Anna Boqué Ciurana

@urv.cat

Postdoctoral Researcher. Geography Department. Faculty of Tourism and Geography
Centre for Climate Change C3. Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Anna Boqué Ciurana


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https://researchid.co/annaboque

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Atmospheric Science, Geography, Planning and Development, Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management, Education
12

Scopus Publications

Scopus Publications

  • How Can Stakeholder Co-Creation Foster Climate-Resilient Coastal Tourism Through Integrated Management of Climate, Water-Energy, and Beach-Dune Systems?
    Anna Boqué-Ciurana, Òscar Saladié, Maria Trinitat Rovira-Soto, Carla Garcia-Lozano, Carolina Martí, Marta Tonda, Gabriel Borràs, Enric Aguilar
    Sustainability Switzerland, 2025
    This research examines the pursuit of behavioral change for climate-resilient tourism along the Catalan coast by engaging territorial stakeholders in a co-creation process. This study is guided by the following research question: how can the co-creation of integrated climate services, water and energy management, and beach-dune conservation foster behavioral change among stakeholders towards climate-resilient tourism along the Catalan coast? Focusing on two destinations in Catalonia (Costa Daurada and Terres de l’Ebre), it examines three interconnected dimensions of tourism activity: (1) weather, climate, and climate change; (2) energy and water; and (3) beach-dune systems. Through our analysis, we pursue three secondary objectives: (1) to assess the influence of meteo-climatic conditions on tourist activity, (2) to identify necessary adaptation measures related to water and energy management, and (3) to explore how historical photographs can shape stakeholders’ perceptions regarding the relevance and conservation of the beach-dune system. By bringing together expertise in climate services, resource management, and ecosystem conservation, this study explores how collaborative engagement with public and private stakeholders can foster adaptive strategies that enhance the sustainability and resilience of coastal tourism. The findings directly respond to the research question by showing that co-creation processes integrating climate, resource, and ecosystem management can effectively foster behavioral change among stakeholders. Specifically, the main results highlight (1) a clear relationship between meteo-climatic conditions and tourism activities, underscoring the importance of climate awareness; (2) stakeholder recognition of practical adaptation measures focused on water and energy management to increase sector resilience; and (3) the use of the historical photographs as an effective tool to enhance participants’ understanding of beach-dune systems, improving their knowledge of these ecosystems’ dynamics, formation, and evolution.
  • Rescheduling Summer Human Tower Exhibitions? Thermal Comfort Increases in the Evening
    Anna Boqué-Ciurana, Jon Xavier Olano Pozo, Júlia Sevil, Òscar Saladié
    Geographies, 2025
    Outdoor activities are significantly influenced by meteorological conditions. Human tower exhibitions are performed in urban squares. Human towers were recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2010. The objectives of this study are (1) to analyse the long-term temperature trend (1951–2024) for four summer human tower exhibitions; (2) to determine to extent to which thermal comfort has worsened over the last 74 years based on the Heat Index (HI); and (3) to assess temperature and thermal comfort in the squares during the selected evening exhibitions. Two of the four human tower exhibitions were recently rescheduled to the evening in response to afternoon heat. Temperatures have increased both in the afternoon and in the evening over the last 74-year period, but the warming is more pronounced in the afternoon. Evening hours have also become warmer, although they still represent a more tolerable thermal condition for outdoor activities. However, thermal comfort has decreased in three of the four human tower exhibitions in recent years. Two sensors recorded relative humidity and temperature data to determine the meteorological conditions during the exhibitions in the squares. The temperature decreased as the exhibition progressed. This pattern was modified by factors such as the presence of clouds and the shade generated by the buildings. HI values above 32 °C (extreme caution threshold) were prevalent in one exhibition. In the other three exhibitions, the values remained within the caution threshold for the majority of the time. Rescheduling the exhibition is one adaptation measure to ensure that human towers are performed safely in the face of climate change.
