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Articulations and enactments of climate adaptation citizenship: How citizens in small remote communities in the Nordics engage with climate change-related hazards

  • Sara Heidenreich
  • , Nina Baron
  • , Kerstin Eriksson
  • , Rico Kongsager
  • , Mikkel Nedergaard
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • University College Copenhagen, Emergency and Risk Management
  • Research Institutes of Sweden

Research output: Articles: Journal and NewspaperJournal ArticleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

As climate change-related hazards intensify, enhanced adaptation efforts that extend beyond technological solutions and include active roles for citizens are required. We introduce the novel concept of climate adaptation citizenship, defined through the three dimensions of awareness, action, and political engagement, to explore how citizens in small, remote Nordic communities engage with different climate change-related hazards. Our study illustrates diverse articulations and enactments of climate adaptation citizenship, with the most prevalent being awareness of local climate change effects, action through everyday material practices, and political engagement in the form of local place-protective advocacy. These enactments differ significantly from climate mitigation citizenship, underscoring the value of conceptualizing adaptation and mitigation citizenship as distinct yet interconnected. Our findings highlight the relevance of issue-oriented and practice-based approaches to citizenship for understanding existing forms of, and exploring potential avenues for, citizen engagement in transformative socio-technical adaptation.
Original languageEnglish
JournalEnvironmental Politics
ISSN0964-4016
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Mar 2026
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

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