Fostering resilience in a changing sea ice context: a grant maker's perspective

Abstract

A grant maker provides insight into how philanthropy can work with Arctic communities experiencing rapid change from the simultaneous impacts of climate change and globalization in the North Pacific. The focus is on the role that philanthropy can play in assisting communities in coping with changing sea ice conditions by recognizing that communities are an integral part of the social-ecological system. The role of resilience and how philanthropic organizations can increase resilience in Arctic communities and build upon their own initiatives is examined. Though private philanthropic investments are small relative to all funding in the north, they have the advantage of being nimble and are able to experiment with new ideas and novel approaches, though these efforts are not without their challenges.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the support I received from my colleagues at the Oak Foundation in affording me the opportunity to develop a portfolio of grants that builds on the approach described in this paper. I would like to acknowledge the helpful feedback I received on earlier drafts of this manuscript from Leonardo Lacerda, Kathleen Cravero, Amy Lovecraft, Susan Kaplan, Betsy Baker, Meaghan Calcari Cambell, Jenny Grimm, Dave Secord, Chanda Meek, and James Stauch. In particular, I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which led to substantial improvements in the paper.

Notes

1. An extension of Alaska's Coastal Zone Management Program failed to pass in the Alaska Legislature in 2011, leaving no formal mechanism for local input into federal Projects including off-shore oil and gas development.