  • Unravelling climate misinformation: fact-checking of climate disinformation in spanish-speaking podcasts
    Mercè Cisneros, Jon X Olano Pozo, Anna Boqué-Ciurana, Caterina Cimolai, Daniel Dermit, Andrea Arnal, Marc Masip, Javier Sigro, Enric Aguilar
    Environmental Research Communications, 2025
    Climate change remains a critical global challenge, yet denialism endures across various sectors despite growing scientific consensus. Climate misinformation poses a major obstacle, with radio podcasts—an influential medium—contributing to its spread. This study, conducted in collaboration with C3/IU-RESCAT/URV, VERIFICAT, Kinzen, and Chequeado, represents the first analysis of climate mis- and disinformation narratives in Spanish-speaking podcasts. Over eight months, podcasts were monitored, focusing on content from June to November 2022, coinciding with COP27. The dataset comprised 629 podcast excerpts, totalling over 241 h. The study aimed to identify, categorise, and assess the prevalence of climate misinformation narratives. The podcast selection phase proved to be the most critical stage of the workflow. The most frequent climate misinformation narratives were: ‘Climate science is unreliable (conspiracy)’, ‘Climate change does not exist’, and ‘Solutions do not work’. These were predominantly present in programmes categorised under Politics, Economy & Opinion, and Mystery & Other Realities. Notably, the ‘Greenwashing’ narrative appeared exclusively in Politics, Economy & Opinion content. During COP27, the daily rate of climate mis- and disinformation claims (7.5 per day) was significantly higher than during the regular period (2.9 per day). Podcasts showed heightened scepticism towards the effectiveness of climate solutions, while conspiracy-driven doubts about climate science and outright denial decreased. These findings are consistent with previous analyses of social media, highlighting the pervasive nature of climate misinformation across platforms. The study reinforces the importance of confronting such narratives to counter climate denial effectively.
  • Summer Thermal Comfort in Urban Squares: The Case of Human Tower Exhibitions in Catalonia
    Òscar Saladié, Anna Boqué-Ciurana, Júlia Sevil, Jon Xavier Olano Pozo
    Atmosphere, 2025
    Global warming and the increasing frequency and intensity of heat waves are resulting in more frequent unfavourable weather conditions for outdoor activities, especially during the summer. The building environment can alter weather conditions, resulting in higher temperatures (urban heat island). Human towers are cultural activities that typically take place outdoors and were declared a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010. The objectives of this study are (i) to analyse the weather conditions (i.e., temperature and relative humidity) during the human tower exhibitions, (ii) to determine discomfort during the exhibitions based on the heat index (HI) resulting from the combination of temperature and humidity, and (iii) to compare records from the square with those recorded in the nearest automatic meteorological station (AMS) belonging to the Catalan Meteorological Service network. To determine the weather conditions in the squares during the human tower exhibitions, a pair of sensors recorded temperature and relative humidity data in six exhibitions performed in the summer of 2024. The temperature exceeded 30 °C in five of the six human tower exhibitions analysed. In the cases of the Santa Anna exhibition (El Vendrell) and the Sant Fèlix exhibition (Vilafranca del Penedès), one of the sensors recorded temperatures above 30 °C throughout the entire duration of the exhibition. There was a predominance of HI values falling within the caution threshold in the two sensors of three exhibitions and within the extreme caution threshold in the two sensors of the other three exhibitions. The temperature is higher in urban squares than in the surrounding rural areas. The key factor is the urban heat island phenomenon, which poses health risks to both human tower builders and attendees. Adaptation measures are therefore necessary to guarantee the safety of the participants.
  • School climate assemblies: an educational tool for empowering pupils and youth to take climate and sustainability action
    Gisela Cebrián, Anna Boqué, Jon Xavier Olano, Juan Prieto
    Sustainability Science, 2025
