Susanna K A Gartler | University of Vienna (original) (raw)
Papers by Susanna K A Gartler
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2023
Living Culture, Learning Skills, Telling our Stories The Making of a Northern Tutchone Cultural Center, 2022
In this chapter we ask in which ways the planning of the Living Culture House by the First Nation... more In this chapter we ask in which ways the planning of the Living Culture
House by the First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun (FN NND) in the village of
Mayo, Yukon Territory in Canada, corresponds to ideas of Indigenous planning.
We highlight the importance of community-led, participatory planning
for the creation of cultural infrastructure aiming at overcoming a colonial
past and to indigenize the present while moving toward a future of collective
well-being, cultural vitality, and self-determination. We highlight the inclusive
and participatory planning approach, which seeks to minimize the division
between decision-makers and the community, and the fact that the FN
NND has actively engaged in learning lessons from other examples while at
the same time adhering to their own cultural protocols of consultation with
Elders and the wider community.
Environmental Research Letters
Atmosphere
Climate warming in Arctic Canada, e.g., permafrost thaw, comprehensively impacts biota and the en... more Climate warming in Arctic Canada, e.g., permafrost thaw, comprehensively impacts biota and the environment, which then affects the lives of people. This study aimed to investigate which perceived environmental and adaptation factors relate to self-rated well-being, quality of life, satisfaction with life (sum variable = life balance), self-rated health, and feeling of empowerment to face the changes related to permafrost thaw. The study sample was collected from one community using a questionnaire (n = 53) and analyzed by cross-tabulation. Results indicated that most participants had at least good well-being, quality of life, satisfaction with life, and a medium level of health, and over 40% assessed being empowered to face the changes related to permafrost thaw. Problems and challenges associated with permafrost thaw, e.g., health, traditional lifeways, and infrastructure, were recognized; these had impacts on life balance, feeling of empowerment, and self-rated health. Traditional...
<p>This paper presents the results from fieldwork conducted in three focal ... more <p>This paper presents the results from fieldwork conducted in three focal areas of the “Nunataryuk” EU H2020 permafrost project: the Nordic Area (Greenland and Svalbard), the Beaufort Sea Area in Canada (Northwest Territories/ Inuvialuit Settlement Region and Gwich’in First Nation Traditional Territory) and Northeastern Siberia in Russia. The paper analyzes the entanglement between social and environmental change and presents a risk analysis framework, including the interconnected geo-physical & socio-cultural risks, with the aim to improve adaptation and mitigation strategies of local communities. Guided by a mixed-methods approach, the research outcomes are the result of field-based research, including focus groups, qualitative interviews, participant observation, community workshops – as well as a quantitative survey in three settlements (Qeqertarsuaq in Greenland, Aklavik in Canada and Longyearbyen on Svalbard).</p>
Permafrost coasts in the whole Arctic represent 34% of the world's coasts (Lantuit et al., 20... more Permafrost coasts in the whole Arctic represent 34% of the world's coasts (Lantuit et al., 2012) and a key interface for human-environmental interactions. These coasts provide essential ecosystem services, exhibit high biodiversity and productivity, and support indigenous lifestyles. At the same time, this coastal zone is a dynamic and vulnerable zone of expanding infrastructure investment and growing health concerns. Climate change is affecting this fragile environment by triggering coastal landscape instability and increased hazard exposure (Forbes et al., 2011). Permafrost thaw in combination with increasing sea level and changing sea-ice cover expose the Arctic coastal and nearshore areas to rapid changes (Fritz et al. 2017). Since 2017, scientists from the Nunataryuk Project are working in cooperation with local communities in order to identify the impacts of thawing land, coast and subsea permafrost on the global climate and on humans in the Arctic and to develop targeted ...
