The Ivalo River and its people: There have always been floods - What is different now?

Abstract

The Ivalo River and its annual variation have always been a part of the everyday life of the nearby town's inhabitants. This case study looks at the history of flooding and closely analyses the latest major flood of 2005. The development of the community, with particular respect to increase of infrastructure, has left the community more vulnerable to flooding than before. The case study discovers that the critical issue for adaptation to flood risk is communication within the community between local people, decision-makers and regional actors involved with flood protection. Adaptation to future flooding needs a multilevel and flexible strategy. The analysis integrates anthropological, political and natural science information. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.