Waters that matter:How human-environment relations are changing in high-Arctic Svalbard

• Main Author: Sokolickova, Zdenka
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; New Lakes; Svalbard; Sea ice; Tundra
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/11370/6b8e7750-9201-43fa-999a-1c18cc5867ca; https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/6b8e7750-9201-43fa-999a-1c18cc5867ca; https://assw.info/program/assw-2023-program

There is scientific consensus the archipelago of Svalbard warms up faster than other parts of the planet. People who live in or regularly visit this part of the European high Arctic experience these changes in a subjective and relational manner, building up experiential knowledge. Through accounts shared during interviews and focus groups with mostly scientists, technicians and tour guides, we explore notions of water in its various forms, esp. sea ice, glaciers, snow, but also rivers, water in tundra and weather phenomena including rain. We focus on waters' agencies, such as disappearing, melting, swelling, wettening, freezing, eroding, appearing and threatenting, and discuss what the observed and experienced changes mean for human-water relations in Svalbard. While some waterscapes are perceived as diminishing, e.g. sea ice, snow cover and glaciers, other phenomena (such as new lakes and other topographic modifications, avalanches, heavy river flows, ice-covered tundra and early warm spells) emerged. Changes in both directions impact life and work in Svalbard, and transform how people relate to the place, e.g. how they move in the terrain (mobility for both life and work) and how the discourse of safety develops within a less stable and less predictable environment. Increasing difficulties people experience when trying to foresee and plan their activities speak for supporting monitoring programmes. Yet scientific knowledge cannot substitute experiential knowledge; they feed into each other. While observing trends is hard, people have no doubts about striking differences between years. Both aspects of knowing and understanding the place amidst environmental change have value for those who live, work or travel on Svalbard.