IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v8y2011i3p733-761d11568.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the Impacts of Local Knowledge and Technology on Climate Change Vulnerability in Remote Communities

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher Bone

    (Resilience and Adaptive Management Group, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3101 Science Circle, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA)

  • Lilian Alessa

    (Resilience and Adaptive Management Group, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3101 Science Circle, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA
    Authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Mark Altaweel

    (Computation Institute, University of Chicago, 5735 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
    Authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Andrew Kliskey

    (Resilience and Adaptive Management Group, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3101 Science Circle, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA
    Authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Richard Lammers

    (Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
    Authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

The introduction of new technologies into small remote communities can alter how individuals acquire knowledge about their surrounding environment. This is especially true when technologies that satisfy basic needs, such as freshwater use, create a distance ( i.e. , diminishing exposure) between individuals and their environment. However, such distancing can potentially be countered by the transfer of local knowledge between community members and from one generation to the next. The objective of this study is to simulate by way of agent-based modeling the tensions between technology-induced distancing and local knowledge that are exerted on community vulnerability to climate change. A model is developed that simulates how a collection of individual perceptions about changes to climatic-related variables manifest into community perceptions, how perceptions are influenced by the movement away from traditional resource use, and how the transmission of knowledge mitigates the potentially adverse effects of technology-induced distancing. The model is implemented utilizing climate and social data for two remote communities located on the Seward Peninsula in western Alaska. The agent-based model simulates a set of scenarios that depict different ways in which these communities may potentially engage with their natural resources, utilize knowledge transfer, and develop perceptions of how the local climate is different from previous years. A loosely-coupled pan-arctic climate model simulates changes monthly changes to climatic variables. The discrepancy between the perceptions derived from the agent-based model and the projections simulated by the climate model represent community vulnerability. The results demonstrate how demographics, the communication of knowledge and the types of ‘knowledge-providers’ influence community perception about changes to their local climate.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Bone & Lilian Alessa & Mark Altaweel & Andrew Kliskey & Richard Lammers, 2011. "Assessing the Impacts of Local Knowledge and Technology on Climate Change Vulnerability in Remote Communities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-29, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:8:y:2011:i:3:p:733-761:d:11568
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/8/3/733/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/8/3/733/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel James Klooster, 2002. "Toward Adaptive Community Forest Management: Integrating Local Forest Knowledge with Scientific Forestry," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(1), pages 43-70, January.
    2. Mark Altaweel & Lilian N. Alessa & Andrew D. Kliskey, 2010. "Social Influence and Decision-Making: Evaluating Agent Networks in Village Responses to Change in Freshwater," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Weifang Shi & Weihua Zeng, 2013. "Genetic k -Means Clustering Approach for Mapping Human Vulnerability to Chemical Hazards in the Industrialized City: A Case Study of Shanghai, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael K McCall & Noah Chutz & Margaret Skutsch, 2016. "Moving from Measuring, Reporting, Verification (MRV) of Forest Carbon to Community Mapping, Measuring, Monitoring (MMM): Perspectives from Mexico," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-22, June.
    2. Eliezeri Sungusia & Jens Friis Lund & Christian Pilegaard Hansen & Numan Amanzi & Yonika M. Ngaga & Gimbage Mbeyale & Thorsten Treue & Henrik Meilby, 2020. "Rethinking Participatory Forest Management in Tanzania," IFRO Working Paper 2020/02, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    3. Ameni Hasnaoui & Max Krott, 2019. "Optimizing State Forest Institutions for Forest People: A Case Study on Social Sustainability from Tunisia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-29, April.
    4. Weiss, Gerhard & Hansen, Eric & Ludvig, Alice & Nybakk, Erlend & Toppinen, Anne, 2021. "Innovation governance in the forest sector: Reviewing concepts, trends and gaps," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    5. Green, Kathryn E. & Lund, Jens Friis, 2015. "The politics of expertise in participatory forestry: a case from Tanzania," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 27-34.
    6. Fajri Ansari & Yoonjeong Jeong & Indra ASLP Putri & Seong-il Kim, 2019. "Sociopsychological Aspects of Butterfly Souvenir Purchasing Behavior at Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-18, March.
    7. Primmer, Eeva, 2011. "Policy, project and operational networks: Channels and conduits for learning in forest biodiversity conservation," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 132-142.
    8. Hannah L. Schley & Ilene F. West & Christopher K. Williams, 2022. "Advancing Wildlife Policy of Eastern Timber Wolves and Lake Sturgeon through Traditional Ecological Knowledge," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-13, March.
    9. Espada, Ana Luiza Violato & Kainer, Karen A., 2024. "Decision making processes and power dynamics in timber production co-management: A comparative analysis of seven Brazilian Amazonian community-based projects," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    10. Lund, Jens Friis, 2015. "Paradoxes of participation: The logic of professionalization in participatory forestry," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-6.
    11. Keijiro Otsuka & Ridish Pokharel, 2014. "In search of appropriate institutions for forest management," GRIPS Discussion Papers 13-25, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
    12. Toft, Maja Nastasia Juul & Adeyeye, Yemi & Lund, Jens Friis, 2015. "The use and usefulness of inventory-based management planning to forest management: Evidence from community forestry in Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 35-49.
    13. John Briggs & Joanne Sharp & Hoda Yacoub & Nabila Hamed & Alan Roe, 2007. "The nature of indigenous environmental knowledge production: evidence from Bedouin communities in southern Egypt," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(2), pages 239-251.
    14. Davide Secchi & Raffaello Seri, 2017. "Controlling for false negatives in agent-based models: a review of power analysis in organizational research," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 94-121, March.
    15. Lopez, Erna & Bocco, Gerardo & Mendoza, Manuel & Velazquez, Alejandro & Rogelio Aguirre-Rivera, J., 2006. "Peasant emigration and land-use change at the watershed level: A GIS-based approach in Central Mexico," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-3), pages 62-78, October.
    16. John Briggs, 2005. "The use of indigenous knowledge in development: problems and challenges," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 5(2), pages 99-114, April.
    17. Weyland, Federico & Mastrangelo, Matías Enrique & Auer, Alejandra Denise & Barral, María Paula & Nahuelhual, Laura & Larrazábal, Alejandra & Parera, Aníbal Francisco & Berrouet Cadavid, Lina María & L, 2019. "Ecosystem services approach in Latin America: From theoretical promises to real applications," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 280-293.
    18. Silvano, Renato A.M. & Udvardy, Shana & Ceroni, Marta & Farley, Joshua, 2005. "An ecological integrity assessment of a Brazilian Atlantic Forest watershed based on surveys of stream health and local farmers' perceptions: implications for management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 369-385, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:8:y:2011:i:3:p:733-761:d:11568. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.