Perception, Identity, Territory: Social Dimensions of Climate Change Adaptation in Northern Norway

It is often contended that individuals and states fail to act on knowledge of climate change as it is too abstract and intangible. What then of the so-called hotspot communities situated in the most dramatically impacted regions on the frontlines of climate change? This project aims to identify a co...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Eidse, Jonathan Patrick Dean
Format: Master Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Social
limitations
and
enablers
to
adaptation
vulnerability
climate
change
livelihoods
Hammerfest
Finnmark
Norway
fisheries
LNG
reindeer
herding
tourism
mining
perception
identity
territory
Arctic
Climate change
Northern Norway
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10852/45497
http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-49804
Description
Summary:It is often contended that individuals and states fail to act on knowledge of climate change as it is too abstract and intangible. What then of the so-called hotspot communities situated in the most dramatically impacted regions on the frontlines of climate change? This project aims to identify a community particularly exposed to climate change and to answer whether or not changes here occur at a sufficient magnitude to be perceived and if so, to what degree are its inhabitants responding? Qualitative, ground-up, sector-based research conducted in one such hotspot, Arctic Norway, found that 1) environmental changes are indeed being perceived and acted upon by local inhabitants, though with varying degrees across industries 2) that social identities relating to livelihoods serve as both enablers and limitations to adaptation and 3) that overlapping territorial claims/needs significantly limit current and future adaptation possibilities.

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