1. INTRODUCTION
Cold environments cover over 25% of the World's land surface. (rgs.org) this vast area that cold environments span means that there are a lot of stakeholders who all hold very different interests in the land. Cold environments are icy landscapes that occur in areas of high latitude and high altitude regions of the world. Not all cold environments are the same, these sub divisions occur; (a) glacial areas (b) tundra and (c) alpine areas/ mountain ranges also (d) periglacial. (Student Unit Guide, David Holmes)
2. DEFINITIONS
For the purpose of this report I have selected key terms which I have used for clarity as they will be vigorously referred to in the duration of this report. The attitudes you have towards certain ideas and actions are determined by your value system, your value system is sculpted by the environment in which the individual has grown up in, social, political and environmental factors all contribute to ones attitudes and values, by the end of this report I shall identify why each stakeholder holds the attitude and value that they have.
Values
Core beliefs that guide and motivate attitudes and actions ethics.org/definitions Attitudes
Feelings towards certain idea or issues
UNESCO, 2010
Stakeholder
a stakeholder as any group or individual who can be affected by the achievement of organisations objectives.
Freeman et al. 1984
High Altitude
High altitude has generally been defined as an elevation above 3000 m,
National Geographic Defitions
High Latitude
These are areas 60-90 degrees N and S of the equator
Student Unit Guide, David Holmes I believe it is difficult to simply answer the question due to multiple factors contributing to the complexity of the question ,values and attitudes are important in determining how cold environments are ultimately used however they are not the solely the determining factor. Technology is just one of the key factors as without advanced technology the opportunity for the land use may not even be viable.
In order to answer the question I will use figure 1 to assist me. The power and influence of a stakeholder group will determine whether their values and interests can impact the use of cold environments. Figure 1 displays the Mendelow's Power-interest grid (1991), it is used to explain how stake holding is linked to influence, which I will be referring to later in the report as I believe the answer lies within how much influence the stakeholder has. This is the factor that determines whether their attitudes and values will adapt the way environments are used. I will use the framework to establish which stakeholders have the most influence by estimating each individual power and interest in the organisations affairs in cold environments.
3. FRAMEWORK
The frame work for this report will be case studies sub divided into the land uses of which cold environments are utilized. I will be referring to differing case studies from high latitude regions such as Russia and the Antarctica to the high altitude mountain range of the Himalayas. Also I will be looking at countries with contrasting economic development such as Alaska and Nepal, and different approaches to sustainable development that involve the primary stakeholders in deciding priorities and implementing interventions, on the other hand global agendas that are enforced in a top-down approach.
4. METHODOLOGY
For this report, a wide range of resources and material have been accessed to provide sufficient evidence to support my case studies. Sources span from government websites such as “government.se” the Swedish Government website to newspapers, such as the independent newspaper, this has provided articles that are topical and up to date, also the independent does not tend to have a political stance. I tried to identify bias sources and limiting the extent of bias within my work by looking up the authors/publishers to see if they had a reason to be subjective. Furthermore to overcome unreliability I used