Arctic sustainability research: toward a new agenda

Petrov, Andrey N.; BurnSilver, Shauna; Chapin, F. Stuart; Fondahl, Gail; Graybill, Jessica K.; Keil, Kathrin; Nilsson, Annika E.; Riedlsperger, Rudolf; Schweitzer, Peter

doi:10.1080/1088937x.2016.1217095

Cited by 35 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Climate change causes cascading effects and feedbacks that can accelerate change and spread impacts through social-ecological systems (SES) (ACIA 2004;Carmack et al 2012;Larsen et al 2014;Petrov et al 2016)such as the cascading effects of sea ice loss on cultural values (e.g., ICC-Canada 2008;Eicken et al 2009;ICC 2010), that of shifting marine food webs on commercial fisheries (Arctic Council 2016), or the feedbacks caused by the interactions of climate change with shipping and pollution (e.g., Bennett et al 2015;Larsen and Fondahl 2015). Such cascades can provoke surprising outcomes (Adger et al 2005) that may erode resilience (the capacity of ecosystems and people to buffer and adapt to shocks, such as climate change and other human-caused pressures; e.g., Biggs et al 2012;Carmack et al 2012;Arctic Council 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, the Arctic Councilthe leading intergovernmental forum on Arctic issueshas called for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary science (i.e., which crosses disciplinary boundaries (interdisciplinary) and involves non-academic knowledge systems (transdisciplinary), both considered as integrative; Tress et al 2005) that reflects the intertwined nature of Arctic SES for guiding adaptation, management, and resilience building (PAME 2014(PAME , 2017CAFF 2015;Arctic Council 2016;SEI and SRC 2017). However, such integrative science is impeded by the lack of a common framework to reconcile the multiple terminologies and methods used to study the impacts of climate change on Arctic ecosystems and peoples (Arctic Council 2016;Petrov et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Towards integrated knowledge of climate change in Arctic marine systems: a systematic literature review of multidisciplinary research

Falardeau

Bennett

2020

Arctic Science

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Climate change affects Arctic marine ecosystems, the ecosystem services they provide, and the human well-being that relies on these services. The impacts of climate change in the Arctic and elsewhere involve cascading effects and feedbacks that flow across social-ecological systems (SES), such as when sea ice loss alters food security through changes in the distribution of marine animals. These cascades and feedbacks across social and ecological systems can exacerbate the effects of climate change or lead to surprising outcomes. Identifying where cascades and feedbacks may occur in SES can help anticipate, or even prevent unexpected outcomes of climate change, and lead to improved policy responses. Here, we perform a systematic literature review of multidisciplinary Arctic research to determine the state of knowledge of the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. Then, in a case study corresponding to Inuit regions, we use network analysis to integrate research into a SES perspective and identify which linkages have been most versus least studied, and whether some potential cascades and feedbacks have been overlooked. Finally, we propose ways forward to advance knowledge of changing Arctic marine SES, including transdisciplinary approaches involving multiple disciplines and the collaboration of Indigenous and local knowledge holders.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards integrated knowledge of climate change in Arctic marine systems: a systematic literature review of multidisciplinary research

Falardeau

Bennett

2020

Arctic Science

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“…Research designs in environmental social science have shifted over the past several decades to include an increased commitment to multi-, inter-, and trans-disciplinary team-based work that prioritizes knowledge integration (Ens et al 2015;Housty et al 2014;Jamsranjav et al 2019;Petrov et al 2016;Velasquez Runk 2014). These changes have led to an attentiveness to power and equity in the substantive aspects of research programs directed toward complex more-than-human political ecologies, and the adoption of more engaged forms of practice, including decolonial approaches (Cote and Nightingale 2012;Schulz 2017;Svarstad, Benjaminsen and Overå 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political ecology and decolonial research: co-production with the Iñupiat in Utqiaġvik

Zanotti

Carothers

Apok

et al. 2020

Journal of Political Ecology

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Environmental social science research designs have shifted over the past several decades to include an increased commitment to multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary team-based work that have had dual but complementary foci. These address power and equity in the substantive aspects of research, and also to adopt more engaged forms of practice, including decolonial approaches. The fields of political ecology, human geography, and environmental anthropology have been especially open to converge with indigenous scholarship, particularly decolonial and settler colonial theories and research designs, within dominant human-environmental social science paradigms. Scholars at the forefront of this dialogue highlight the ontological (ways of knowing), epistemological (how we know), and institutional (institutions of higher education) transformations that need to occur in order for this to take place. In this article we contribute to this literature in two ways. First, we highlight the synergies between political ecology and decolonial scholarship, particularly focusing on the power dynamics in research programs and historical legacies of human-environmental relationships, including those of researchers. Second, we explore how decolonial research pushes political ecologists and other environmental social scientists to not only consider adopting international and local standards of working with, by and for Indigenous Peoples within research programs but how this work ultimately extends to research and education within their home institutions and organizations. Through integrating decolonized research practices in the environmental social sciences, we argue that synthesizing multiple knowledge practices and transforming institutional structures will enhance team-based environmental social science work to improve collaboration with Indigenous scientists, subsistence practitioners, agency representatives, and sovereign members of Indigenous communities.Keywords: Alaska; collaboration; co-production; decolonial; Indigenous Knowledges; Iñupiaq Peoples

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“…Greenland, Arctic North America, and East Arctic Russia are regions where the indigenous population is around half or majority of the population, with lower shares in the other Arctic regions. The emphasis in Arctic research towards the peculiarities of the region rather than the general issues, such as focusing on indigenous issues and rural lifestyles, has been criticized by Petrov et al [49] from the perspectives of Arctic sustainability.…”

Section: Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Impact Assessment in the Arctic: Challenges and Research Needs

Pettersen

Song

2017

Sustainability

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Life cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly used for environmental assessment of products and production processes to support environmental decision-making both worldwide and in the Arctic. However, there are several weaknesses in the impact assessment methodology in LCA, e.g., related to uncertainties of impact assessment results, absence of spatial differentiation in characterization modeling, and gaps in the coverage of impact pathways of different "archetypal" environments. Searching for a new resource base and areas for operation, marine and marine-based industries are continuously moving north, which underlines the need for better life cycle impact assessment in the Arctic, particularly to aid in industrial environmental management systems and stakeholder communications. This paper aims to investigate gaps and challenges in the application of the currently available impact assessment methods in the Arctic context. A simplified Arctic mining LCA case study was carried out to demonstrate the relevance of Arctic emissions at the midpoint and endpoint levels, as well as possible influences of the Arctic context on the impact assessment results. Results of this study showed that significant research gaps remain in Arctic-dependent life cycle impact assessment, particularly on: (i) the possible influences of the Arctic-specific features on characterization factors for impact assessment (such as seasonality, cold climate, precipitation, and marine dependence); and (ii) the coverage of impact pathways, especially on the under-addressed marine impacts and marine/near-shore dispersion processes. Addressing those identified research gaps and demand for future Arctic life cycle impact assessment could increase the credibility of LCA as an environmental decision-making support tool for Arctic industries and better support sustainable Arctic development.

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Arctic sustainability research: toward a new agenda

Cited by 35 publications

References 20 publications

Towards integrated knowledge of climate change in Arctic marine systems: a systematic literature review of multidisciplinary research

Towards integrated knowledge of climate change in Arctic marine systems: a systematic literature review of multidisciplinary research

Political ecology and decolonial research: co-production with the Iñupiat in Utqiaġvik

Life Cycle Impact Assessment in the Arctic: Challenges and Research Needs

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