Exploring the Term “Resilience” in Arctic Health and Well-Being Using a Sharing Circle as a Community-Centered Approach: Insights from a Conference Workshop

Christina Larsen,Jon Stoor,Gwen Healey Akearok,Anastasia Emelyanova,Katie Cueva,Vanessa Hiratsuka,Elizabeth Rink,Nicole Kanayurak

doi:10.3390/socsci8020045

Abstract

In the field of Arctic health, “resilience” is a term and concept used to describe capacity to recover from difficulties. While the term is widely used in Arctic policy contexts, there is debate at the community level on whether “resilience” is an appropriate term to describe the human dimensions of health and wellness in the Arctic. Further, research methods used to investigate resilience have largely been limited to Western science research methodologies, which emphasize empirical quantitative studies and may not mirror the perspective of the Arctic communities under study. To explore conceptions of resilience in Arctic communities, a Sharing Circle was facilitated at the International Congress on Circumpolar Health in 2018. With participants engaging from seven of the eight Arctic countries, participants shared critiques of the term “resilience,” and their perspectives on key components of thriving communities. Upon reflection, this use of a Sharing Circle suggests that it may be a useful tool for deeper investigations into health-related issues affecting Arctic Peoples. The Sharing Circle may serve as a meaningful methodology for engaging communities using resonant research strategies to decolonize concepts of resilience and highlight new dimensions for promoting thriving communities in Arctic populations.

Highlights

In the field of Arctic health, “resilience” is a term and concept used in the English language to describe the capacity to recover from, or adapt to, difficulties
Participants self-selected to participate in the Sharing Circle, and represented a multitude of lived experiences from seven of the eight Arctic countries, including Denmark and Greenland, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Alaska and United States, and Canada
Our manuscript describes the implementation of a Sharing Circle methodology to examine the concept and term of “resilience” among a diverse group of individuals from the circumpolar north

Summary

Introduction

In the field of Arctic health, “resilience” is a term and concept used in the English language to describe the capacity to recover from, or adapt to, difficulties. It is widely used in the Arctic policy context to describe ecosystems, communities, and climate change (Furberg et al 2011). “resiliency” originates in the literature from a seminal ecological paper by Holling (1973). The Arctic Resilience Report, a science-based assessment of the integrated impacts of change in the Arctic, explored social-ecological interactions in order to “build resilience” among Arctic communities to prepare for changes to come (Arctic Council 2016).

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Conclusion