Sustainability, 2021
Thawing permafrost creates risks to the environment, economy and culture in Arctic coastal commun... more Thawing permafrost creates risks to the environment, economy and culture in Arctic coastal communities. Identification of these risks and the inclusion of the societal context and the relevant stakeholder involvement is crucial in risk management and for future sustainability, yet the dual dimensions of risk and risk perception is often ignored in conceptual risk frameworks. In this paper we present a risk framework for Arctic coastal communities. Our framework builds on the notion of the dual dimensions of risk, as both physically and socially constructed, and it places risk perception and the coproduction of risk management with local stakeholders as central components into the model. Central to our framework is the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration. A conceptual model and processual framework with a description of successive steps is developed to facilitate the identification of risks of thawing permafrost in a collaboration between local communities and scientists. O...
Young People, Wellbeing and Placemaking in the Arctic, 2021
Setting the stage The Yukon (see Figure 6.1) is a part of Canada's Arctic boreal forest, often po... more Setting the stage The Yukon (see Figure 6.1) is a part of Canada's Arctic boreal forest, often portrayed as "a biological treasure, Indigenous homeland, and extractivist frontier" (Willow 2016, p. 1). This 'frontier' exists because of the Tintina gold belt, stretching from Alaska to the Yukon: a geological region rich in not only gold and silver, but also copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, and uranium (Goldfarb et al., 2000). Mineral production quickly became industrialized after the gold and silver rushes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (Coates & Morrison 2005). During this history of gold and galena extraction, settlers and the Indigenous population became "irrevocably intertwined" (Winton & Hogan 2015, p.93). The present case study asks how problems Indigenous youth in the Yukon are confronted with are intricately tied to extractivism (Klein 2011; Acosta 2013; Petras and Veltmeyer 2014)-a defining characteristic of the Canadian settler state (Bélanger 2018). Extractivism, as we employ it here, is the continuation of environmentally and socially disruptive coloniality (Willow 2016). By focusing on a resilience approach (Roe et al. 2012), this chapter sketches ideas and solutions proposed by the study participants for 'living in a good way.' Living in a good way in a Yukon First Nation context means following ethical and cultural protocols and contributing to the wellbeing of oneself and one's community (Demientieff 2017). Indigenous peoples of the Yukon have lived on their traditional territories since 'time immemorial.' After contact with fur traders and prospectors in the late nineteenth century, Yukon First Nations gradually became part of the cash economy, while continuing to live off the land (Coates and Morrison 2005). Today, through land claims and self-government agreements, Yukon First Nations retain ownership to parts of their traditional homelands. 1 Referring to the large and still unremediated mine sites near Mayo, called Elsa and Keno Hills, Winton and Hogan (2015) find that Knit together in a complex pattern of mutual involvement and unequal impacts, the story of the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun and the Keno Hill mine is illustrative of how Aboriginal people across Northern Canada have been
&... more <p>This poster addresses the need to understand perspectives of change, both societal and environmental, from indigenous viewpoints in Canada. It is based on six years of collaborative, community-based research in Mayo, including semi-structured and narrative interviews with First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Elders. Their accounts tell of over one century of interaction and involvement with the extractive industry. The poster addresses the way First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Elders experienced and make sense of several major shifts, from settling at the onset of galena ore extraction, to life in and relocation from ‘Dän Ku’ (Our Home) to the townsite of Mayo, to life and work in Elsa and Keno – the mining hills nearby, which are home today to one of Canada’s largest gold mine. It discusses contemporary concerns with the industry, such as increased access to and thus pressure on wildlife due to mining roads, pollution, economic benefits and local employment. The poster further considers the methodological process which was centered on a community-based participatory approach. It is part of the outreach and science communication activities of the ReSDA (Ressources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic) funded project “LACE – Labour Mobiltiy and Community Participation in the Extractive Industry, Case Study in the Yukon”.</p><p> </p>
Arctic Yearbook, 2021
This briefing note examines the notion of subsistence as it appears in different (Arctic) context... more This briefing note examines the notion of subsistence as it appears in different (Arctic) contexts. It highlights that in English-language use subsistence is connected to notions of poverty and deprivation, which is what I refer to as the economistic bias. The profound gulf between an Alaska Native definition of subsistence and mainstream definitions is pointed out by Indigenous leaders and activists. This overview of the concept of subsistence confirms the biases the term carries by highlighting Indigenous view-points and critique. To conclude, subsistence can denote a wide variety of activities, however it always refers to unpaid activities – which are still valued less compared to paid ones, by discursive connotation with female, rural and Indigenous labour and carework, as well as poverty.
