Fifteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

The project team is collaborating with two United Houma Nation Indigenous communities in south Louisiana to document how environmental stressors affect the livelihoods of these communities, and shape the mitigation strategies they use. Utilizing a systematic process known as Sci-TEK (Bethel et al., 2014) the team combines local community knowledge with science-based datasets and GIS to produce maps informed by tribal members. With this information the team will produce a story-map tool for the UHN and other Indigenous communities facing similar challenges. This work may encourage other adaptation planning efforts and increase communication between communities and policymakers. The first goal of the project is to integrate policy, science and local knowledge to aid in adaption to chronic and acute environmental stressors. The second is to analyze the adaptive capacity of the UHN using physical science, social science, and TEK, and further examine and compare structural and nonstructural mitigation measures implemented in the area by the tribe and policymakers. The third goal is to assist the tribe in honing its adaptive capacity to adapt to chronic and acute environmental stressors by preparing a timeline of historical events in collaboration with the tribe, and sharing the analysis with the tribe so that the tribe can hone its adaptive capacity for future chronic and acute environmental stressors, and influence mitigation policy implemented to lessen those stressors. The final goal of the project is to engage local agencies in the adaptive capacity analysis, and disseminate the results beyond the case study communities.