    This paper presents school climate assemblies, conceived as an innovative educational tool for the co-creation of climate change and sustainability solutions in educational institutions and communities. It describes an intervention research project that builds on previous processes and experiences of climate citizen assemblies which have been organised in different countries across the world. School climate assemblies are conceived of as a tool that promotes the active engagement of pupils and their communities in co-creating climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies towards jointly defining innovative sustainability and climate change solutions. An intervention, piloted in five secondary schools in the Spanish region of Tarragona, is reported, presenting the main phases and steps followed. To test the effectiveness of the intervention, this paper outlines the policy climate change recommendations that emerged from the co-creation process to identify and agree on a set of actions to tackle climate change and sustainability challenges and the degree of student satisfaction with the intervention. A detailed methodology for organising school climate assemblies that can be replicated in other educational institutions, contexts and regions, is presented, enabling the widespread adoption of this innovative approach. The study emphasises the potential of co-creation methods in the educational context and underscores the critical role of education in fostering sustainability in citizens and empowering students to become active change agents in their local communities. The results lead to policy implications for integrating co-creation approaches into school curricula worldwide, aiming to empower students and drive sustainability action.
  • Rising Temperatures, Wavering Human Towers? Temperature Trends and Thermal Comfort during Castells Exhibitions in Catalonia (1951–2023). Case Studies in Valls (24 June), La Bisbal del Penedès (15 August), Tarragona (19 August), and Vilafranca del Penedès (30 August)
    Jon Xavier Olano Pozo, Òscar Saladié, Anna Boqué-Ciurana
    Climate, 2024
    This study analyzes temperature trends and thermal comfort during the key hours (i.e., from noon to 3:00 p.m.) of human tower (castells) performances in four significant festivities involving this outdoor exhibition (diada castellera) in Catalonia. Human towers were recognized by UNESCO in 2010 as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. The selected exhibitions were Sant Joan in Valls on 24 June; Festa Major de La Bisbal del Penedès on 15 August; Sant Magí in Tarragona on 19 August; and Sant Fèlix in Vilafranca del Penedès on 30 August. Temperature and relative humidity data were downloaded from the Copernicus Climate Change Service’s ERA5-Land and ERA5 pressure level datasets, respectively, with reanalysis from 1951 to 2023. The results revealed a clear upward trend in temperatures over the last several decades in these four places and for the respective dates, from +0.3 °C per decade in La Bisbal del Penedès to +0.42 °C per decade in Valls. Most of the positive temperature anomalies were concentrated in the last 25 years. The calculation of the Heat Index revealed a higher occurrence of years with possible fatigue due to prolonged exposure and/or physical activity in the three inland locations (i.e., Valls, La Bisbal del Penedès, and Vilafranca del Penedès) and a greater frequency of years with possible heat stroke, heat cramps, and/or heat exhaustion in Tarragona, which is near the Mediterranean Sea. This warming trend and increased discomfort pose potential health risks for participants and suggests a need for adaptive measures. These findings emphasize the importance of incorporating climate considerations into human tower planning.
  • Co-Creation and Participatory Research: Climate Assemblies in Schools as a Means to Sustainability Transitions
    Anna Boqué-Ciurana, Gisela Cebrián, Jon Xavier Olano
    World Sustainability Series, 2024
  • Secondary Education Students' Sustainability Competencies According to Gender
    Gisela Cebrián Bernat, Álvaro Moraleda, Jon Xavier Olano, Anna Boqué, Juan Prieto
    Ensenanza De Las Ciencias, 2024
    En las últimas décadas es plausible un creciente reconocimiento sobre la importancia de integrar las competencias en sostenibilidad en los diferentes niveles educativos, aunque hasta la fecha los estudios sobre la educación secundaria son limitados. El objetivo de este estudio descriptivo es explorar la autopercepción del desarrollo de competencias en sostenibilidad del alumnado de educación secundaria y su relación con el género. Se aplicó un cuestionario a 372 estudiantes de 5 institutos de educación secundaria de la provincia de Tarragona. Los resultados muestran un nivel de autopercepción de las competencias en sostenibilidad bueno, aunque existen diferencias significativas entre hombres y mujeres, principalmente en actitudes y comportamientos en sostenibilidad. Este estudio puede informar el diseño de planes de estudio y el desarrollo de estrategias de educación para la sostenibilidad.
