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1. Infrastructure Adaptation to Climate Change: Institutional Support in Rural Alaska

   Taylor, J; Poleacovschi, C; Perez, M. (October 2020, Engineering Project Organization Conference)

   Faust, K; Kanjanabootra, S (Ed.)

   As climate change impacts intensify, communities in rural Alaska are undergoing and adapting to changes to infrastructure from increased permafrost thawing, flooding, and coastal erosion. Climate change adaptation, defined as a process, action, or outcome in a system to better adjust to actual or expected climate change impacts, is needed to address significant structural failures and safety concerns. Despite the recognition of the need for support from stakeholders and adaptation of infrastructure, the level of adaptation activity remains limited and inconsistent across regions and communities in rural Alaska. We address this need by identifying drivers and barriers of adaptation based on stakeholder perspectives (N=25). Stakeholders included people who work for government agencies, non-profits, engineering firms, or academic institutions in rural Alaska. Results show that strong community leadership and flexibility of funding conditions were drivers to adaptation of infrastructure. Further, results show that the high cost of technology and infrastructure and lack of access to and stipulations on funding were barriers to adaptation of infrastructure. These drivers and barriers emphasize the importance of adaptation processes that effectively accommodate the unique contexts of addressing impacts in rural Alaska. Results demonstrate the need for national adaptation funding and policy that encourages local decision-making power. Specifically, results outline the need for adaptation funding and policy that supports the collaboration of Alaska based institutions and rural Alaska communities in adaptation. 

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2. Alaska Native Responses to Climate Change: The Role of Community Values in Housing Adaptation

   Taylor, J; Poleacovschi, C; Perez, M. (June 2019, Engineering Project Organization Conference)

   Chinowsky, P; Taylor, J; Tech, G. (Ed.)

   The Arctic is experiencing intensified impacts from climate change, resulting in unprecedented rates of change, especially for Indigenous communities. Alaska Natives are experiencing transformations in housing, food security, economic stability, and cultural practices as a result of the biophysical changes such as thawing permafrost and coastal erosion. In response, communities are prioritizing adaptation. Although Indigenous communities have been adapting for hundreds of years, adaptation strategies, or actions that seek to moderate harm through the adjustment to actual or expected climate change effects, are not well documented. Housing adaptation strategies are especially understudied, which include any adaptation strategy that is in response to or in preparation for a biophysical change affecting housing. Housing adaptation strategies in response to climate change are primarily focused on physical dimensions (e.g., retrofitting homes, constructing sea wall). Nevertheless, adaptations to changes in biophysical systems are closely interlinked to sociocultural systems, which are often neglected in adaptation discourse. Analyzing existing strategies through the lens of community values captures the sociocultural aspects of adaptation and is critical for sustainable adaptation. This paper presents a research design that addresses these gaps in adaptation discourse by asking: How are community values represented in housing adaptation strategies in response to climate change? This research will employ interviews, focus groups, and observations in partnership with two Alaska Native communities in Oscarville, Alaska and Point Lay, Alaska using community based participatory research methods (CBPR). Understanding the role of community values in housing adaptation is essential for developing sustainable adaptation plans, engineering designs, and future research studies. Further, employing CBPR methodologies in the context of adaptation, grounds identified strategies and resulting plans in community experience. As a result, future findings will not only contribute to the intellectual understanding of adaptation processes and theory, but also facilitate actions in response to climate change. 

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3. Incorporating Indigenous voices in regional climate change adaptation: opportunities and challenges in the U.S. Pacific Northwest

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-023-03499-z  

   Dent, Lauren A.; Donatuto, Jamie; Campbell, Larry; Boardman, Marnie; Hess, Jeremy J.; Errett, Nicole A. (March 2023, Climatic Change)

