Listen to the whispers of the grass : Indigenous American approaches to climate adaptation planning

[摘要] In the last decade, Indigenous peoples of the United States have begun a concerted effort to formalize climate adaptation plans. As communities that are among the earliest to experience negative impacts of climate change and the most vulnerable to its effects, tribal communities are keenly aware of the urgency of undertaking an adaptation planning process. Assessing and adapting to the threats posed by climate change are not new concepts for indigenous peoples, who view their societies as always having had to constantly adapt to shifting environmental conditions since time immemorial. The principles and practices by which tribes plan for and design their communities to withstand change are centered on the seven generations model, which is predicated on long-term, sustained patterns of collective ownership and decision making that is guided by an ethical framework. In contrast, Western planning centers on regulation of land use, and adaptation planning decisions are largely guided by cost-benefit analyses that depend on economic valuations of quantified ecosystem services. Using directed content analysis of the 24 adaptation plans that have been published by tribal entities in the United States as of August 2015, this thesis explores the climate change-induced issues faced by tribal communities, how they are addressing them, and how their perspectives, knowledge, and approaches can inform community-based climate change adaptation efforts of other indigenous groups as well as in non-indigenous contexts.

[发布机构] Massachusetts Institute of Technology