Young People, Wellbeing and Placemaking in the Arctic
Sustainability, 2021
Thawing permafrost creates risks to the environment, economy and culture in Arctic coastal commun... more Thawing permafrost creates risks to the environment, economy and culture in Arctic coastal communities. Identification of these risks and the inclusion of the societal context and the relevant stakeholder involvement is crucial in risk management and for future sustainability, yet the dual dimensions of risk and risk perception is often ignored in conceptual risk frameworks. In this paper we present a risk framework for Arctic coastal communities. Our framework builds on the notion of the dual dimensions of risk, as both physically and socially constructed, and it places risk perception and the coproduction of risk management with local stakeholders as central components into the model. Central to our framework is the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration. A conceptual model and processual framework with a description of successive steps is developed to facilitate the identification of risks of thawing permafrost in a collaboration between local communities and scientists. O...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2023
Living Culture, Learning Skills, Telling our Stories The Making of a Northern Tutchone Cultural Center, 2022
In this chapter we ask in which ways the planning of the Living Culture House by the First Nation... more In this chapter we ask in which ways the planning of the Living Culture
House by the First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun (FN NND) in the village of
Mayo, Yukon Territory in Canada, corresponds to ideas of Indigenous planning.
We highlight the importance of community-led, participatory planning
for the creation of cultural infrastructure aiming at overcoming a colonial
past and to indigenize the present while moving toward a future of collective
well-being, cultural vitality, and self-determination. We highlight the inclusive
and participatory planning approach, which seeks to minimize the division
between decision-makers and the community, and the fact that the FN
NND has actively engaged in learning lessons from other examples while at
the same time adhering to their own cultural protocols of consultation with
Elders and the wider community.
Environmental Research Letters
Atmosphere
Climate warming in Arctic Canada, e.g., permafrost thaw, comprehensively impacts biota and the en... more Climate warming in Arctic Canada, e.g., permafrost thaw, comprehensively impacts biota and the environment, which then affects the lives of people. This study aimed to investigate which perceived environmental and adaptation factors relate to self-rated well-being, quality of life, satisfaction with life (sum variable = life balance), self-rated health, and feeling of empowerment to face the changes related to permafrost thaw. The study sample was collected from one community using a questionnaire (n = 53) and analyzed by cross-tabulation. Results indicated that most participants had at least good well-being, quality of life, satisfaction with life, and a medium level of health, and over 40% assessed being empowered to face the changes related to permafrost thaw. Problems and challenges associated with permafrost thaw, e.g., health, traditional lifeways, and infrastructure, were recognized; these had impacts on life balance, feeling of empowerment, and self-rated health. Traditional...
