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Increasing Shipping in the Arctic and Local Communities’ Engagement: A Case from Longyearbyen on Svalbard

2020; Springer Nature (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-030-28404-6_14

2510-0475

Julia Olsen, Grete K. Hovelsrud, Bjørn P. Kaltenborn,

Coastal and Marine Management

Increasing ship traffic in the Arctic has a broad range of impacts on coastal communities' wellbeing and the natural environment. Despite a number of existing national and international efforts to mitigate the risks and secure the benefits of this development, the role of local initiatives and arrangements is still understudied. Focusing on the town of Longyearbyen, situated on the Svalbard Archipelago, this chapter examines the impacts of and responses to the considerable growth in shipping activities comprising marine tourism, cargo (supply), fishing, research and Search and Rescue vessels. Since the settlement's establishment in 1906, Longyearbyen has seen shipping play an important role in the community's development by serving as a vital transport link between the Archipelago and the mainland. The impacts of recent growth in ship traffic, coupled with environmental changes and an ongoing transition from a coal dominated economy toward tourism, research and education, challenge the local capacity to accommodate such growth. The analysis of empirical data indicates that local, bottom-up engagement serves as a support mechanism for institutional response strategies and enables local adaptive capacity. At the same time, community engagement is sensitive to demographic trends that influence the scope and efficiency of actions.