Climate related challenges for Venice: Lessons from the past, solutions for the future?

Venice, a unique coastal city included in the UNESCO World List of Cultural Heritage, since ancient times has suffered a number of climate related challenges, i.e. sea level rise, storm surges flooding the city, the Lagoon frozen over during the most severe winters and fires. Over the last millennium, the above challenges have been reconstructed from sources of different nature, i.e. instrumental records, documentary written records and visual arts.

This paper discusses strategies adopted in the past; some of them have been genial and effective, others need improvement. The lesson from the past has evidenced risks and weakness. Resilience and mitigation measures need further research and novel policy approaches.