Thesis Defense: Evaluating Place Attachment, Climate Change Awareness, and Risk Assessment...

In the coming weeks, UW master's students will defend their theses. The subjects are varied and the students are from both master's programs, Coastal Marine Management and Coastal Communities and Regional Development. The defenses are accessible to everyone through zoom links but they are also open to the public, at the University Centre of the Westfjords in Ísafjörður.

Student: Emma Dexter

Date & time: Tuesday September 3rd at 15:00

Thesis title: Evaluating Place Attachment, Climate Change Awareness,
and Risk Assessment: A Nationwide Study of Iceland in
Times of Escalating Natural Hazard Risk

Program: Coastal Communities and Regional Development

Zoom link: https://eu01web.zoom.us/j/68684619097

Abstract: Iceland has a long history of coping with disasters, especially avalanches and
landslides. Rapid mass movements of snow/soil already pose a threat in Iceland due to its
glacier-carved topography, easily eroded bedrock, and intense freeze-thaw cycles. However,
scientists project that these events will increase in frequency and severity as a result of
climate change—exacerbating disaster-risk. These climate events not only cause immediate
physical and emotional harm, they jeopardise peoples’ livelihoods and cultural identities by
undermining the tenuous socioeconomic and ecological stability of coastal communities. In
Iceland, increased disaster frequency and severity will pose an increasing challenge to
fisheries, tourism, and energy development. Though the body of knowledge on this topic is
increasing, further investigation is needed. This study fills a gap in the academic literature
on this topic by performing a nation-wide survey to assess place attachment, climate
change awareness, and risk perception across Iceland. The goal is to evaluate to what extent
respondents demonstrate place attachment and concern about hazard risks and whether
these perceptions correspond with the actual risk level of different regions in Iceland (i.e.
Capital Region, Westfjords, etc.). The survey was also designed to reveal participants’
observations and awareness of climate change as well as their faith in organisations
involved in disaster management. In this way, this study can inform future
management/emergency preparedness plans for high-risk areas in Iceland. The results of
this study demonstrate that the majority of respondents are very attached to the place they
currently live. They also support that most participants have moderate climate change
awareness and risk assessment. Finally, these data show that respondents believe that most
natural hazards will be less dangerous in the future than they are at present.

Defense schedule for this defense season: