TY - JOUR
T1 - Supporting local climate change adaptation
T2 - Where we are and where we need to go
AU - Nordgren, John
AU - Stults, Missy
AU - Meerow, Sara
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this research was provided by The Kresge Foundation. Staff at The Kresge Foundation assisted in scoping and designing the initiative, organizing and facilitating the convening at the Garrison Institute, analyzing, and reporting the overall project results. Special thanks also goes to Rachel Jacobson, Melisa Ongun, Cory Hamilton, and Kristiane Huber for their research to support this project; the Garrison Institute for hosting Phase III of the project; and Peter Szabo for helping organize and facilitate Phase III of this project.
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Local governments are on the front line of efforts to address climate-related impacts. Recognizing this, there is a growing movement to develop and deliver tools, resources, and services to support local communities’ climate adaptation initiatives. There is, however, limited understanding of what specific types of resources exist and how well these resources match the needs of local practitioners. To bring clarity to these questions, we: 1) assessed the current landscape of climate-adaptation resources and services; 2) surveyed community practitioners to learn how well these resources align with their needs; and 3) convened leading service providers and local practitioners to identify strategic opportunities for moving the adaptation field forward. Findings demonstrate that existing services and resources are meeting the early phases of local adaptation efforts such as conducting vulnerability assessments and creating adaptation plans, but are failing to meet the needs associated with implementing, monitoring, and evaluating adaptation activities. Additionally, a lack of funding and staff time to support adaptation, as well as inaccessible resource formats are barriers impeding local climate adaptation efforts. The mismatch between the types and formats of services being provided and the needs of local governments means that more work is needed to ensure that climate adaptation resources are responsive to the existing and future needs of local governments. Moreover, our research finds that there is a strong and growing need to organize and streamline the climate adaptation resource and service landscape so that practitioners can easily, effectively, and efficiently access the resources they need to build more resilient local communities.
AB - Local governments are on the front line of efforts to address climate-related impacts. Recognizing this, there is a growing movement to develop and deliver tools, resources, and services to support local communities’ climate adaptation initiatives. There is, however, limited understanding of what specific types of resources exist and how well these resources match the needs of local practitioners. To bring clarity to these questions, we: 1) assessed the current landscape of climate-adaptation resources and services; 2) surveyed community practitioners to learn how well these resources align with their needs; and 3) convened leading service providers and local practitioners to identify strategic opportunities for moving the adaptation field forward. Findings demonstrate that existing services and resources are meeting the early phases of local adaptation efforts such as conducting vulnerability assessments and creating adaptation plans, but are failing to meet the needs associated with implementing, monitoring, and evaluating adaptation activities. Additionally, a lack of funding and staff time to support adaptation, as well as inaccessible resource formats are barriers impeding local climate adaptation efforts. The mismatch between the types and formats of services being provided and the needs of local governments means that more work is needed to ensure that climate adaptation resources are responsive to the existing and future needs of local governments. Moreover, our research finds that there is a strong and growing need to organize and streamline the climate adaptation resource and service landscape so that practitioners can easily, effectively, and efficiently access the resources they need to build more resilient local communities.
KW - Adaptation resources
KW - Climate adaptation
KW - Climate services
KW - Local community
KW - Local government
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84973523366&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84973523366&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envsci.2016.05.006
DO - 10.1016/j.envsci.2016.05.006
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84973523366
SN - 1462-9011
VL - 66
SP - 344
EP - 352
JO - Environmental Science and Policy
JF - Environmental Science and Policy
ER -