Fostering community well-being in times of change: Insights from southeast Alaskan communities

Abstract

Alaskan coastal communities are some of the most vulnerable in the world due to disproportionate rates of warming and socio-economic shifts. Shifts in traditional livelihoods can represent significant cultural change, which influences residents' perception of community well-being. This presentation explores how local communities negotiate various forms of anthropogenic change, maintain control over tourism development, and negotiate community well-being as new livelihood opportunities arise. This research draws from the theoretical framework of livelihood sovereignty to examine local and regional level decision-making, how tourism integrates into local socio-ecological systems, and how community well-being is defined. Encompassing 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork in three southeast Alaskan coastal communities, data collection efforts yielded 120 semi-structured and unstructured interviews, nineteen community presentations and participatory workshops, and extensive archival information and participant observation across the three Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Community advisory boards were assembled in all three study sites to give insight throughout the research process. Indigenous community members comprise at least one-third of each organization, and Tribal Council approval was successfully sought in each community before beginning data collection. Findings allude to community well-being centered around youth integration into local livelihoods to promote character and skill development in Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. However, this integration is enabled through local ownership of the tourism enterprise by local institutions, where residents maintain cultural sovereignty by controlling the tourism narrative. This study offers insight into the acceptability of tourism development for rural communities, the role of youth in fostering community well-being, and tourism decision-making in multi-scalar environments.