Alaska’s Resilience Comes from Community

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Hello Friends,

The federal government’s fifth National Climate Assessment, released this month, echoes previous reports on how quickly the arctic climate is changing - especially in Alaska. The Alaska chapter places new emphasis on the urgency of climate resilience planning and the importance of centering such plans around Indigenous values, knowledge and priorities.

That urgency is what drives our work at AVF. This month, we’re highlighting community-led projects to create a more resilient and sustainable future in Alaska. We’re especially excited about a new collaboration around wildfire resilience that we launched in October.

Many of you are already deeply invested in Alaska’s future and we know you recognize the opportunities that make Alaska uniquely equipped to serve as a model for sustainability. We encourage you to read the National Climate Assessment chapter on Alaska and let it inspire you to support our work.

The Alaska Venture Fund Team

Alaska Venture Fund - News & Views

Project updates, stories and perspectives that inspire our work.

New: Accelerating our Impact
In this short video, AVF Managing Partner Erin Dovichin shares our vision for the role Alaska can play in solving the climate crisis and how our projects, programs and grants are advancing this vision.

In Kodiak, a Model for Sustainable Small Communities
For almost two decades, residents of Kodiak’s rural villages have gathered to advocate for solutions to challenges faced by underserved rural communities. Through its “deep democracy” model, AVF grantee the Kodiak Archipelago Leadership Institute (KALI) is a laboratory for how to solve problems faced by small communities.

Building Wildfire Resilience and Community Dialogue in Alaska
AVF is building a statewide wildfire resilience program to improve community resilience and safety. In October, we brought together Tribal leaders, scientists, wildfire agency managers and researchers for the first Alaska Wildfire Roundtable. Going forward, the group will act as thought leaders to help address the most important and immediate wildfire needs.

New Episodes of Arctica Podcast
Episodes 2 and 3 of Arctica are now live. Join host Miaraq Warren Jones, AVF’s Project Manager for Cross-cultural Collaborations, in conversation with Emily Sullivan, a backcountry ski athlete and a community organizer for climate justice, and Ash Adams, an Anchorage-based photographer whose work focuses on Alaskan identity and the stories that populate our state’s wild landscape.

Welcoming Jeff Ennenga and Sarah Nabirye to AVF!
As AVF’s Wildfire Resilience Program Manager, Jeff will use his decades of wildland fire management, emergency preparedness and fire training expertise to help equip communities to equitably engage in wildfire prevention, mitigation and resilience. Reach out to Jeff to learn more about our new Wildfire Resilience Program.

Sarah Nabirye joins AVF as an Energy Transition Fellow. With a background in social sciences and sustainable development, Sarah is passionate about community empowerment and critical infrastructure. She’ll work with our energy team to further sustainable energy opportunities in Alaska.

From Across Alaska

News, articles, events, videos and more.

Alaska's Energy Opportunity – There’s a small window for huge federal investment in Alaska's energy transition: In October, the U.S. Department of Energy promised more than $200 million for cheaper, cleaner power in Alaska’s Railbelt. The move away from fossil fuels has diverse support in Alaska, even from unexpected parts of our community. But many of the key federal programs that can accelerate this transition will expire by 2035, so we have to act now to ensure we don’t miss this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make Alaska a role model for other regions around the country.

Northern Landscapes – The retreat of Alaska’s boreal forests: New research suggests that the world’s boreal forests are shrinking faster than expected. A separate study shows alarming insight into how wildfires are accelerating permafrost melt, releasing stored carbon and methane. Since more than half of the country’s land-based carbon stores are in Alaska’s forests, continuing to partner with impacted communities and investing in Indigenous land stewardship efforts are critical to keeping irrecoverable carbon stock in the ground.

In case you missed it:

Residents of Kasigluk in Western Alaska maintain community in the face of the many challenges of thawing permafrost. [High Country News]
Tidal energy pioneered in Alaska has the potential to make a significant contribution to global decarbonization efforts in the coming decades, and industry Insiders are inspired by the pace of activity in the last year. [Clean Technica]
In order to grow their nascent industry, Cordova’s kelp farmers need a way to process seaweed locally. A grant from the Environmental Protection Agency will let them pilot a solution, using waste heat from diesel electric generators. [Alaska Public Media]
Two young Indigenous activists raised on the Yukon River use their work and art to recover traditional ways of life. [Vogue]
Indigenous communities are building their own advanced machine-learning tools to save their critically engaged languages before it’s too late. [Popular Mechanics]
Climate has fundamentally shaped the landscape of Alaska’s national parks, but now climate change is redefining them. The latest issue of Alaska Park Science, published by Alaska’s regional NPS office, provides a glimpse of the latest climate change research in the high-latitude parks. [Alaska Park Science]
“Beauty is always bigger than the pain,” writes Laureli Ivanoff from Uŋalaqłiq (Unalakleet) – a message from the women in her life who have passed. [High Country News]

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