Exploring community resilience through Arctic residents’ narratives in the Republic of Sakha (Russia)

Natalia Doloisio*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This article uses the Resilient Community Development frame to explore how the residents from two coastal settlements in the Russian Arctic cope with the long-term effects of climate change, permafrost thaw and challenging socio-economic conditions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2019 in Tiksi and Bykovsky (Republic of Sakha, Russia). These narratives were coded and qualitatively analyzed using the aforementioned framing as a guideline. This article shows that migration, mobility, culture, history, identity and extended networks play a key role in the way that these residents cope with disturbances and upheavals. Sharing past experiences and specific ways to interact with their natural environment, other neighbors and the land they live in are pivotal for the local social configuration and can underpin identity processes. This analysis demonstrates that residents’ narratives regarding socio-economic challenges, climate change and permafrost thaw can inform us about short-term concerns, but also how to enhance long-term community resilience.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)135-150
Number of pages16
JournalAmbio
Volume54
Issue number1
Early online date10 Oct 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

Funding

The research leading to these results received funding from the Nunataryuk project under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme and under grant agreement no. 773421. It has also received funds from the SeMPER Arctic project, funded via the Belmont Forum by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) under grant agreement ALWPP.1. This work was supported by Universiteit Utrecht.

FundersFunder number
Nunataryuk project under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme773421
SeMPER Arctic project via the Belmont Forum by the Dutch Research Council (NWO)ALWPP.1
Universiteit Utrecht

    Keywords

    • Climate change
    • Community resilience
    • Narratives
    • Permafrost thaw
    • Republic of Sakha

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