Falling between the Cracks of the Governing Systems: Risk and Uncertainty in Pastoralism in Northern Norway

Abstract Rapid and interacting change poses an increasing threat to livelihoods food production, pastoralists in Nordland, northern Norway, are at a crossroads both economically culturally. Some of these changes localized pertain changing weather grazing conditions caused by climate land fragmentation. Others, driven national management policies governance specifically related predators, poorly adjusted for the different contexts. The inherently adaptive have long history responding well variable conditions. This is now with continued pressures from many directions. central government systematically ignores pastoralists’ traditional knowledge enforces narrow sector be implemented regional local levels. We address effect how institutional, physical, societal constraints challenge prospects sustainable adaptation. Our results show become compromised potentially threatened because they forced respond ways that know counterproductive run. Adaptation outcomes affected approaches epistemologies situated across scale context terms regulations versus empirical reality among pastoral communities. study concludes radical needed toward more holistic which multiple systems integrated ensure adaptation all based on extensive long-term fieldwork reindeer herders sheep farmers through collaborative process coproduction.