Abstracts

In the current geopolitical situation, oil and gas production is of a strategic importance. Oil  and gas giants are operating in sensitive regions, developing a pipeline systems and putting pressures on sustainable development of the environment. However, not only  environmental issues should be taken into account when considering an impact of the
industries. Local communities are facing new challenges regarding potential impacts of the industry on their livelihoods. Constant development of the industry and an increasing
demands for energy supply threaten sustainability of socio-ecological systems (SES).
The main focus of the article on social component of SES and an impact that gas production might have on local fishery communities in sensitive coastal regions. Thus, the
principal aim of the research is to address social and political issues and analyse an impact of gas pipelines on the livelihoods of local communities. The following research applies an interdisciplinary approach. The article presents an integrated view on fishery communities from a sociological and political point of view in order to address participatory practices of decision – making, and to study relations between local fishery communities, government and industrial developers.
The aim is to propose an impact analysis on the livelihoods of indigenous fishery
communities of Izhorians of the western part of the Leningrad Oblast (region) in Russia.
Construction of a gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 transporting gas to Europe might put in danger an extinction of the local populations of the region, whose livelihoods depend considerably on fishing activities. This approach involves analysing the relationships between science, policy making, management, civil society, and economy. It also helps to identify the tensions between exploration and conservation and to plan economic activities in the region for the sustainable development of socio-ecosystems.
The article proposes to take a critical look at the sustainable development of natural
resources and to discuss the question of the legitimacy of the decision-making process
concerning the exploitation of oil and gas in the Baltic sea regions while taking into account the relations between governments, industry and local communities. The goal is to bring a new understanding of the dynamics and distribution of power at the interface between traditional and indigenous knowledge and public policy.