Adaptive Governance in Integrating Sustainability and Resilience into the Arctic Shipping Routes: The Kara Sea Case

Abstract

Due to nascent climate-driven challenges, maritime transportation and traffic density have initiated several debates concerning sustainable development within the Arctic. Responding to a situation in a safe and timely manner within a spatially extensive region entails a comprehensive governance framework, due to the considerable uncertainty and constraints. Therefore, building resilience in the Arctic shipping routes can be achieved by implementing an adaptive governance model in which sufficient national and international input can be provided by means of key actors. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to investigate how supply chain resilience is built within the temporal and spatial variations in shipping in the Russian Arctic. It is planned as a qualitative single-case study to reveal how institutions and the behaviors of related key actors evolve over time, based on the Kara Sea case. Founded on a relatively new term called adaptive governance, this study contributes to the extant literature by discussing the interrelation between the terms “sustainability” and “resilience” within the supply chain context and outlining the process of integrating sustainability and resilience into the Arctic shipping routes.