Climate Conscious Relations in a Digital Urban Setting

Abstract

The climate change has challenged urban living: As an omnipresent force nature sets the agenda for urban life. Using stakeholder theory for conceptualizing urban life, we install nature as both an omnipresent stakeholder and an issue to be continuously addressed and related to. From this perspective we explore how the citizen enacts his relations to the natural environment in an urban setting and how digital media facilitate different forms of relations. Conceptually framed within stakeholder management theory and models on why corporations engage in corporate social responsibility we use The Aarhus CO2030 exhibition (specifically a digital installation entitled CO2mmitment/CO2nfessions) as an exemplary case to provide insights into understanding drivers for citizens' climate conscious behavior. Based on our study we argue that citizens face similar challenges and conflicting behaviors as corporations in response to the climate change.