ABSTRACT
Climate change has become the most prominent environmental problem in the mass media during the past decades, but there is no previous research on how raising climate awareness has affected the second home public discourses. In this paper, we study how the relationship between second homes and climate change is understood in the public discourse in Finland. How are the climate impacts of second homes or impacts of climate change to second home tourism acknowledged, and how has the public discourse changed over the years? How does the public discourse reflect the scientific evidence of second homes’ climate impacts? We analyse articles of national newspapers during past decades and the key policy documents aimed at developing rural second home tourism. The national data will be complemented by newspaper data and policy documents from South Savo as an example of a region where second homes give a significant development input. Based on the results, we will critically discuss how climate-wise second home tourism is understood in the public discourse and outline possible gaps in the current second home research.
