Indigenous communities in the Arctic and Pacific have effective knowledge and practices to help them adapt to climate change. Researchers want to translate this knowledge to enhance their resilience and help other Indigenous communities. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Natural disasters due to climate change have impacted over 2 billion people since the year 2000, with those in Arctic and Pacific communities disproportionally affected. An international team, including researchers from Penn State, has been awarded $1 million to compare climate risks and resilience in Arctic and Pacific Indigenous communities. Funded through the Belmont Forum , along with support from France and Norway, the “ResilienceS to climate risks: lessons from arctic and pacific communities (RETRACE) Project” will explore how Indigenous communities are handling climate change to develop more inclusive approaches to mitigating climate risks. The Belmont Forum provides knowledge and funding for communities to understand, mitigate and adapt to global climate change. “Climate change is having a great impact on Indigenous communities around the globe, but existing research in this area is much underfunded,” said co-principal investigator Guangqing Chi, professor of rural sociology, demography and public health sciences and Social Science Research Institute co-funded faculty member at Penn State. “Indigenous communities actually have effective knowledge and practices to adapt to climate change. We want to translate their knowledge and wisdom to help western society enhance their resilience.” The researchers will focus on the two geographical areas that are identified by climate scientists as the most vulnerable to climate risks: the polar zones and the Pacific Islands. For this project, researchers will concentrate on three Indigenous communities in Norway, Alaska and French Polynesia. “Indigenous communities in the Pacific and Arctic have acquired, preserved and perpetuated in their culture, habits and knowledge to cope with climate risks,” said co-principal investigator Pascal Egli, associate […]