Understanding the need for adaptation in a natural resource dependent community in Northern Norway: issue salience, knowledge and values

Abstract

For society to effectively manage climate change impacts, the need to adapt must be recognized. At the same time there is a disconnect between knowledge and action on climate change. The salience of adaptation to climate change may be a precondition for action, but this issue has so far been neglected in the adaptation literature. This indicates a missing link between perception, values and world-views, on one side, and policy formation on the other. The article analyses how actors in three occupational groups in a natural resource dependent community in northern Norway perceive and respond to changes in weather and resource conditions, as well as projections for future climate. The results indicate that the need to adapt is perceived differently, if at all, amongst different actors. By drawing on concepts from governance literatures and cultural theory of risks (CTR), the paper seeks to explain this divergence in perceptions and responses amongst different actors, which can help policymakers understand when and why autonomous actors are willing to adapt. We find that adaptation to climate change cannot readily be expected among actors who fit the individualist category of CTR, who do not directly utilize scientific knowledge when in their work.

Sustainable coasts? Perceptions of change and livelihood vulnerability in Nordland, Norway

“…As the farmers depend on increasingly heavy equipment for farming larger land areas including more rented land plots, to meet the demands for increased productivity, seasonal shifts in temperature and precipitation challenge these farmers' operations. Similar to findings from other parts of northern Norway (Kvalvik et al 2011;Hovelsrud, West and Dannevig 2015;Dannevig & Hovelsrud 2016), the farmers relate the current environmental challenges to their dependency on increasingly heavy equipment, which damage the soil when it is saturated with water from increased precipitation. While being used to weather fluctuations and variable production years, the farmers emphasise the negative impacts following more frequent heavy rainfalls, hindering daily operations:…”

“…The Norwegian government's view of the maritime industries' ability to adjust to change corresponds with several research findings of the inherent flexibility of nature-based livelihoods in northern, coastal communities West and Hovelsrud 2010;Amundsen 2012Amundsen , 2013Dannevig and Hovelsrud 2016). What some of these studies concurrently highlight, however, is how intersectional effects of various drivers of change, as well as current policy and management strategies, may constrain the potential for sustaining vital livelihood flexibilities Rybråten and Hovelsrud 2010).…”

Failing adaptation in island contexts: the growing need for transformational change

“…Anxiety about slow-onset climate change is difficult to document formally (Bourque & Willox, 2014). This is especially true both in communal societies (like those on many such islands) and by outsiders who inevitably lack sufficient cultural understanding to identify the presence or otherwise of such anxiety; a recent debate on the framing of climate change by fishers in the Lofoten Islands (Norway) exemplifies the latter point (Dannevig & Hovelsrud, 2016;Bercht, 2017). In many places, the situation is clearer for (rapid-onset) natural disasters, where traumatised survivors have often benefited from counselling, although in poorer-island contexts comparatively little has been formally reported (Sattler, 2017).…”

Agronomic practices and adaptive strategies of the farmers to climate change in central Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

“…The importance of adaptation has also been recently recognized as the missing link to bridge short-run impacts to long-run interpolation [21]. It seems to be the most efficient and effective mean to the farmers to cope with the impacts of climate changes [22,23]. It has the potential to reduce adverse impacts of climate change and to enhance beneficial impacts [24].…”