Title of the Thesis
Trust, Communication, and Stakeholder Engagement in Managing the Creeping Climate Change Crisis in Longyearbyen
Title of the Trial Lecture
Lessons from risk communication for building trust and stakeholder engagement during creeping crises and their precursory events.
Trial lecture: 10:00
Public defence: 12:00
Auditorium Petter Thomassen (A5)
Members of the Assessment Committee
Professor Rhona Flin, University of Aberdeen
Professor Are Sydnes, UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Associate Professor June Borge Doornich, Nord University Business School (coordinator)
Supervisors
Main Supervisor:
Professor Gunhild Birgitte Sætren, Nord University Business School
Co-supervisors:
Professor Emeritus Odd Jarl Borch, Nord University Business School
Professor Bjørn Ivar Kruke, University of Stavanger
The trial lecture and public defence are open to all interested attendees.
The thesis is available upon request by contacting Grete Knudsen
Email: grete.i.knudsen@nord.no
Telephone: +47 75 51 76 77
Summary of the Thesis
When communities face climate-related events caused by climate change, it is easy to assume that solutions mainly lie in engineering measures such as stronger buildings, improved warning systems, and more robust energy supplies. These measures are important, but they are not sufficient on their own. Climate governance is also about people. For governance to function effectively, people must trust those who make decisions. They need clear information, opportunities to be heard, and a sense that their concerns matter. In other words, climate action depends not only on what authorities do, but also on how they communicate, build trust, and engage stakeholders.
This thesis therefore examines climate change not only as an environmental or technical problem, but as a creeping crisis — a crisis that does not emerge suddenly but develops over time and can be difficult to manage. The thesis focuses on Longyearbyen in Svalbard, where climate-related events are already affecting daily life and where local authorities operate with limited room for manoeuvre. This makes trust, communication, and stakeholder engagement particularly important. Against this background, the thesis addresses the following research question:
