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There is scientific consensus that the archipelago of Svalbard is warming up faster than other parts of the planet. People who live in or regularly visit this part of the European high Arctic observe and experience these changes in a subjective and relational manner. This article illustrates how perceptions of environmental change are enmeshed with our ways of interacting with water(s) and dwelling in the landscape. What kind of water-related change do people talk about? How do changes in the different water worlds matter? How does water help us portray what environmental change means? We show that “what” and “how” we know about water(s) amidst change are in many ways inseparable. Our contribution offers a benchmark for discussing water-related environmental change in Svalbard from a perspective that goes beyond “what long-term monitoring tells us” towards “what bodies experience.” Through accounts shared mostly by scientists, technicians, and tour guides, we explore notions of water in its various forms, such as sea ice, glaciers, rivers, the wetness of the tundra, snow, and weather phenomena including rain. We focus on processes such as disappearing, melting, freezing, swelling, saturating, drying up, eroding, appearing, and threatening, and discuss what the observed and experienced changes mean for human-environment relations. Our interlocutors emphasize many facets of their relationship with the landscape, including identity, expectations, emotions, knowledge, and practices. Our study demonstrates how the experiential perspective is largely ordered and filtered through activities and practices, among which mobility and reading, or predicting, the landscape stand out as particularly important. Through a relational approach to water(s) permeation, we apply Tim Ingold’s concept of taskscapes and his perspectives on dwelling to show how time scales and connection to place matter. We juxtapose scientific knowledge produced through long-term monitoring with experiential knowledge, and demonstrate their entanglement in the Svalbard context, dominated by scientific ways of knowing.

There is scientific consensus that the archipelago of Svalbard is warming up faster than other parts of the planet. People who live in or regularly visit this part of the European high Arctic observe and experience these changes in a subjective and relational manner. This article illustrates how perceptions of environmental change are enmeshed with our ways of interacting with water(s) and dwelling in the landscape. What kind of water-related change do people talk about? How do changes in the different water worlds matter? How does water help us portray what environmental change means? We show that “what” and “how” we know about water(s) amidst change are in many ways inseparable. Our contribution offers a benchmark for discussing water-related environmental change in Svalbard from a perspective that goes beyond “what long-term monitoring tells us” towards “what bodies experience.” Through accounts shared mostly by scientists, technicians, and tour guides, we explore notions of water in its various forms, such as sea ice, glaciers, rivers, the wetness of the tundra, snow, and weather phenomena including rain. We focus on processes such as disappearing, melting, freezing, swelling, saturating, drying up, eroding, appearing, and threatening, and discuss what the observed and experienced changes mean for human-environment relations. Our interlocutors emphasize many facets of their relationship with the landscape, including identity, expectations, emotions, knowledge, and practices. Our study demonstrates how the experiential perspective is largely ordered and filtered through activities and practices, among which mobility and reading, or predicting, the landscape stand out as particularly important. Through a relational approach to water(s) permeation, we apply Tim Ingold’s concept of taskscapes and his perspectives on dwelling to show how time scales and connection to place matter. We juxtapose scientific knowledge produced through long-term monitoring with experiential knowledge, and demonstrate their entanglement in the Svalbard context, dominated by scientific ways of knowing.&nbsp

Den här rapporten ger en inblick i vår pågående forskning i projektet ”Making Sense of Adaptation - Adaptation practice in a governance perspective” (härefter MASA). MASA har sedan år 2018 följt och följeforskat ett antal organisationer och institutioner med ansvar för klimatanpassning i en svensk kontext. Syftet med projektet är att bidra med kunskap om hur dessa aktörer uppfattar och genomför sitt arbete i praktiken, samt att baserat på detta underlag bidra till en bättre förståelse för om, och i så fall vilka, förändringar i klimatanpassningsarbetet som är önskvärda och möjliga. Med utgångspunkt i teorier om sociala praktiker har vi zoomat in på specifika klimatanpassningspraktiker genom att följa, observera och analysera pågående arbete. Nästa steg är att zooma ut och blicka framåt tillsammans med dem som befinner sig i dessa praktiker. Den workshop som vi genomförde tillsammans med myndighetsnätverket för klimatanpassning under våren 2021 inledde denna fas, och denna rapport kan ses som ett första avstamp för gemensam reflektion och diskussion