Permafrost thaw: scoping the cultural and material dimensions at risk in Sakha Republic (Russia)

• Main Authors: Doloisio, Natalia, Vanderlinden², Jean-Paul
• Other Authors: Cultures, Environnements, Arctique, Représentations, Climat (CEARC), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: permafrost; climate change; Sakha Republic; narrative; Risk; Siberia; risk 6; [SDE.ES]Environmental Sciences/Environment and Society; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences; Arctic; Sakha; Yakutsk; Climate change; République de Sakha; pergélisol
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-02372886; https://hal.science/hal-02372886/document; https://hal.science/hal-02372886/file/PAPER_DOLOISIO_VANDERLINDEN_V_final.pdf

Changes with regard to climate and permafrost are giving rise to new, interrelated processes and stressors, which in turn are creating new risk patterns for Arctic communities. Obtaining an increased knowledge of these new risks could be a starting point for understanding the opportunities for, and implications of, possible solutions. This article focuses on the social representations of permafrost thaw among people who were born or live in different regions of Sakha Republic (Russia). In this sense, our research aims to obtain a better understanding of the new risk patterns through the collection and subsequent analysis of narratives of personal experiences in order to identify the main concerns, how these are defined and framed and which coping strategies are considered by local inhabitants. We conducted fieldwork in Yakutsk (the capital city of Sakha Republic) in order to meet and interview a wide range of stakeholders including, among others, governmental authorities, people working in or representing research institutions, indigenous people, students and reindeer herders.