Transcript Arctic socio-economic systems Impacts of Change on

The Role of Social Sciences in the
Arctic in the 21st Century
Gail Fondahl, PhD
President, IASSA
The Arctic in the First Decade of the 21st Century:
Between Competition and Cooperation
23 November 2012 Wroclaw, Poland
The Role of Social Sciences in the Arctic
Key Realizations
• Fundamental causes and
consequences of change in
the Arctic are social
• Solutions to deleterious
effects of change are also
social
• Integration of social and
natural sciences is essential
Map of Today’s Talk
• Key Changes in Arctic:
Social Science Dimensions
• Key Arctic Social Science
Organizations
It’s about climate change
– and more
Climate change in the Arctic
• Consequences of climate change
are primarily social
• Need to better understand
– What factors influence individual &
collective responses
– Political responses to climate change
– Role of values, beliefs in perceptions
of climate change
– Capacities to adapt (across space,
ethnicity, gender, etc)
SOCIAL SCIENCE ISSUES
Beyond Climate Change:
Rapid Socio-Economic Change
 Demographic Change
 Economic Change
 Political Change
 Cultural Change
 Changes in Well-Being
Who Lives in the Arctic?
• Approx 4 M people
• Approx 8% Indigenous (over
40 linguistic groups)
• Highly urbanized
• A few large centres; rest of
population in very small,
widely dispersed settlements
Demographic
Change
• Declining
Population in
Many Areas
• Outmigration
of
Young/Worki
ng Age
Demographic
Change
• Increased
Urbanisation
• Growing
Imbalance in
Sex Ratio
• Growing Ethnic
Diversity
The Arctic
Economy
 International
Resource
Economy
 Transfer
Economy
 Traditional
Economy
Key Changes in the Arctic Economy
 Commoditization
 Privatization
 Geographical Concentration (continued)
 Questions of Access, Benefits
Distribution, Sustainability
Changes in the Arctic Economy, cont’d
 Global rise in raw
materials prices
 Increased
demand from East
Asia
Increased Accessibility
as a Driver of Change
Climate change, political change
 Increased Shipping
 Fisheries: Growth, Changes
 Increased
Mineral/Hydrocarbon
Extraction
 Increased Tourism
Political Change
 End of cold war = reduced military tensions,
cooperation
 Decreased tensions – and relative situation
related to other areas of globe
– impacting desirability of resources, transport
routes
 New governance regimes
Culture Change
 Mandatory Schooling, Inmigration, Urbanisation,
Wage Labor
 Communications
Technologies, Social Media
 Mass Media/Global Culture
 Cultural Stress
 Cultural Adaptation,
‘Fusion’
Well-Being:
Improvements, Heightened Disparities
 Improved Health Services
Introduction of New Diseases
High Rates of ‘Social Pathologies’,
Mental Illnesses
Arctic Social Sciences: Contributions
• Understanding drivers of change; complexities
of processes
• Identification of trends; measuring human
development in the Arctic
• Co-production of knowledge with local
residents/stakeholders
• Building partnerships with natural scientists
for integrated research
• Delivery of relevant knowledge to decisionmakers, policy bodies, Arctic residents
Arctic Social Sciences: Key
International Organizations
• International Arctic Social
Sciences Association
• International Arctic
Sciences Committee
– Social & Human Working
Group
• University of the Arctic
• Arctic Council Sustainable
Development Working
Group
• Bottom-up
• Circumpolar +
• Encourages
interdisciplinary,
trans-disciplinary
research (including via
ICASS)
• Members involved in
key Arctic Social
Science Projects
Other
6%
USA
19%
Canada
19%
Denmark
3%
Greenland
2%
Finland
4%
France
Germany 4%
UK
3%
Sweden
3%
2%
Russia
24%
Iceland
7%
Norway
4%
Social & Human Sciences Working Group
Scientific Foci
Indigenous peoples and change: adaptation
and cultural and power dynamics
Histories and methodologies of
arctic sciences and arts
Human health and well-being
Cross-cutting
Human health, wellbeing and
ecosystem change
People and coastal processes
Perceptions and representations of arctic science
Steering Group
Chair: Peter Schweitzer
Vice-Chair: Sylvie Blangy
Vice-Chair: Gail Fondahl Past Chair: Louwrens Hacquebord
Exploitation of natural resources:
past, present, future
Perceptions and
representations of the Arctic
Security, international law and cooperation
Collaborative community research
on climate change
Competing forms of resource use
in a changing environment
• Recognizes key social
science projects
– Arctic Human
Development Report-2
– Arctic Social Indicators
Project
• Observer status for key
Arctic Organizations
• Social, Economic, Cultural
Expert Group (under
discussion)
Arctic Social Sciences:
Looking Forward
• How do we make decisions in the face of
uncertainty?
– Key information from social sciences
• Critical to addressing challenges
– in changing human-environment relations
– In changing spheres of economy, politics, culture
Thank you