COVID-19 and Well-Being in Remote Coastal Communities—A Case Study from Iceland
This study utilizes a recently developed framework for the well-being economy to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 in the sparsely populated Westfjords region of northwestern Iceland. A total of 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a broad spectrum of local community members, nearly all...
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2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010332 https://doaj.org/article/64ddc2cab5604e698d72f8cbaeeeae90 |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:64ddc2cab5604e698d72f8cbaeeeae90 2023-05-15T16:48:10+02:00 COVID-19 and Well-Being in Remote Coastal Communities—A Case Study from Iceland David Cook Lára Jóhannsdóttir Sarah Kendall Catherine Chambers Mauricio Latapí 2022-12-01 https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010332 https://doaj.org/article/64ddc2cab5604e698d72f8cbaeeeae90 en eng MDPI AG doi:10.3390/su15010332 2071-1050 https://doaj.org/article/64ddc2cab5604e698d72f8cbaeeeae90 undefined Sustainability, Vol 15, Iss 332, p 332 (2022) community pandemic sustainable well-being health capital envir demo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2022 fttriple https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010332 2023-01-22T18:58:22Z This study utilizes a recently developed framework for the well-being economy to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 in the sparsely populated Westfjords region of northwestern Iceland. A total of 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a broad spectrum of local community members, nearly all undertaken in October 2021. Local impacts to human and social capital were very evident, whilst economic consequences to individuals and business were largely mitigated through national economic packages. The remoteness of the Westfjords and pre-existing challenges, such as exposure to nature disasters, a harsh climate, and limited infrastructure, provided a bedrock of resilience with which to tackle the pandemic. This underpinned the sustainability of the communities, and flexible approaches to work and education constrained some of the worst potential effects of social distancing and isolation. Nevertheless, some socio-demographic groups remained harder hit than others, including the elderly in nursing homes and non-Icelandic speaking foreigners, who were marginalized via isolation and lack of information provision in the early, most severe outbreaks of COVID-19. The study demonstrated the coping mechanisms and solutions that were adopted to sustain subjective and community well-being, whilst reinforcing the importance of utilizing local community strengths in tackling the many challenges induced by a pandemic crisis. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Unknown Sustainability 15 1 332 |
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community pandemic sustainable well-being health capital envir demo |
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community pandemic sustainable well-being health capital envir demo David Cook Lára Jóhannsdóttir Sarah Kendall Catherine Chambers Mauricio Latapí COVID-19 and Well-Being in Remote Coastal Communities—A Case Study from Iceland |
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community pandemic sustainable well-being health capital envir demo |
description |
This study utilizes a recently developed framework for the well-being economy to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 in the sparsely populated Westfjords region of northwestern Iceland. A total of 42 semi-structured interviews were conducted with a broad spectrum of local community members, nearly all undertaken in October 2021. Local impacts to human and social capital were very evident, whilst economic consequences to individuals and business were largely mitigated through national economic packages. The remoteness of the Westfjords and pre-existing challenges, such as exposure to nature disasters, a harsh climate, and limited infrastructure, provided a bedrock of resilience with which to tackle the pandemic. This underpinned the sustainability of the communities, and flexible approaches to work and education constrained some of the worst potential effects of social distancing and isolation. Nevertheless, some socio-demographic groups remained harder hit than others, including the elderly in nursing homes and non-Icelandic speaking foreigners, who were marginalized via isolation and lack of information provision in the early, most severe outbreaks of COVID-19. The study demonstrated the coping mechanisms and solutions that were adopted to sustain subjective and community well-being, whilst reinforcing the importance of utilizing local community strengths in tackling the many challenges induced by a pandemic crisis. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
David Cook Lára Jóhannsdóttir Sarah Kendall Catherine Chambers Mauricio Latapí |
author_facet |
David Cook Lára Jóhannsdóttir Sarah Kendall Catherine Chambers Mauricio Latapí |
author_sort |
David Cook |
title |
COVID-19 and Well-Being in Remote Coastal Communities—A Case Study from Iceland |
title_short |
COVID-19 and Well-Being in Remote Coastal Communities—A Case Study from Iceland |
title_full |
COVID-19 and Well-Being in Remote Coastal Communities—A Case Study from Iceland |
title_fullStr |
COVID-19 and Well-Being in Remote Coastal Communities—A Case Study from Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
COVID-19 and Well-Being in Remote Coastal Communities—A Case Study from Iceland |
title_sort |
covid-19 and well-being in remote coastal communities—a case study from iceland |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010332 https://doaj.org/article/64ddc2cab5604e698d72f8cbaeeeae90 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Sustainability, Vol 15, Iss 332, p 332 (2022) |
op_relation |
doi:10.3390/su15010332 2071-1050 https://doaj.org/article/64ddc2cab5604e698d72f8cbaeeeae90 |
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op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010332 |
container_title |
Sustainability |
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15 |
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1 |
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332 |
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1766038282290855936 |