ABSTRACT
Southern Europe is expected to be more vulnerable towards climate change than other European regions. Tourism and agriculture will be among the most affected sectors as they are deeply connected to the environment and the climate. Consequently, it can be argued that rural areas and activities performed in the rural contexts could face direct and indirect effects of climate variations. The chapter focuses on the second home owners’ perceptions and actions towards climate change in a rural area of Northern Italy, the UNESCO site of the vineyards of Langhe-Roero and Monferrato. Through the collection and analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews, some future scenarios have been traced about second home users in rural communities: while some holiday homeowners will probably be discouraged by unpredictable financial resources required to cope with extreme events damages, others will likely lose interest in the area if the historical vineyards will be subject to the risk of relocation due to the worsening of optimal weather conditions. Nevertheless, a new wave of second home tourism is expected due to the temperature increase in metropolitan areas. In this framework, second home owners can represent useful resources for rural areas, leading the community towards resilience actions, by breaking some traditional customs related to living and agricultural practices and fostering new adaptation policies.