om våra preliminära resultat. Myndighetsnätverket för klimatanpassning är en central aktör och viktig källa till kunskap i det svenska klimatanpassningsarbetet. Nätverket kopplar samman ett stort antal myndigheter och sektorer på olika nivåer (regionala och nationella) som är involverade i och har ett utpekat ansvar för samhällets klimatanpassning. Syftet med workshopen var att tillsammans med nätverket reflektera och prata om visioner kopplade till klimatanpassning utifrån nätverkets egenidentifierade behov och preliminära resultat från vår forskning. Vilken målbild och vision för klimatanpassning har myndighetsnätverkets medlemmar? Vad behöver utvecklas och förändras för att en sådan vision ska realiseras? Detta sökte vi svar på genom att diskutera frågan Hur ser ett samhälle ut där klimatanpassningen fungerar och genererar önskvärda resultat? Som riktlinje fick deltagarna förhålla sig till år 2040, varifrån vi sedan spårade oss bakåt i tiden mot nuläge (så kallad backcastingmetod) för att identifiera såväl prioriterade frågor som risker med nuvarande sätt att arbeta med klimatanpassning. Vision för klimatanpassning år 2040 - hur ser ett önskvärt läge ut? En viktig utgångspunkt i deltagarnas vision av klimatanpassning är tillgången till insti-tutionellt stöd och ledarskap, bättre kunskapsunderlag samt att klimatanpassning behandlas som en prioriterad fråga, politiskt, i samhällsdebatten samt i den egna organisationen. I deltagarnas vision är klimatanpassningen mer flexibel och proaktiv, samtidigt som det finns en tydligare ansvarsfördelning mellan samhällets olika aktörer och nivåer. Helhetssyn och långsiktighet präglar arbetet där globalt samarbete och rättviseaspekter har en självklar plats. Några deltagare lyfter även vikten av att existentiella frågor kopplade till klimatanpassning och klimatförändring diskuteras och ges mer utrymme än idag. Bärande för och underliggande visionen är en pågående samhällsomställning och transformation, eller strukturell förändring, av olika samhällssektorer. Förutsättningarna för klimatanpassning är avhängigt samhällsutvecklingen i stort och i visionen hanteras inte klimatanpassning längre som en enskild fråga. Frågor att fokusera på redan nu Deltagarnas övergripande vision, tillsammans med de nyckelområden och risker som vi identifierade i efterföljande diskussion, ger en viktig fingervisning om vilka frågor som är centrala att fokusera på och utveckla i klimatanpassningsarbetet redan nu. Politiskt mod, eller tydligt klimatledarskap, på alla nivåer identifierades i workshopen som helt centralt för framgångsrikt arbete med klimatanpassning. Baksidan av samma mynt är deltagarnas uttryck för en rädsla bland enskilda tjänstemän och myndigheter att göra ”fel” vilket riskerar att skapa passivitet i klimatanpassningsarbetet. Därför krävs olika former av stöd såsom tydligare vägledning och målstyrning som kan underlätta myndigheternas avvägningar. En annan aspekt som pekas ut som viktig för klimatarbetet är möjligheter till gemensamt utforskande av svåra frågor där det saknas enkla svar eller stöd av tidigare erfarenheter. Kontinuerliga reflektionsprocesser inom nätverket och dess olika organisationer menar vi kan vara ett sätt att bidra till att skapa detta utrymme och samtidigt skapa förutsättningar för institutionaliserat lärande. Myndighetsnätverkets medlemmar poängterar särskilt vikten av tydligare ansvarsfördelning. Även om ansvarsfrågan lyfts tidigare och varit föremål för statliga utredningar, menar nätverket att många oklarheter består. Därför vill vi understryka att frågan om ansvar för och ledarskap i samverkan kring klimatanpassning bör ges större vikt. Ett helhetsgrepp är en förutsättning för att kunna nå önskvärda förutsättningar för fungerande klimatanpassning. Lärdomar och framåtblickar Lärdomar från denna process är att ett medvetet visionärt fokus och förhållningssätt kan skapa viktiga diskussionsytor för att angripa klimatanpassningsfrågans mer komplexa aspekter. Att göra som vi gjorde i projektet, formulera en vision i en halvt avlägsen framtid - tillräckligt långt borta för att inte uppfattas som låst av nuläget, men tillräckligt nära för att vara relevant för redan pågående beslut och processer - möjliggjorde för deltagarna att röra sig bortom sakfrågor och fragmenterade perspektiv till att ta ett bredare grepp på klimatanpassning. Vi ser en stor potential i myndighetsnätverket att fortsatt arbeta på detta sätt. Precis som deltagare framhåller under workshopen, bör nätverket värna rollen som ett öppet forum där frågor kan dryftas på ett prestigelöst sätt. Vi föreslår också att nätverket fortsätter att utforska möjligheterna att institutionalisera processer och skapa verktyg för olika former av återkommande reflektion och övergripande dialog som kan bidra till att utveckla och utnyttja nätverkets potential. Rapportens upplägg Den första delen i rapporten ger en inblick i forskningsprojektet MASA. Vi beskriver kortfattat projektets ansats, sammanfattar vad vi sett så här långt samt ger en bakgrund till workshopens inriktning. Del två återger upplägget på och resultaten av workshopen uppdelat i deltagarnas vision samt identifierade nyckelfrågor, riskområden och behov kopplat till klimatanpassningsarbetet. Del tre blickar framåt och fokuserar på myndighetsnätverkets nuvarande och framtida roll och potential.

