This paper examines the adaptation practices across spatial scales and how adaptive actions on one scale can constrain another. Drawing on agropastoral communities in Burkina Faso the research investigates how higher scale adaptation action from international organizations and the government are redefined when locally implemented. It highlights that efforts to advance adaptation strategies should include local actors from the outset to broaden adaptation plans past technologically focused approaches.

Research on health has historically prioritized and catered to the needs of the Global North. The one-sided focus on producing knowledge that is intended to be universally valid and applicable leads to a neglect of more locally specific research that policymakers, health professionals and community representatives in the Global South say they need to improve action for health.

A policy shift toward localism in the UK is driving responses to the impacts of climate change. This paper examines local resilience to the shocks of climate change impacts focusing on communication, collaboration, adaptation, preparing for future shocks and learning from past events. The paper draws on extreme weather events in the UK and the local actions. It demonstrates that collaboration and communication between the public sector and civil society is an important factor in effective decision-making.

Through interviews with stakeholders, this research reviews the Community Adaptation Plan (CAP) in Nepal and stakeholder perception of its effectiveness. The results show that while the project recognized the pivotal role of the community in climate adaptation action, it was subject to elite capture in the community. The paper recommends that local institutions are more accountable for vulnerable households in the decision-making process.

This is a case study of climate adaptation planning in the islands of Saipan and Northern Mariana and the establishment of a multi-agency Climate Change Working Group. It describes the themes that arose throughout the process, touching upon leadership, political will, and stakeholder engagement. This resulted in a mixed level of success and the paper highlights challenges and recommendations when planning local climate adaptation plans.

Using ethnographic and geospatial research methods, this paper investigates community perceptions of climate-related changes in the Solomon islands. The researchers asked about changes, causes, timing and adaptive measures. Using geographical information system (GIS) the researchers created base maps of these perceived changes. The results showed that the people were able to identify acute changes such as water clarity and agricultural diseases but were less away of gradual shifts. The research recommends using a mix of scientific studies and local observations to document ongoing ecological changes.

Seven case studies prove the value of iterative problem-solving, stepwise learning, brokering relationships, and discovering common interests. They show that donors can work in politically smart and locally led ways if the political and bureaucratic environment within their own agencies is supportive. An obvious first step is for donors to change the practices and procedures that directly impede iterative problem-solving. Instead, they should create space for innovative, committed individuals sufficient room to work flexibly and opportunistically within the current system.

This paper examines climate adaptation planning in three cities: Quito (Ecuador), Surat (India), and Durban (South Africa). It investigates the trade-off between different forms of stakeholder involvement and their implications for urban resilience. The paper concludes that widespread commitment to climate adaptation plans require sustained political leadership, departmental engagement and continued stakeholder involvement. Adaptation efforts that focus on learning, awareness and capacity building are also more likely to be sustained and support the resilience of the most affected areas and residents.

In Victoria, Australia, primary healthcare partnerships (PCP’s) and community service organizations (CSO’s) are uniquely situated to address climate adaptation, identify vulnerable individuals and groups affected by climate change, and to promote climate justice and local community resilience. However, interviews with PCP’s and CSO’s indicate a lack of resources and guidance, including accessible information on climate adaptation action and climate change impacts.

This paper argues that small scale farmers face the double exposure of climate change and unpredictable patterns of global trade. Drawing on research undertaken in Ghana it showed that although many farmers intensified production by irrigating groundwater to grow and sell vegetables at local urban markets as an adaptive strategy, when they tried to integrate into larger markets they came up against unfair and unpredictable market failures. It is argued that small-scale irrigation can play an important role in local adaptive strategies but global economic practices need to be revised to consider poorer parts of the population.

This paper argues that community-based adaptation (CBA) “needs to recognize the considered experience of participatory development to date” and consider the specific challenges brought about by climate change. In particular, considerations in relation to local involvement in project planning to support pro-poor development that not only reduces poverty and vulnerability but also acknowledges and engages with issues of power and governance at different scales.

Using a detailed case study of the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) in Nepal and Bangladesh, this PhD thesis focuses on local vulnerability within global climate change risk. It is hypothesized that the ‘paradox’ of local risk at the global scale gives rise to a globalized discourse that restricts local perspectives and knowledge on how risks are experienced. Calling on environmental governance to integrate local perspectives of climate risk, it focuses on three dimensions of inclusive policy-making, namely participation, expertise and deliberation. The author concludes that Nepal took a more inclusive approach to NAP preparation than Bangladesh which was influenced by historical and political context.

Southern Africa is one of the world's most vulnerable regions to climate variability and change. This paper originates from a project aimed at designing, testing and conducting a participatory modelling process for the formulation of a local adaptation plan. It addresses major risk and adaptation strategies to climate variability and change.

This paper uses Norwegian survey data to provide an overview of adaptation strategies on the municipal level. The paper highlights that local governments are more likely to invest in adaptation strategies to mitigate the impact of flooding than in securing buildings and infrastructure, showing that local adaptation measures are primarily reactive. It calls for proactive engagement in adaptation processes and enhancement of institutional capacity at the municipal level.

This OECD working paper highlights the importance of multilevel governance in dealing with climate change. It argues that countries can avoid policy gaps between local and national climate change policy frameworks by leveraging local government input. Additionally, it expects this will accelerate adaptation responses, engage local stakeholders and foster resource mobilization. The paper presents a framework to facilitate multilevel governance to encourage cross-scale learning.

The city of Durban in South Africa has developed a locally rooted climate adaptation strategy. This paper investigates how climate change was integrated into local planning, how it was allocated staff and funding and how it came to be a serious consideration in local politics. The paper underlines the importance of local knowledge, local capacity building and rooting climate issues in local realities.

People's adjustments to multiple shocks and changes, such as conflict and drought, can be intrinsically political processes with uneven outcomes. Strengthening local adaptive capacity is a critical component of adapting to climate change. Based on fieldwork in two areas in Kenya, this article shows how people seek to access livelihood adjustment options and promote particular adaptation interests by forming social relations and political alliances to influence collective decision-making.

Rather than implementing highly technical, expensive and outsider-led interventions that are often untried in field conditions, priority should be given to using and modifying traditional coping mechanisms developed in the communities in Bangladesh.