   Abstract As the impacts of climate change increasingly and disproportionately affect indigenous peoples, equitable approaches to regional climate change adaptation must center the voices, needs, and priorities of Indigenous communities. Although the tribal climate change principles identify actionable recommendations to address the unique needs of Indigenous peoples in the contexts of climate change adaptation efforts undertaken at the Federal level in the United States (U.S.), there has yet to be exploration of how such principles might be applied at the regional level. Through semi-structured qualitative interviews with 18 representatives from inter-Tribal organizations and non-Tribal organizations engaged in regional climate adaptation in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, this research sought to describe challenges faced by, and opportunities available to, non-Tribal entities when engaging with Tribes on regional climate adaptation initiatives. All respondents reported high levels of motivation to work with Tribes on climate adaptation and identified several perceived benefits of integrating Tribal partnerships and indigenous ways of knowing into regional climate adaptation initiatives. Respondents underscored the need for strong, trusted relationships that respect the sovereignty and priorities of Tribal nations to guide engagement. However, non-Tribal organizations’ own capacity constraints, perceived Tribal capacity constraints, and institutional cultures rooted in colonialism and structural racism were discussed as obstacles to meaningful engagement. As such, we identify an urgent need to prioritize sustained investments in both Tribal and non-Tribal actors’ partnership capacities and climate change adaptation capabilities to place Indigenous voices and needs at the forefront of regional climate change adaptation planning and implementation. 

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4. The Arctic Rivers Project: Using an Equitable Co‐Production Framework for Integrating Meaningful Community Engagement and Science to Understand Climate Impacts

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2022CSJ000024  

   Herman‐Mercer, Nicole; Andre, Alestine; Buschman, Victoria; Blaskey, Dylan; Brooks, Cassandra; Cheng, Yifan; Combs, Evelynn; Cozzetto, Karen; Fitka, Serena; Koch, Joshua; et al (November 2023, Community Science)

   Abstract As the Arctic and its rivers continue to warm, a better understanding of the possible future impacts on people would benefit from close partnership with Indigenous communities and scientists from diverse fields of study. We present efforts by the Arctic Rivers Project to conduct community‐engaged research to increase collective understanding of the historical and potential future impacts of climate change on rivers, fish, and Indigenous communities. Working in central to northern Alaska and the Yukon Territory in Canada, the project seeks to engage with Indigenous communities in ethical and equitable ways to produces science that is useful, useable, and used that may serve as an example for future research efforts. Toward this goal, we formed an Indigenous Advisory Council and together developed project‐specific knowledge co‐production protocols. This paper provides a novel model of design and implementation to co‐produce knowledge with communities across a large study domain. 

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5. Developing Engagement Principles for Climate and Health Research: An Example from a Community-Informed Research Project

   https://doi.org/10.1353/cpr.2024.a948679  

   Ulman, Abigail; Lowrie, Karen; Bulger, Garin; MPP; Herb, Jeanne; Holmes, Tisha; Butler, William (February 2025, Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action)

   Background: Characterizing principles of co-learning and stakeholder engagement for community-engaged research is becoming increasingly important. As low-income communities, Indigenous communities, and communities of color all over the world disproportionately feel the social, health, and economic impacts of environmental hazards, especially climate change, it is imperative to co-learn with these communities, so their lived experience and knowledge guide the building and sharing of a knowledge base and the development of equitable solutions. Objectives: This paper presents recent theoretical and practical support for the development of co-learning principles to guide climate adaptation and health equity innovations. We describe this development process, which included both a literature review and stakeholder engagement. The process and the resultant set of principles are relevant to community health partnerships. Adopting principles to guide design, development, and implementation prior to commencement of community health projects will help to ensure they are nonextractive and achieve maximum benefits for beneficiaries. Methods: A multiuniversity research team adopted this approach at the outset of a research endeavor in 2022. The team is currently conducting principle-based field research in non-U.S. locations where climate hazards and structural inequities have created health disparities. Conclusions: The team’s advisory board and its funder expressed enthusiasm about the development of these principles and about the prospect of Western researchers conducting a project in a way that values Indigenous and traditional communities as partners and knowledge-holders and has the potential to bring benefits to the communities involved, including increased capacity for activities promoting health, equity, and well-being. 

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