This chapter examines current approaches for studying local and regional perspectives of change and implications for regional knowledge production, such as this assessment of the Barents area. There are three main approaches: community studies, indigenous knowledge and stakeholder approaches.

We live in a complex, interconnected and constantly changing world. Human driven global climate change is now a local reality that reinforces the inherent need for adaptability in human systems. Adaptability, the capacity to adapt to disturbance and change and navigate system transformation, can be understood as a function of socio-political interactions. The capacity of governing systems to deal with novel challenges through novel forms of interaction is a key issue in the governance literature, but which is only beginning to be explored. We therefore know little of how global change will impact the local level and how institutions and governing systems will respond. The need for adaptability is likely to be more pronounced for tightly coupled human-environmental systems. Indigenous and natural resource dependent communities in general, and in the Northern hemisphere in particular, are among the most exposed to ongoing and projected climate change. In Sweden, reindeer husbandry is an Indigenous Sami livelihood and extensive land-use practice highly exposed to weather conditions and increasing competition over land and resources. Whereas herders struggle to deal with the challenges that now confront them, the practice is also known as resilient and sustainable, having withstood large-scale social, ecological and economic change before. The aim with this thesis is to explore adaptability from a governancetheoretical perspective in the case of Sami reindeer husbandry in Sweden. The thesis thereby contributes to the emerging literatures on governance and adaptability and addresses empirically identified needs. Theoretically, the thesis draws on Kooiman’s interactive governance framework, which offers a multidimensional approach to governance analysis where structural aspects are addressed through modes (self-, coand hierarchical governing) and intentional aspects through governing elements (images, instruments and action). While conceptually encompassing, the framework has rarely been employed in empirical analyses. In advancing an operationalisation of the framework based on governing orders (operational, institutional and meta-order), the thesis thereby makes a theoretical contribution. Designed as a qualitative case study, the thesis explores how reindeer husbandry is governed and how governing has changed over time (institutional and meta-order); how the governing system restricts or facilitates adaptation and transformation (operational order); and how a governance-theoretical perspective can contribute to our understanding of adaptability. Methods include document analysis, focus groups, interviews and participatory observation. Studies focussing the operational order have been conducted in collaboration with Vilhelmina North reindeer herding community in Västerbotten county, Sweden. The results show that only marginal change has occurred over time and state actors still dominate governing interactions. The governing system is riddled with inconsistencies among governing elements and particularly problematic is the lack of coherence between different meta-order images and between different actors. This gives rise to divergent and conflicting views as to ‘what’ the system of reindeer husbandry is and explains some of the observed governing inaction and limited problem-solving capacity of the governing system. Herders are currently highly restricted in their opportunities for adaptation and transformation and the governing system therefore acts restricting rather than facilitating on adaptability. By adopting a governance-theoretical approach, adaptability as a system quality has been decomposed and challenged and the important role of governing images and power in determining adaptability has been highlighted. It has called attention to questions such as who is forced to adapt, how images and governing interactions are constructed, and how different socio-political actors can exercise influence over the governing system and interactions taking place therein. The thesis calls for more critical and empirical research on adaptability and argues that future studies need to situate and balance adaptability against other fundamental values and rights. In the case of reindeer husbandry, efforts are needed to create a better internal fit between governing elements as well as between involved socio-political actors. This could enable more equal governing interactions with other land-users and thereby contribute to mitigating conflicts as well as increasing adaptability.

