Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

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Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

base upon which political decisions affecting their and their communities’ future are to be made (Dale, 2016). Knowledge production and communication can be supported by: developing better ways to integrate (or interact with) local knowledge into research and decision-making, including by establishing and/or strengthening communities of practice; furthering the development of region-specific activities and organizations, including knowledge brokers; better communicating existing information in more user-friendly and usable forms; accepting that a simple but all-encompassing knowledge-policy interface is not available; and adopting specific approaches to engage the most vulnerable, underrepresented and marginalized groups. 3.5 Summary and concluding comments This chapter examines current approaches for studying local and regional perspectives of change and implications for regional knowledge production, such as this assessment of the Barents area. There are three main approaches: community studies, indigenous knowledge and stakeholder approaches.These show a strong focus on economically important, gendered, industrial and rural activities, nationally-based research and emphasis on policy relevance and development. However, adaptation is a broad social process covering societies, activities and local actors beyond male-dominated, industrial, rural or indigenous communities (see Ford et al.,2012,2015).This indicates the need for a broad understanding of the cumulative nature of changes and their impacts,balancing short- and long-term sustainability considerations, and issues of governability and agency. To capture the complex nature of changes, impacts and adaptation needs,this chapter concludes by proposing that the way forward is to develop an interactional model for science-policy interface that builds on ‘communities of practice’ as multidisciplinary networks and partnerships between knowledge producers, keepers and users, as well as ‘knowledge brokers’ to translate knowledge between different fields of society. To support the implementation of adaptation plans, strategies and programs at municipal, county, national and regional level, knowledge is required in a unified, usable and relevant form.This could take the form of indicators (see resilience indicators in Chapter 8), comparable statistics, maps (see GLOBIO maps in Chapter 7), and various other tools, such as internet portals for knowledge sharing,presenting and discussing best practice,and supporting the development of adaptation governance. The diversity of livelihoods, peoples and activities in the Barents area make it difficult to represent the concerns, expectations and views of stakeholders in a simple, coherent and unified view.The perceptions of changes and their impacts, and the possibilities for adaptation, are all equally real to those experiencing them. The importance of involving a range of stakeholders in research projects,planning processes and strategy development is therefore clear. Local and regional stakeholders are both knowledge providers,producing information in different forms (facts,values, perceptions and interpretations),and important as co-producers and users of knowledge within communities of practice. Several factors currently limit an understanding of local and regional perceptions of changes and adaptation needs in the

where the recent past may tell very little about what the future will bring. The boom-and-bust scenarios feed into concerns across the region about the extent to which communities should rely on the extractive industries for their long-termsustainability, or whether these should be supplemented by others to form a more versatile and adaptable economy (Dale et al., in press). The same concerns affect those actors whose financial capital is tied to the production facilities; put simply, if investments fail to raise the expected surplus,global actors may consider relocating to other geographical locations. Challenges relating to what might happen when a resource is exhausted or revenues dry up can be seen in Longyearbyen on Svalbard; a town now totally dependent on the operation of a (state-subsidized) coal mine. As prices – and political popularity – plummet, the community finds itself in need of a new basis upon which to secure its future; hence, initiatives to spur new developments, such as in tourism and research. Although the Norwegian state has again guaranteed a certain level of activity in the mines, the future of the extractive industry in Svalbard is uncertain; coal is very likely to become a stranded asset owing to international climate commitments. The local community – traditionally a mining community – will need to engage in this transition if they are to ensure a sustainable future; for a mining community to build a truly sustainable post-carbon future will represent an enormous challenge (Regjeringen, 2009, 2016). 3.4 Science-policy interface Joint problem-solving processes, including new networks and partnerships (Wenger,1999) between knowledge producers and keepers and‘knowledge brokers’ (Nilsson, 2007), are needed to advance social learning and action. The idea of creating long- term participation partnerships is an example of the trend towards a stronger participatory component than has been the case with traditional informative or consultative approaches. In ‘communities of participation’ or ‘communities of practice’, stakeholders from the most powerful to the marginalized can enter into dialog with policy-makers, experts and each other (World Bank, 2005). From a science-policy interface perspective, knowledge is socially constructed, situated in time and place, and created in a range of forms. Comprehensive, relevant and usable knowledge is needed at all levels of adaptation action in the Barents area – local, county, national and regional – to frame adaptation as a salient issue for decision-makers and stakeholders. Regional adaptation governance is still in the early stages of development and to construct a regionally-focused knowledge base requires communities of practice , incorporating researchers, decision- makers and stakeholders. To enable knowledge sharing within these communities requires user-friendly tools, databases, maps, and statistics. The next step, transforming knowledge into action, is not straightforward. Adaptation is a social process in which knowledge is communicated and negotiated through various media and used in different ways in complex unpredictable political processes, taking place within the context of ever changing political and economic situations, constraints and opportunities. Issues of power are also at play: As well as taking part in governance process it is important to ensure that stakeholders are able to influence the knowledge