Resilience in the Theory and Practice of Arctic Communities’ Adaptation to Environmental Challenges

Abstract

The aim of this study is to describe the individual and collective characteristics of the rural population of the Russian Arctic, which determine their vital activity and are internal factors of adaptation to climate change. The scientific novelty of the study consists in describing the phenomenon of resilience on the example of island and coastal communities of the Primorskiy district of the Arkhangelsk Oblast, which are characterized by high natural and socio-economic instability. Based on the empirical data, it is shown that the territorial and socio-cultural integrity of the living space of local communities, the integrality of self-existence and self-consciousness of local residents, cooperative coexistence, as well as proactivity of life support create the foundation for the resilience of local communities and contribute to their social ad-aptation to the effects of climate change. Particular attention is paid to the issue of understanding the culture of mobility of northern communities in the face of increasing cases of adverse weather events due to climate change. Based on the results of an empirical study, an approach to adaptation to climate change based on the use of the knowledge potential of local communities is proposed. The results of the study can be used to develop the theory of the development of the North of Russia, as well as the development of specific measures for adaptation to climate change at the local level.