Executive Summary The northernmost regions in the world are projected to suffer the most severe consequences of climate change. Natural resource-based communities and Indigenous peoples have been identified as particularly susceptible and research efforts are increasingly directed at exploring the potential consequences of climate change on the livelihoods of Indigenous peoples. Using Indigenous (IK) or Traditional knowledge (TK) as a ―canary‖ or early warning for climate change as well as a complement to ‗western scientific knowledge‘ or to supplement the lack of observational and diachronic data is also gaining increasing popularity. However, whereas interest in IK /TK has grown exponentially over the last two decades, research has tended to neglect taking a critical perspective on learning processes and knowledge transfer mechanisms. Research has treated IK/TK more as an artifact handed down through generations or as information to be automatically appropriated when spending time on the land.With rapid changes in their environments, Indigenous peoples and communities with close connection to the land will face the most severe challenges. How a changing climate is viewed by the people and how they adapt, will be learned, in part, through trial and error. These newly-learned experiences will be understood, transmitted, communicated and translated in their first language. New terminology in that first language may evolve to help identify and explain climate change phenomena. New practices will have to be developed to help people cope with these changes. The connections between climate change, livelihood, and survival are thus highly significant culturally in addition to those identified through statistics and numerical trends.Against this backdrop, in view of the complexity and severity of potential climate change ahead, we recognise the need for in-depth studies, unveiling people‘s own conceptions and understandings of their livelihood situations and possibilities to adapt to climate change (cf. Keskitalo 2008). We also recognize an empirical need to strengthen our understanding of those residing and acting within forested ecosystems in the Circumboreal North. By exploring two Indigenous communities, one reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) herding community in northern Sweden and a woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) hunting community in Saskatchewan, Canada, this research project aims at partly addressing this knowledge gap. These communities are linked by the key species of reindeer/caribou (culturally and ecologically) and shared climatic challenges. Each locality is also embedded within a model forest and the two regions have become partners in order to share learning and practice with each other. To date, they have initiated cultural collaborations and exchanges among elders and youth and have committed to conducting research and other activities that support mutual learning.The purpose of this study has been to link understandings of species distributions of reindeer/caribou based on Indigenous observations of climate change and habitat conditions to herders‘ and hunters‘ adaptive strategies in two model forest regions: Prince Albert (Canada) and Vilhelmina (Sweden) Model Forests. As we conducted the research, it became clear that it is also important to consider how these changes link to learning processes and how learning is layered within these communities. For example, which different knowledge transfer mechanisms are activated? Which are the most important learning arenas? And can different types of learning and adaptive decision-making (such as ad hoc, contextual, 'on the spot‘ decision-making; thumb-rules; and more value-based, normative understandings) also be linked to different mechanisms and arenas? By exploring these dimensions, the research explicitly addressed the relationship between individual and collective learning about climate change in the two model forest regions. In summary, the research attempted to give voice to northern Indigenous residents and their descriptions of a rapidly changing world, particularly in terms of climate change, and present an analysis of the challenges and opportunities to securing the flow of Indigenous knowledge by exploring inhibitors and opportunities to learning in a climate change context.Our study shows that changing weather patterns is a major concern of Indigenous residents in the circumboreal forest region. In Sweden climate testimonies concern a range of observed environmental changes; extreme weather events, long-term cycles and shorter-term cycles in weather patterns and vegetation. Whereas these observations cannot be directly seen as consequences of global climate change, they are strikingly similar to effects as projected by for instance the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).In the Prince Albert Model Forest, climate testimonies concern changes in weather patterns, extreme weather events, and shifting climatic conditions. The testimonies suggest observational changes such as limitations in vegetation growth, loss of species, new migratory species, impacts on insect cycles, fatalities in small fur-bearing animals, changes to fish migrations (possibly interfering with spawn), and loss of amphibians. Drawing on the accumulation of experiences and observations stored within these two cases of Northern Indigenous communities we argue that these serve well as canaries of potential climate change. Furthermore, as exemplified in the Swedish case, not only may Northern Indigenous communities function as valuable qualitative and local information sources, they may further act as active stewards of combating negative effects of climate change in how they adjust land use activities over large areas.The study also shows that the current observed changes in weather patterns as well as contemporary social structures (e.g. ―westernized‖ forms of education) pose serious threats to Indigenous Knowledge practices; partly in content and partly in the reduction of opportunities to transfer that knowledge across members of a community, including to future generations.In order to understand impacts of climate change on reindeer and woodland caribou populations and the adaptive capacity of Indigenous people, we relied on observational and qualitative methods and suggested some differences and similarities across the two regions. Comparisons relate to climate and climate change, increasing anthropogenic and industrial activities, impacts of local and regional governance, and long and short term changes in culture (see Section 4). We note that northern Indigenous communities are not standing passively, they are proactive and it is in their nature to be stewards of the land. The study shows that they have adopted a range of strategies and approaches in dealing with impacts associated with climate change, drawing on a combination of tradition, previous experiences and modern technology. Climate change may not be the greatest threat in the regions at this point; however, the implications of climate change compound other issues such as increased competition from other land users and losses associated with the imposition of western cultural values. Funded by The Model Forest Circumboreal Initiative of Natural Resources Canada and Environment Canada (Aboriginal Funding for Species at Risk) Learning from our Elders: Aboriginal perspectives on climate change and reindeer/caribou habitat in the circumboreal forest.