Community adaptation and vulnerability integrated

Abstract

The goal of the CAVIAR project is two-pronged: capturing the particular social and environmental conditions that combine to create exposure- sensitivities and require adaptation in case study communities across the Arctic; and applying a common framework that anchors integration of results in a pan-Arctic assessment of community vulnerability and adaptability. At the core of the CAVIAR project is designing and framing the research in collaboration with the local communities allowing us to understand the particular processes and conditions in each locale, which is a prerequisite for understanding adaptation and vulnerability to change. This undertaking has required a fundamentally interdisciplinary collaboration, across and between social and natural sciences, and between scientific and local/traditional knowledge. By involving the local communities in setting the parameters of the research we have identified the aspects of Arctic communities (such as livelihoods, income, social interactions) that are susceptible to changing conditions. The purpose of integration, on the basis of the case specific particularities, is to generalise the processes and conditions which shape vulnerabilities in the Arctic, and gain insights into adaptive capacity to deal with future changes. It is clear that the lives and livelihoods of people in the Arctic are sensitive to the effects of a changing climate, but they are also sensitive to changing economic, institutional and social conditions. While natural resource based livelihood dependence had a large share of attention, other prominent issues included municipal services, infrastructure and the impacts of industrial expansion. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.