Learning Network Resources

The Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network Resource Page is a single location to access previous Learning Network Information Session recordings. On this page, we highlight several tools, references, and links that are useful for Alaska tribes and Indigenous communities working on climate change adaptation.

Tools and reports

Building Resilience Today Training Series Tribal Climate Adaptation Guidebook SNAP Tools

Building Resilience Today Training Series

The goal of the Looking Forward, Looking Back: Building Resilience Today workshop was to provide Alaska Tribal communities who are experiencing climate change with the information, support, and climate science to plan and adapt for uncertain futures.

The workshop was hosted by AK CASC and the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association. Five Tribes participated in two trainings and held local workshops that aimed to help these partnering communities craft sections of a climate adaptation plan.

Training Reports

The BRT training reports provide an overview of the objectives, design, and content of two trainings held during the BRT project.

Training Report One
Training Report Two

Community Reports

kotlik community report cover Kotlik Report
St. Michael Report
Kwigillingok Report
Illiamna Report

Quinhagak Report - In Progress

Tribal Climate Adaptation Guidebook

tribal climate adaptation guidebook cover The Tribal Climate Adaptation Guidebook was developed in 2018 by the Oregon Climate Change Research Institute at Oregon State University. This guidebook builds on previous and ongoing climate-related work in tribal communities, and provides a framework for climate change adaptation planning in the context of existing tribal priorities and the unique issues facing Indigenous communities.

SNAP Tools

The AK CASC works closely with the Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning (SNAP) to develop web tools that make climate data easily accessible and understandable. These are a few SNAP tools that may be of use in adaptation planning.

Community Climate Charts Tool

Select your own community, and view a graph of temperature or precipitation projections by decade, as compared to historical baseline values.

Community Permafrost Data Tool

See data for massive ice, thaw susceptibility, existing problems, permafrost occurrence, permafrost temperature, rating score, and risk level.

Extreme Events Tool

Explore the frequency of extreme temperature and wind events 1958–2100.

Sea Ice and Wind Tool

Explore the interactions of wind and ice. Select a sea and generate graphs for selected months and time periods.

Historical Sea Ice Atlas

Explore ice extent for any historical period, explore changes in ice over the decades, and examine trends for their area.

Alaska Wildfires: Past and Present Tool

Explore past and future fires statewide. Users can zoom into different locations to see details, and the tool offers other features that can be turned on or off.

community climate charts tool

Relevant links

BIA Tribal Resilience Program

Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals

Adapt Alaska

UA Climate Toolbox

Tribal Climate Change Guide - University of Oregon

Learning Network webinars

Tanana Chiefs Conference: Village and Regional Adaptation in ACTION

November 22, 2021

The Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network held a learning network event on Monday, November 22nd. Presenters from Tanana Chiefs Conference presented on their Tribal Climate Resilience grant, Mainstreaming Climate Change Resilience in Village Planning. The presentation also highlighted both village adaptation priorities and regional responses which support climate adaptation.

Presenters: Barrett Ristroph, Debra Lynne, Nathan Elswick

Learning Network Introduction Slides
Tanana Chiefs Conference: Mainstreaming Climate Change Resilience in Village Planning Slides

Welcome to the Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network

October 20, 2021

This session will be re-introducing the Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network (AK TRLN) as a resource for Alaska Native Tribes and Communities that have recently received their BIA Tribal Climate Resilience Program (TCRP) awards. We will provide an overview of TCRP awards, and provide a space for those new awardees to share stories and learn from each other. This session will help inform the AK TRLN of project needs to provide future sessions based on the feedback.

Learning Network Introduction Slides
Tribal Climate Resilience Program Award Summary Slides
Tribal Climate Adaptation Handbook
BIA Tribal Climate Listening Sessions
AK Tribal Conference on Environmental Management
Tlingit & Haida Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Another Climate Report: Responsibility, A Quick Guide and Accountability

September 23, 2021

Many of our AK Indigenous People express the responsibility to family, village and broader community in the values identified by our Elders. As leaders, this responsibility relates to accountability and action. In 2019, Youth and Elders at the AK Federation of Natives passed a resolution that clearly calls out our climate crisis and the need to act. More recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) and the Status of Tribes and Climate Change (STACC) Reports were released with some significant and key messages. In this webinar, senior climate scientist Dr. John Walsh highlighted a Quick Guide to Climate reports including their purpose, how they are created, some key messages for Alaska, and how they might be used with other information in climate change adaptation work. Indigenous climate activist and creative, Princess Daazhraii Johnson, explored our individual and collective responsibility to act and the need for leadership in all arenas of governance/government to be accountable to the messages in timely climate reports and act on behalf of our children and humanity as a whole.

This is a joint webinar between the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy and the Alaska Tribal Resilience Learning Network.

Presenters: Malinda Chase (Tribal Liaison), John Walsh (IARC senior climate scientist), Princess Daazhraii Johnson (Indigenous climate activist and creative)

Can I Build Here?

May 19, 2021

In rural Alaska, planning decisions about housing involve individuals, local tribal and village corporation leadership, and regional housing authorities. This Information session will explore considerations for building on permafrost in a rapidly changing environment to inform decision-makers. It will preview how past landscape changes, due to permafrost thaw, can inform us about future conditions, and how this must influence where we decide to build, what kind of housing designs we should consider, and how to maintain our homes and infrastructure.

Presenters: Malinda Chase (Tribal Liaison), Bob Bolton (AK CASC permafrost researcher), Ilya Benesch (Cold Climate Housing Research Center)

Working together for the next generation

April 21, 2021

This session will focus on the significance of proactively including formal and informal learning opportunities for youth in tribal adaptation plans. This session will highlight several education opportunities that aim to build and support Indigenous youth leaders in climate adaptation and stewardship action.

Presenters: Katie Spellman (Assistant Professor in Education and Outreach, International Arctic Research Center), Roben Itchoak (Middle School Teacher, Shishmaref School, Iñupiaq raised at Siqnasuaq (Nome); Mary's Igloo tribal member), Christi Buffington (Science Education Specialist, International Arctic Research Center), Jennifer Hill (Native Youth Community Adaptation and Leadership Congress Coordinator National Conservation Training Center)

Understanding the Difference Between a Desktop Report, Vulnerability Assessment, and Risk Assessment

March 18, 2021

In the last Pre-TRP Application session, panelists provided overviews and examples of desktop reports, vulnerability assessments, and risk assessments and discuss how these documents are used in the climate adaptation planning process.

Presenters: AlexAnna Salmon (Igiugig Village Council), Nancy Fresco (Scenarios Network for Alaska & Arctic Planning), Jeremy Littell (USGS/ Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center), Jacquelyn Overbeck (Alaska Division of Geological & Geographic Surveys Coastal Hazards Program)

Language in Climate Change Planning

March 17, 2021

In this session, panelists discuss terms used in climate change adaptation planning that will be helpful when preparing a TRP proposal.

Presenters: Jerilyn Kelly (Mayor of Quinhagak), Nikki Cooley (Diné, Co-Manager Tribes and Climate Change Program), Kristin Timm (Social Scientist, Alaska Climate Adaptation Science
Center)

Highlighting examples of what the Tribal Resilience Program, (TRP) has funded in the past

March 10, 2021

In this session, panelists shared their projects and planning approaches for addressing climate change utilizing the Tribal Resilience Program funding opportunity.

Presenters: Philomena Keyes (Kotlik Tribal Resilience Coordinator), Raymond Paddock (Tlingit & Haida Environmental Coordinator)