Rich local knowledge despite high transience in an Arctic community experiencing rapid environmental change
Abstract Environmental monitoring and long-term research produce detailed understanding, but its collective effort does not add up to ‘the environment’ and therefore may be difficult to relate to. Local knowledge, by contrast, is multifaceted and relational and therefore can help ground and compleme...
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2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02310-9 https://doaj.org/article/b2dac160e5ba4cc7b0e79ff4806a9509 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b2dac160e5ba4cc7b0e79ff4806a9509 2023-12-10T09:45:27+01:00 Rich local knowledge despite high transience in an Arctic community experiencing rapid environmental change Ann Eileen Lennert René van der Wal Jasmine Zhang Vera Helene Hausner Francisco Javier Ancin Murguzur Martin W. Miles 2023-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02310-9 https://doaj.org/article/b2dac160e5ba4cc7b0e79ff4806a9509 EN eng Springer Nature https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02310-9 https://doaj.org/toc/2662-9992 doi:10.1057/s41599-023-02310-9 2662-9992 https://doaj.org/article/b2dac160e5ba4cc7b0e79ff4806a9509 Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2023) History of scholarship and learning. The humanities AZ20-999 Social Sciences H article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02310-9 2023-11-12T01:40:51Z Abstract Environmental monitoring and long-term research produce detailed understanding, but its collective effort does not add up to ‘the environment’ and therefore may be difficult to relate to. Local knowledge, by contrast, is multifaceted and relational and therefore can help ground and complement scientific knowledge to reach a more complete and holistic understanding of the environment and changes therein. Today’s societies, however, are increasingly fleeting, with mobility potentially undermining the opportunity to generate rich community knowledge. Here we perform a case study of High Arctic Svalbard, a climate change and environmental science hotspot, using a range of community science methods, including a Maptionnaire survey, focus groups, interviews and cognitive mapping. We show that rich local knowledge on Svalbard could indeed be gathered through community science methods, despite a high level of transience of the local population. These insights complement environmental monitoring and enhance its local relevance. Complex understanding of Svalbard’s ecosystems by the transient local community arose because of strong place attachment, enabling environmental knowledge generation during work and play. We conclude that transience does not necessarily prevent the generation of valuable local knowledge that can enrich and provide connection to scientific understanding of the environment. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Svalbard Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Svalbard Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 10 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities AZ20-999 Social Sciences H |
spellingShingle |
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities AZ20-999 Social Sciences H Ann Eileen Lennert René van der Wal Jasmine Zhang Vera Helene Hausner Francisco Javier Ancin Murguzur Martin W. Miles Rich local knowledge despite high transience in an Arctic community experiencing rapid environmental change |
topic_facet |
History of scholarship and learning. The humanities AZ20-999 Social Sciences H |
description |
Abstract Environmental monitoring and long-term research produce detailed understanding, but its collective effort does not add up to ‘the environment’ and therefore may be difficult to relate to. Local knowledge, by contrast, is multifaceted and relational and therefore can help ground and complement scientific knowledge to reach a more complete and holistic understanding of the environment and changes therein. Today’s societies, however, are increasingly fleeting, with mobility potentially undermining the opportunity to generate rich community knowledge. Here we perform a case study of High Arctic Svalbard, a climate change and environmental science hotspot, using a range of community science methods, including a Maptionnaire survey, focus groups, interviews and cognitive mapping. We show that rich local knowledge on Svalbard could indeed be gathered through community science methods, despite a high level of transience of the local population. These insights complement environmental monitoring and enhance its local relevance. Complex understanding of Svalbard’s ecosystems by the transient local community arose because of strong place attachment, enabling environmental knowledge generation during work and play. We conclude that transience does not necessarily prevent the generation of valuable local knowledge that can enrich and provide connection to scientific understanding of the environment. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ann Eileen Lennert René van der Wal Jasmine Zhang Vera Helene Hausner Francisco Javier Ancin Murguzur Martin W. Miles |
author_facet |
Ann Eileen Lennert René van der Wal Jasmine Zhang Vera Helene Hausner Francisco Javier Ancin Murguzur Martin W. Miles |
author_sort |
Ann Eileen Lennert |
title |
Rich local knowledge despite high transience in an Arctic community experiencing rapid environmental change |
title_short |
Rich local knowledge despite high transience in an Arctic community experiencing rapid environmental change |
title_full |
Rich local knowledge despite high transience in an Arctic community experiencing rapid environmental change |
title_fullStr |
Rich local knowledge despite high transience in an Arctic community experiencing rapid environmental change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rich local knowledge despite high transience in an Arctic community experiencing rapid environmental change |
title_sort |
rich local knowledge despite high transience in an arctic community experiencing rapid environmental change |
publisher |
Springer Nature |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02310-9 https://doaj.org/article/b2dac160e5ba4cc7b0e79ff4806a9509 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Svalbard |
op_source |
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02310-9 https://doaj.org/toc/2662-9992 doi:10.1057/s41599-023-02310-9 2662-9992 https://doaj.org/article/b2dac160e5ba4cc7b0e79ff4806a9509 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02310-9 |
container_title |
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1784888716648513536 |