Deep mapping post-disaster becoming: through the silence of a wounded landscape

ongoing

Environmental disasters are becoming a disturbing, new reality. While they dramatically alter how we perceive and live in affected areas, the personal, everyday impacts of these changes often remain in the backdrop of public discourse and policy. DeepLandS will bridge this gap as an innovative phenomenological inquiry into the sensory and emotional aftermath of disasters. It will look into the recovery of two landscapes, in Portugal and Slovenia, shedding light on the sensory aspects of day-to-day life following the events that are among the worst wildfires in living memory. By examining the lived experiences and private narratives of those affected, the project will offer a nuanced understanding of the fragility of post-disaster “normalisation” and the diverse realities of recovery. Through an empirically grounded approach to deep mapping, the project will create a creative interface between sensory ethnography, creative geographies, and spatial humanities. DeepLandS will provide important theoretical insights and an interdisciplinary methodology to inform more inclusive disaster recovery responses in Europe and globally. By harnessing sensory and artistic methods, the project will explore the evolving relationships between the senses and the environment, moving beyond representational and symbolic understandings. Such an approach aims to alter perceptions of post-disaster landscapes and encourage community engagement, raising awareness of this critical issue in the EU's climate adaptation strategies. In doing so, DeepLandS will shift the focus from reparative to a transformative, regenerative, and holistic approach to post-disaster living, positioning creativity at the core of the recovery process.