Medieval Iceland, Greenland, and the New Human Condition: A case study in integrated environmental humanities

This paper contributes to recent studies exploring the longue durée of human impacts on island landscapes, the impacts of climate and other environmental changes on human communities, and the interaction of human societies and their environments at different spatial and temporal scales. In particular, the paper addresses Iceland during the medieval period (with a secondary, comparative focus on Norse Greenland) and discusses episodes where environmental and climatic changes have appeared to cross key thresholds for agricultural productivity. The paper draws upon international, interdisciplinary research in the North Atlantic region led by the North Atlantic Biocultural Organization (NABO) and the Nordic Network for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (NIES) in the Circumpolar Networks program of the Integrated History and Future of People on Earth (IHOPE). By interlinking analyses of historically grounded literature with archaeological studies and environmental science, valuable new perspectives can emerge on how these past societies may have understood and coped with such impacts. As climate and other environmental changes do not operate in isolation, vulnerabilities created by socioeconomic factors also beg consideration. The paper illustrates the benefits of an integrated environmental-studies approach that draws on data, methodologies and analytical tools of environmental humanities, social sciences, and geosciences to better understand long-term human ecodynamics and changing human-landscape-environment interactions through time. One key goal is to apply previously unused data and concerted expertise to illuminate human responses to past changes; a secondary aim is to consider how lessons derived from these cases may be applicable to environmental threats and socioecological risks in the future, especially as understood in light of the New Human Condition, the concept transposed from Hannah Arendt's influential framing of the human condition that is foregrounded in the present special issue. This conception admits human agency's role in altering the conditions for life on earth, in large measure negatively, while acknowledging the potential of this self-same agency, if effectively harnessed and properly directed, to sustain essential planetary conditions through a salutary transformation of human perception, understanding and remedial action. The paper concludes that more long-term historical analyses of cultures and environments need to be undertaken at various scales. Past cases do not offer perfect analogues for the future, but they can contribute to a better understanding of how resilience and vulnerability occur, as well as how they may be compromised or mitigated

Living conditions and mental wellness in a changing climate and environment : Focus on community voices and perceived environmental and adaptation factors in Greenland

Background Climate change is a major global challenge, especially for Indigenous communities. It can have extensive impacts on peoples’ lives that may occur through the living environment, health and mental well-being, and which are requiring constant adaptation. Objectives The overall purpose of this research was to evaluate the impacts of climate change and permafrost thaw on mental wellness in Disko Bay, Greenland. It contained two parts: multidisciplinary fieldwork and a questionnaire survey. The aim of the fieldwork was to learn about life and living conditions and to understand what it is like to live in a community that faces impacts of climate change and permafrost thaw. For the questionnaire the aim was to find out which perceived environmental and adaptation factors relate to very good self-rated well-being, quality of life and satisfaction with life. Analysis Fieldwork data was analyzed by following a thematic analysis, and questionnaire data statistically by cross-tabulation. First, the associations between perceived environmental and adaptation factors were studied either by the Pearson χ2 test or by Fisher's exact test. Second, binary logistic regression analysis was applied to examine more in depth the associations between perceived environmental/adaptation variables and self-rated very good well-being, satisfaction with life and quality of life. The binary logistic regression analysis was conducted in two phases: as univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Nature and different activities in nature were found to be important to local people, and results suggest that they increase mental wellness, specifically well-being and satisfaction with life. Challenges associated with permafrost thaw, such as changes in the physical environment, infrastructure and impacts on culture were recognized in everyday life. Conclusions The results offer relevant information for further plans and actions in this field of research and at the policy level. Our study shows the importance of multidisciplinary research which includes the voice of local communities.Peer reviewe

Value Chains and Resilient Coastal Communities in the Nordic Atlantic

This report presents new and updated knowledge about Nordic coastal communities and their socio-economic situation. We investigate key structures and value chains in eight coastal communities in Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes, and Norway. The report highlights local variations in the interaction between value chains and local resilience and provides a comparative perspective. The report uncovers new trends and important development characteristics for Nordic coastal communities, with diversification, continued household-based activities and person-specific factors found to be key for success in business life and for resilience at the local level. Our results also call into question some of the challenges and conventional truths facing coastal community development in a period where solutions are being sought for sustainability and the climate challenge

Living conditions and mental wellness in a changing climate and environment:focus on community voices and perceived environmental and adaptation factors in Greenland

