Indigenous Knowledge for Sustainable Communications and Mobility: Perspectives from the Kolyma Road, Northeast Russia

Daria Burnasheva (), Viktoria Filippova, Mariia Kuklina, Vera Kuklina and Antonina Savvinova
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Daria Burnasheva: Department of Folk and Traditional Arts, Arctic State Institute of Culture and Arts, 4 Ordzhonikidze Street, Yakutsk 677000, Russia
Viktoria Filippova: The Institute for Humanities Research and Indigenous Studies of the North, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1, Petrovskogo Street, Yakutsk 677027, Russia
Mariia Kuklina: Institute of High Technology, Irkutsk National Research Technical University, 83, Lermontova Street, Irkutsk 664074, Russia
Vera Kuklina: Department of Geography, The George Washington University, 2036 Street NW, Washington, DC 20052, USA
Antonina Savvinova: Department of Ecology and Geography, M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, 48 Kulakovsky Street, Yakutsk 677000, Russia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: In northeast Russia, the famous historic Kolyma Road spans two thousand kilometers across two federal subjects of the Russian Federation: the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) and Magadan Oblast. Thousands of people live along and in close proximity to the road, depending on it for communication, mobility, goods, and life support. As the major transportation infrastructure in the entire region, it should be reliable and stable for local communities’ well-being. One strategic approach to ensure its reliability is to acknowledge the role of Indigenous knowledge, which has been neglected despite being established long before the emergence of existing formal systems of communication. Based on data collected through fieldwork, personal observations, and conversations, this paper aims to demonstrate that Indigenous knowledge regarding ways of living, moving, and communicating along and on the road is the key to sustainability in the region. As a result, we claim that this realization should be manifested in designing and implementing communication and mobility systems based on the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In the long term, it is necessary to develop a sustainable road management system for the Kolyma Road to ensure the security and well-being of local communities and for everyone visiting and working on the road.

Keywords: Indigenous and local knowledge; communications; mobility; Siberia; Arctic; Kolyma Road; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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