<p>This paper presents the results from fieldwork conducted in three focal ... more <p>This paper presents the results from fieldwork conducted in three focal areas of the “Nunataryuk” EU H2020 permafrost project: the Nordic Area (Greenland and Svalbard), the Beaufort Sea Area in Canada (Northwest Territories/ Inuvialuit Settlement Region and Gwich’in First Nation Traditional Territory) and Northeastern Siberia in Russia. The paper analyzes the entanglement between social and environmental change and presents a risk analysis framework, including the interconnected geo-physical & socio-cultural risks, with the aim to improve adaptation and mitigation strategies of local communities. Guided by a mixed-methods approach, the research outcomes are the result of field-based research, including focus groups, qualitative interviews, participant observation, community workshops – as well as a quantitative survey in three settlements (Qeqertarsuaq in Greenland, Aklavik in Canada and Longyearbyen on Svalbard).</p>
Permafrost coasts in the whole Arctic represent 34% of the world's coasts (Lantuit et al., 20... more Permafrost coasts in the whole Arctic represent 34% of the world's coasts (Lantuit et al., 2012) and a key interface for human-environmental interactions. These coasts provide essential ecosystem services, exhibit high biodiversity and productivity, and support indigenous lifestyles. At the same time, this coastal zone is a dynamic and vulnerable zone of expanding infrastructure investment and growing health concerns. Climate change is affecting this fragile environment by triggering coastal landscape instability and increased hazard exposure (Forbes et al., 2011). Permafrost thaw in combination with increasing sea level and changing sea-ice cover expose the Arctic coastal and nearshore areas to rapid changes (Fritz et al. 2017). Since 2017, scientists from the Nunataryuk Project are working in cooperation with local communities in order to identify the impacts of thawing land, coast and subsea permafrost on the global climate and on humans in the Arctic and to develop targeted ...
Sustainability, 2021
Thawing permafrost creates risks to the environment, economy and culture in Arctic coastal commun... more Thawing permafrost creates risks to the environment, economy and culture in Arctic coastal communities. Identification of these risks and the inclusion of the societal context and the relevant stakeholder involvement is crucial in risk management and for future sustainability, yet the dual dimensions of risk and risk perception is often ignored in conceptual risk frameworks. In this paper we present a risk framework for Arctic coastal communities. Our framework builds on the notion of the dual dimensions of risk, as both physically and socially constructed, and it places risk perception and the coproduction of risk management with local stakeholders as central components into the model. Central to our framework is the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration. A conceptual model and processual framework with a description of successive steps is developed to facilitate the identification of risks of thawing permafrost in a collaboration between local communities and scientists. O...
Young People, Wellbeing and Placemaking in the Arctic, 2021
Setting the stage The Yukon (see Figure 6.1) is a part of Canada's Arctic boreal forest, often po... more Setting the stage The Yukon (see Figure 6.1) is a part of Canada's Arctic boreal forest, often portrayed as "a biological treasure, Indigenous homeland, and extractivist frontier" (Willow 2016, p. 1). This 'frontier' exists because of the Tintina gold belt, stretching from Alaska to the Yukon: a geological region rich in not only gold and silver, but also copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, and uranium (Goldfarb et al., 2000). Mineral production quickly became industrialized after the gold and silver rushes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (Coates & Morrison 2005). During this history of gold and galena extraction, settlers and the Indigenous population became "irrevocably intertwined" (Winton & Hogan 2015, p.93). The present case study asks how problems Indigenous youth in the Yukon are confronted with are intricately tied to extractivism (Klein 2011; Acosta 2013; Petras and Veltmeyer 2014)-a defining characteristic of the Canadian settler state (Bélanger 2018). Extractivism, as we employ it here, is the continuation of environmentally and socially disruptive coloniality (Willow 2016). By focusing on a resilience approach (Roe et al. 2012), this chapter sketches ideas and solutions proposed by the study participants for 'living in a good way.' Living in a good way in a Yukon First Nation context means following ethical and cultural protocols and contributing to the wellbeing of oneself and one's community (Demientieff 2017). Indigenous peoples of the Yukon have lived on their traditional territories since 'time immemorial.' After contact with fur traders and prospectors in the late nineteenth century, Yukon First Nations gradually became part of the cash economy, while continuing to live off the land (Coates and Morrison 2005). Today, through land claims and self-government agreements, Yukon First Nations retain ownership to parts of their traditional homelands. 1 Referring to the large and still unremediated mine sites near Mayo, called Elsa and Keno Hills, Winton and Hogan (2015) find that Knit together in a complex pattern of mutual involvement and unequal impacts, the story of the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun and the Keno Hill mine is illustrative of how Aboriginal people across Northern Canada have been
