• Forest fires and landscape identity - values, meanings and engagement in local communities, Kerstin Eriksson, Linda Kvarnlöf
• After the fire? Practices and perceptions of wildfire risk education in Portugal, Ana Sofia Ribeiro
• From vulnerability to transformation of gender role: Photo voice experience of Sundarbans’ women amidst climate change, Shibaji Bose, Upasona Ghosh

Panel description

Climate change is also affecting the Nordic countries, and there are vulnerable geographical areas that will be particularly affected by an increasing number of devastating natural events. Often there are areas on the outskirts of a country where emergency response is rudimentary, located far from major cities, and where critical infrastructure is vulnerable to these types of events. This is first and foremost untenable for the citizens; however, authorities with emergency management responsibility need new methods to support the communities in their efforts to build capacity. One of the many challenges, besides the violent and devastating events themselves, is that the areas can also be threatened with population decline or even relocation if the locals are unable to cope with the rising threats of climate change – this is critical for the Nordic societies in general.

This Panel will explore climate change resilience in small communities – mainly in the Nordic countries but might also include studies outside this region. The Panel will examine how the small rural communities understand their situation, how they handle adverse events and build capacity, and under what circumstances they need help from the established system and civil society organizations. The main question is how researchers can assist in ensuring safety and adequate capacity for climate change resilience in small remote communities. The Panel invites research that focuses on all the phases needed to secure communities against hazardous events (i.e. prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery). The Panel organizers invite research based on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed approaches, and we are highly interested to be inspired by new, unconventional, alternative, and innovative research methodologies.

The first presentation at this Panel will take its point of departure in the “Climate Change Resilience in Small Communities in the Nordic Countries” project (CliCNord) which is running from 2021 to 2023. It is a NordForsk funded project within the Nordic Societal Security Programme. CliCNord will explore the topic highlighted above and against this background, a framework will be developed that can be disseminated to other vulnerable communities and authorities with responsibility for ensuring safety and adequate capacity for climate change resilience. CliCNord will include several very different hazards affecting local communities across the Nordic countries. The project takes its point of departure in disaster cycle management. The methodologies will predominantly be qualitative and inspired by social science, nevertheless, with this panel the project group expects to be inspired by other scholars concerning methodological approaches.