4.9. Keskitalo
- Deutsch | English
Keynote Presentations from the 1st ALTER-Net Summer School, Peyresq 27 August - 8 September 2006
Speaker: Carina Keskitalo
Carina.Keskitalo -at- pol.umu.se
Department of Political Science, Umeå University, 901 87 Umeå, Sweden
Title of the talk: Stakeholders´ narratives of vulnerability and adaptive capacity. A multiple-impacts study design and application (pdf: 500KB)
Summary of the talk by Maria Piquer Rodriguez: Students´ summary (pdf)
Abstract
Vulnerability and adaptive capacity to change are location-specific, and many decisions regarding climate-induced risks are made at the local and regional levels. This makes it necessary to survey stakeholders’ understandings of their situation and perceived problems. Assessments should also include other ongoing changes, such as globalisation, that may impact communities’ vulnerability.
This paper presents a methodology and application for vulnerability assessment in the cases of climate change and globalisation, where stakeholders have themselves described the overarching socio-economic and political trends that impact them, and their capacity to adapt to specified climate change impacts put in lay terms. The assessment has been carried out through a combination of literature surveys, some 60 interviews with stakeholders and six stakeholder meetings, covering the reindeer herding, forestry and fishing sectors in three case areas: the Piteå, Kemi and Tana river basins, in northern Sweden, Finland and Norway, respectively.
The assessment is able to show upon the effects of not only local and regional but also international, EU and national level decisions on the sectors, illustrating that vulnerability and especially adaptive capacity must be conceived of in a multi-level governance framework. It also shows upon the need to focus on stakeholders’ conceptions of their situations, for which climate change as such plays a relatively limited part in determining vulnerability, and outside factors such as globalisation, international norms and market demands are more important for their decision-making.
Recommended background literature on this presentation:
- IPCC 2001 Chapter 1. Overview of Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability to Climate Change http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg2/054.htm
- IPCC 2001 Chapter 18. Adaptation to Climate Change in the Context of Sustainable Development and Equity http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg2/641.htm
- The BALANCE Stakeholder portal web page, at www.northportal.info describes some of the information I presented.