&... more <p>This poster addresses the need to understand perspectives of change, both societal and environmental, from indigenous viewpoints in Canada. It is based on six years of collaborative, community-based research in Mayo, including semi-structured and narrative interviews with First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Elders. Their accounts tell of over one century of interaction and involvement with the extractive industry. The poster addresses the way First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Elders experienced and make sense of several major shifts, from settling at the onset of galena ore extraction, to life in and relocation from ‘Dän Ku’ (Our Home) to the townsite of Mayo, to life and work in Elsa and Keno – the mining hills nearby, which are home today to one of Canada’s largest gold mine. It discusses contemporary concerns with the industry, such as increased access to and thus pressure on wildlife due to mining roads, pollution, economic benefits and local employment. The poster further considers the methodological process which was centered on a community-based participatory approach. It is part of the outreach and science communication activities of the ReSDA (Ressources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic) funded project “LACE – Labour Mobiltiy and Community Participation in the Extractive Industry, Case Study in the Yukon”.</p><p> </p>
Arctic Yearbook, 2021
This briefing note examines the notion of subsistence as it appears in different (Arctic) context... more This briefing note examines the notion of subsistence as it appears in different (Arctic) contexts. It highlights that in English-language use subsistence is connected to notions of poverty and deprivation, which is what I refer to as the economistic bias. The profound gulf between an Alaska Native definition of subsistence and mainstream definitions is pointed out by Indigenous leaders and activists. This overview of the concept of subsistence confirms the biases the term carries by highlighting Indigenous view-points and critique. To conclude, subsistence can denote a wide variety of activities, however it always refers to unpaid activities – which are still valued less compared to paid ones, by discursive connotation with female, rural and Indigenous labour and carework, as well as poverty.
Young People, Wellbeing and Placemaking in the Arctic
Sustainability, 2021
Thawing permafrost creates risks to the environment, economy and culture in Arctic coastal commun... more Thawing permafrost creates risks to the environment, economy and culture in Arctic coastal communities. Identification of these risks and the inclusion of the societal context and the relevant stakeholder involvement is crucial in risk management and for future sustainability, yet the dual dimensions of risk and risk perception is often ignored in conceptual risk frameworks. In this paper we present a risk framework for Arctic coastal communities. Our framework builds on the notion of the dual dimensions of risk, as both physically and socially constructed, and it places risk perception and the coproduction of risk management with local stakeholders as central components into the model. Central to our framework is the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration. A conceptual model and processual framework with a description of successive steps is developed to facilitate the identification of risks of thawing permafrost in a collaboration between local communities and scientists. O...
The Polar Journal, 2014
Spitsbergen lies in the European High Arctic: It is an archipelago north of Scandinavia, nestled ... more Spitsbergen lies in the European High Arctic: It is an archipelago north of Scandinavia, nestled between the Barents Sea to the east and the Greenland Sea to its west. Coal was first discovered in 1610 in this former “no-man’s land” rich in mineral resources. Frozen Assets. British Mining, Exploration, and Geopolitics on Spitsbergen, 1904–53 examines the driving forces behind British industrial development of Spitsbergen at that time. The book is divided into four parts: the introduction and background, the archaeological image, the historical image and a concluding chapter that offers a combined image.
ISBN (electronic book) 978-1-7750516-3-3, 2019
Dän Hùnày – Our People’s Story tells the stories of thirteen First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun Elder... more Dän Hùnày – Our People’s Story tells the stories of thirteen First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun Elders and how they experienced over one century of interaction with the mining industry in the Yukon Territory. First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun Elders experienced several major shifts during the last century: The former nomads settled at the onset of galena ore extraction, then relocated to the townsite of Mayo in 1958. Some men went to work in Elsa and Keno - the former mining dwellings nearby - and some women worked as baby-sitters, at the restaurant and at the hospital in Mayo. Contemporary concerns with the industry are discussed too – such as pollution, economic benefits, local employment and increased pressure on wildlife due to easier access via mining roads.