Open Collections

Stuart, Maicen

University of British Columbia

The Khumbu region of Nepal, the traditional homeland of the Sherpa people, encompasses a dynamic landscape including many of the world’s tallest mountains and has attracted significant attention from tourists, mountaineers, and scientists. This has led to many institutional activities, centered around climate change in Khumbu. In this thesis, I explored the production of western scientific climate knowledge and engagement practices with Sherpa communities and their knowledge. Taking a mixed-methods approach, including a systematic literature review, scientometric and network analysis, and thematic analysis, I examined scientific literature on Khumbu, sourced from Scopus, Web of Science, and GeoRef academic databases. In Chapter 3, I conducted scientometric and, using the open-access software VOSviewer, network analysis, to examine historical trends and collaboration dynamics of knowledge production. The results showed the dominance of western researchers, institutions, and funding bodies. A methodological shift towards remote, desk-based 'satellite science,' particularly in the last 20 years was identified. In Chapter 4, the second results chapter, I found overall low levels of interaction with community engagement (2.7%) and local knowledge (1.8%) in the literature. Applying a responsible community engagement framework built by David-Chavez & Gavin (2018) to assess the depth and types of engagement practices that researchers and institutions employed during research activities, I found that most research conducted in Khumbu rarely collaborated with Sherpas and fell within ‘Contractual’ or ‘Consultative’ categories of engagement. The thematic analysis adapted from Klenk et al. (2017) demonstrated that local knowledge is predominantly framed through the lens of how traditional practices and beliefs have or are experiencing transitions, such as a decline in younger generations, due to an increase in tourist-based livelihoods. Overall, in this thesis I investigated the shifting landscape of climate knowledge production in Khumbu that is led by western institutions that are increasingly using ‘satellite science’, which may reduce opportunities for co-producing knowledge with Sherpa communities in Khumbu. I conclude by recommending inclusive and collaborative research practices that center local priorities and place greater value on local knowledge.

Text

2025-01-13

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90110

Geography

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/