Struggle for space: framing in World Heritage governance and the climate crisis debate

How climate crises are framed shapes governance, policies, practices and outcomes. However, analysis of crisis-framing is yet to fully incorporate a spatial dimension. In particular, little is known about how the dynamics of space affect the ability of state and non-state actors to frame and contest issues at global meetings. Stimulated by climate crisis debate over the Great Barrier Reef, we undertook an event ethnography of a World Heritage meeting to explore how the use of multiple spaces within a single policy venue affects how actors frame issues. Focusing on crisis, we show how different uses of space enable or limit actors in the framing of a crisis. We observe that, beyond the formal meeting space where state actors typically dominate, there are other shared and alternative spaces where both state and non-state actors can be active in crisis-framing. We encourage consideration of these spaces as vital sites of crisis deliberation and negotiation for marginalised actors in state-dominated venues.