  • Exploring the Climatic Potential of Somo’s Surf Spot for Tourist Destination Management
    Anna Boqué Ciurana, Melisa Ménendez, María Suárez Bilbao, Enric Aguilar
    Sustainability Switzerland, 2022
    Surfing is one of the most popular activities in coastal tourism resorts. However, the sport depends strongly on the met-ocean weather conditions, particularly on the surface wind-generated waves that reach the coast. This study provides examples of how users’ needs and user perspectives are considered by climate data specialists to develop needed, highly useful information addressing human and social needs. In this vein, the climate analysis of such data can provide input on the expected length of a surfing season, according to the surfer’s level of expertise. In addition, other water sports, such as SUP Wave and windsurfing, among others, might be indicated when surfing conditions are not optimal. Finally, the safety of surfers and other tourists who venture into the sea is also dependent on those conditions. We collaborated with the surfing community to define a series of indices for quantifying surfing days (SD), surfing days stratified by surfers’ skills (SDS), alternate offers (AOs), and surfers’ and swimmers’ safety (SuS and SwS). These are of general applications but require wind and wave data at a very fine scale as the input. To illustrate the potential of our indices, we applied them to the Somo beach (Cantabria, Spain). We downscaled a global wave hindcast dataset covering a 30-year period to a spatial resolution of 100 m to obtain wave-surfing information at Somo’s surf spot. The results confirmed Somo’s status as a year-round surf spot, with SD values of 229.5 days/year and monthly values between 22 days/month and 16 days/month. SDS showed different seasonal peaks according to the surfers’ skills. Beginners’ conditions occurred more often in the summer (18.1 days/month in July), intermediate surfers’ conditions appeared in the transitional seasons (14.1 days/month in April), and advanced and big-wave riders in the winter (15.1 days/month in January and 0.7 days/month, respectively). The AO index identified the SUP wave values of 216 days/year. Wind water sports presented values of 141.6 days/year; conversely, SUP sports were possible on only 7.4 days/year. SuS and SwS identified different seasonal hazard values, decreasing from the winter, autumn, and spring to minimum values in the summer.
  • Climate services for tourism: An applied methodology for user engagement and co-creation in European destinations
    Alba Font Barnet, Anna Boqué Ciurana, Jon Xavier Olano Pozo, Antonio Russo, Roberto Coscarelli, Loredana Antronico, Francesco De Pascale, Òscar Saladié, Salvador Anton-Clavé, Enric Aguilar
    Climate Services, 2021
    This article presents an exploratory methodology to co-create climate services for the tourism sector together with local stakeholders, emphasizing focus groups as an essential step for obtaining relevant data throughout the process. The article describes the user engagement for defining the optimal conditions for tourism in four different types of destinations in terms of tourist specialisation in Spain (Jacetania Council in the Aragon Pyrenees, the city of Calvià on the island of Majorca; the city of Barcelona and the Barcelona Coast) and Italy (Sila National Park) This methodology involves a sequence of steps to extract and validate such information through engagement, with destination stakeholders along the value chain (from accommodation managers to destination planners as well as final users). The process facilitates the design of numerical indices based on the information collected (from qualitative to quantitative data). Our methodology is suitable for application in other contexts and tourism activities where the subjective perception of weather and climate plays a role, as well as in other sectors.
  • Which meteorological and climatological information is requested for better surfing experiences? A survey-based analysis
    Anna Boqué Ciurana, Enric Aguilar
    Atmosphere, 2021
  • Expected distribution of surfing days in the Iberian peninsula
    Anna Boqué Ciurana, Enric Aguilar
    Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 2020