Hazard and vulnerability assessment and adaptive planning: mutual and multilateral community–researcher communication, Arctic Canada

Abstract

AbstractCommunities in Arctic Canada are faced with natural geological and environmental hazards. Successful adaptation requires assessment of hazards from a physical science perspective, and appropriate communication with the communities. Transforming a hazard assessment exercise into an effective plan for adaptation requires an intimate cultural understanding. Hazard assessment involving substantial input from all research, administrative, socio-economic and cultural communities will lead to more appropriate and valuable analyses of risk, sensitivity and vulnerability. Residents and communities can contribute greatly to the identification and assessment of natural hazards. Community-driven communication is essential for meaningful risk analysis, adaptive planning and vulnerability assessment. Developing relationships with local media can be extremely beneficial. Using the practices of participatory community planning allows local environmental changes to be assessed and responded to by the people affected. Establishing effective working partnerships is essential for a true vulnerability assessment. The particularly sensitive nature of hazard assessments indicating increasing risk and vulnerability, and the continuing socio-economic changes in some communities, in the work described here, required consideration of the most appropriate methods of communication for each instance. The relationships that have emerged through the course of work in the communities have differed markedly from those originally envisioned, and also exhibit significant differences between communities.