Disaster risk perceptions and multinational cooperation in Barentsburg, Svalbard

Svalbard’s geographical positioning, environmental characteristics and multinational population make it conducive for considering informality and multinational cooperation in disaster risk reduction and response. Most research examining disaster risks and disasters for Svalbard has focused on Norweg...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar record 2022-01, Vol.58, Article e6
Main Authors: Duda, Patrizia I., Kelman, Ilan, Glick, Navonel, Sokolenko, Vladislav, Poussenkova, Nina, Nikitina, Elena
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coal mining
Collaboration
Cooperation
COVID-19
Disaster management
Disaster risk
Disasters
Emergency preparedness
Geopolitics
Infrastructure
International cooperation
Rescue services
Risk management
Risk perception
Risk reduction
Sovereignty
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Svalbard’s geographical positioning, environmental characteristics and multinational population make it conducive for considering informality and multinational cooperation in disaster risk reduction and response. Most research examining disaster risks and disasters for Svalbard has focused on Norwegian efforts in and for the main settlement of Longyearbyen, with none covering Svalbard’s second-largest settlement of Barentsburg. This paper addresses this gap by analysing how 21 Barentsburg residents deal with disasters. We conducted semi-structured interviews, visually aided by the revised PRISM (Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure) tool, to examine interviewees’ disaster perceptions, sources for disaster-related information and learning, and formal and informal sources for dealing with disaster risks and disasters. Our findings suggest that, despite being risk-aware, Barentsburg interviewees consider the settlement, and Svalbard as a whole, to be safe. The explanation is their faith in the existing disaster-related mechanisms, made up of both local Russian entities and the Norwegian rescue services, especially Svalbard’s governor (Sysselmesteren). Interviewees rely significantly on Russian and Norwegian informal actors and relationships for disaster-related information. These findings suggest that alongside formal approaches, informality may play a significant role in dealing with disasters in Barentsburg, which itself might serve as a platform for international cooperation.
ISSN:0032-2474
1475-3057
DOI:10.1017/S003224742200002X