europe research project, funded by the European Union.
Jacc Griffiths is from Wales and today lives in Paris. They are currently working on the Critical ChangeLabs project. Their background is in linguistics & pedagogy, and they are specialized in discourse analysis, critical sociolinguistics and semiotics. They created and taught an English language course entitled Lost in Translation, which seeks to critically engage with the status of English as a lingua franca, through deconstructing the capitalist & colonialist notions of “proper English” and recognizing the evolution of World Englishes. In 2023, they wrote their Master’s thesis on the subject of discourse-spatial production in the global Collages Féminicides movement, studying how transpatial, feminist activist networks grow horizontally through physical-digital discursive interaction.
Jacc Griffiths is from Wales and today lives in Paris. They are currently working on the Critical ChangeLabs project. Their background is in linguistics & pedagogy, and they are specialized in discourse analysis, critical sociolinguistics and semiotics. They created and taught an English language course entitled Lost in Translation, which seeks to critically engage with the status of English as a lingua franca, through deconstructing the capitalist & colonialist notions of “proper English” and recognizing the evolution of World Englishes.