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This dataset contains de-identified transcripts of semi-structured interviews conducted with 25 stakeholders who make adaptation decisions for government agencies, nonprofits, engineering firms, or academic institutions in rural Alaska. The stakeholders included 14 government organizations, 5 private industry organizations, 2 academic institutions, non-profit organizations and tribal organizations each respectively. The file contains questions aimed at understanding stakeholders’ work in rural Alaska and how their work affects the adaptation of infrastructure including barriers of infrastructure adaption and the dimensions of adaptation barriers. The data was collected from Summer 2019 to Spring 2020. 

This dataset contains de-identified data collected during the energy assessments conducted in Unalakleet, Alaska in from May to August 2021. It does not contain identifiable information of participants. The datasets are divided by type of housing characteristics analyzed. contains information on personal housing challenges, community housing concerns, preferences for future housing design and construction and climate change impacts. This dataset provides Alaska Native community perspectives regarding housing challenges and solutions using a community-based participatory research approach. 

This dataset contains de-identified transcripts of interviews conducted in Unalakleet, Alaska in from May to August 2021. It does not contain identifiable information of participants. The dataset contains information on personal housing challenges, community housing concerns, preferences for future housing design and construction and climate change impacts. This dataset provides Alaska Native community perspectives regarding housing challenges and solutions using a community-based participatory research approach. 

This dataset contains de-identified survey data from 26 organizations and 36 people involved in housing services and projects in rural Alaska. These organizations included state and federal government organizations (9 organizations), regional housing authorities (4 organizations), and non-governmental organizations (13 organizations). The file contains questions and data on organizations’ ability to enact adaptation of housing, frequency of inter-organizational communication, and organizational attributes. The data was collected from Fall 2020 to Spring 2021. This study aims to understand the role of organizations in housing in rural Alaska. Through surveys with stakeholders from government organizations, non-profits, and professional firms, this study will provide a deeper understanding of housing concerns, collaboration between organizations and participatory practices of organizations with community-level stakeholders. 

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. 

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.