Rethinking Sustainability Monitoring in the Arctic by Linking Resilience and Sustainable Development in Socially-Oriented Observations: A Perspective

Abstract

Monitoring of social-ecological systems dynamics and sustainability is of high importance in a rapidly changing Arctic. The goal of this essay is to discuss and articulate the principles for designing a suitable Arctic sustainability monitoring framework based on the convergence between resilience thinking and sustainable development paradigms. We propose to integrate sustainability monitoring into the socially-oriented observations (SOO) methodologies in order to design Arctic sustainability monitoring as a transdisciplinary participatory activity that results in both co-production of sustainability knowledge and building more sustainable and resilient Arctic social-ecological systems by enabling continuous observation and informed decision-making. Special attention is given to approaches for developing sustainability indicators to monitor trends in Arctic social-ecological systems. It is argued that sustainability monitoring is a valuable component of the Arctic sustainability knowledge system that integrates social and natural sciences and engages Indigenous, local, and traditional knowledge, entrepreneurship, education, and decision-making. Bringing together diverse knowledge systems is the primary route to collectively pursue sustainability in a holistic, polycentric, multifaceted, participatory, and knowledge-driven manner. Transdisciplinary SOO approaches and methods are specifically discussed.

Towards an Arctic Sustainability Monitoring Framework

“…The authors highlight the need for initiatives that can support bottom-up processes for identifying locally relevant sustainable development indicators that could serve as a way to engage Arctic residents and other regional and local actors in shaping the future of Arctic communities, within a global sustainability context. The value and the role of participatory sustainability monitoring are also emphasized by other authors of this issue [1,2].…”

“…Vlasova et al [2] draw attention to long-term sustainability monitoring through the implementation of socially-oriented observations (SOO). They discuss the principles for designing a suitable Arctic sustainability monitoring framework based on the convergence between the resilience thinking and sustainable development paradigms and elucidate potential approaches and methods to define sustainability indicators.…”

“…They discuss the principles for designing a suitable Arctic sustainability monitoring framework based on the convergence between the resilience thinking and sustainable development paradigms and elucidate potential approaches and methods to define sustainability indicators. This interaction could occur as a part of transdisciplinary sustainability monitoring activities, as designed by socially-oriented observations, which couple together sustainable development goals (SDG) and resilience assessment in defining and observing sustainability indicators [2].…”

“…As argued in this special issue [2], one possible way forward to implementing these approaches is to develop the Arctic Sustainability Monitoring Network (ASMON). It can capitalize on the experiences of the socially-oriented observations (SOO), Arctic Social Indicators, and other initiatives, described in the issue.…”

A Quest for a Sustainable Social Enterprise Model: The Case of Amphawa Chaipattananurak, the Kingdom of Thailand

“…It was used in the field of ecology in the research by Holling, who defined resilience as "a measure of the persistence of systems and of their ability to absorb change and disturbance and still maintain the same relationships between populations or state variables" in the 1970s [56]. In the social studies field, resilience is often mentioned in sustainable development as "the ability of a system to absorb disturbances and retain its basic function and structure" [54][55][56][57]. According to SEP, resilience is the ability to bounce back from external impacts.…”