Abstract Background: Climate change is a major global challenge, especially for Indigenous communities. It can have extensive impacts on peoples’ lives that may occur through the living environment, health and mental well-being, and which are requiring constant adaptation. Objectives: The overall purpose of this research was to evaluate the impacts of climate change and permafrost thaw on mental wellness in Disko Bay, Greenland. It contained two parts: multidisciplinary fieldwork and a questionnaire survey. The aim of the fieldwork was to learn about life and living conditions and to understand what it is like to live in a community that faces impacts of climate change and permafrost thaw. For the questionnaire the aim was to find out which perceived environmental and adaptation factors relate to very good self-rated well-being, quality of life and satisfaction with life. Analysis: Fieldwork data was analyzed by following a thematic analysis, and questionnaire data statistically by cross-tabulation. First, the associations between perceived environmental and adaptation factors were studied either by the Pearson χ² test or by Fisher's exact test. Second, binary logistic regression analysis was applied to examine more in depth the associations between perceived environmental/adaptation variables and self-rated very good well-being, satisfaction with life and quality of life. The binary logistic regression analysis was conducted in two phases: as univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: Nature and different activities in nature were found to be important to local people, and results suggest that they increase mental wellness, specifically well-being and satisfaction with life. Challenges associated with permafrost thaw, such as changes in the physical environment, infrastructure and impacts on culture were recognized in everyday life. Conclusions: The results offer relevant information for further plans and actions in this field of research and at the policy level. Our study shows the importance of multidisciplinary research which includes the voice of local communities

Thawing permafrost in arctic coastal communities: A framework for studying risks from climate change

International audienceThawing permafrost creates risks to the environment, economy and culture in Arctic coastal communities. Identification of these risks and the inclusion of the societal context and the relevant stakeholder involvement is crucial in risk management and for future sustainability, yet the dual dimensions of risk and risk perception is often ignored in conceptual risk frameworks. In this paper we present a risk framework for Arctic coastal communities. Our framework builds on the notion of the dual dimensions of risk, as both physically and socially constructed, and it places risk perception and the coproduction of risk management with local stakeholders as central com-ponents into the model. Central to our framework is the importance of multidisciplinary collabora-tion. A conceptual model and processual framework with a description of successive steps is developed to facilitate the identification of risks of thawing permafrost in a collaboration between local communities and scientists. Our conceptual framework motivates coproduction of risk management with locals in the identification of these risks from permafrost thaw and the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies

The Political Economy of Northern Regional Development : Vol. I

“….Taking the structure and functioning of the Arctic regional economies and the degree of economic dependence as a point of departure, these region's self-reliance and comparative socio-economic performance is analyzed. The fundamental problem is still the dependency Arctic regions have on their mother economies in the south” “….the impact from climate changes and the global economy strongly influence the self-sufficiency constraints and potentials of the Arctic societies. Traditional approaches to economic valuation may not be sufficient to capture these relationships. Neo-classical economics and the trade off model look upon nature as a good commensurable with all other goods, and henceforward there is a substitution possibility. The rational self-interest and 'homo economicus' is however, not the same as responsible self-interest included in ecological economics. This suggests broader approaches to environmental uncertainties, which take into account ethical values and conflicts of interest”. Contributors: Hans Aage, Iulie Aslaksen, Andrée Caron, Gérard Duhaime, Solveig Glomsröd, Jón Haukur Ingimundarson, Ivar Jonsson, Jack Kruse, Joan Nymand Larsen, Svein Mathiesen, Anna Ingeborg Myhr, Birger Poppel, Rasmus Ole Rasmussen, Erik Reinert, Hugo Reinert, Chris Southcott, Gorm Winther, Lyudmila Zalkind

Thawing permafrost in Arctic coastal communities:a framework for studying risks from climate change

Abstract Thawing permafrost creates risks to the environment, economy and culture in Arctic coastal communities. Identification of these risks and the inclusion of the societal context and the relevant stakeholder involvement is crucial in risk management and for future sustainability, yet the dual dimensions of risk and risk perception is often ignored in conceptual risk frameworks. In this paper we present a risk framework for Arctic coastal communities. Our framework builds on the notion of the dual dimensions of risk, as both physically and socially constructed, and it places risk perception and the coproduction of risk management with local stakeholders as central components into the model. Central to our framework is the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration. A conceptual model and processual framework with a description of successive steps is developed to facilitate the identification of risks of thawing permafrost in a collaboration between local communities and scientists. Our conceptual framework motivates coproduction of risk management with locals in the identification of these risks from permafrost thaw and the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies