{"title":"Between theory and action: Assessing the transformative character of climate change adaptation in 51 cases in the Netherlands","authors":"Dore Engbersen, Robbert Biesbroek, Catrien J.A.M. Termeer","doi":"10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102948","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Globally, researchers and policymakers are calling for transformative climate adaptation (TCA) to fundamentally change the attributes of social, economic, and ecological systems to deal with climate risks. However, attempts to conceptualize, assess, and implement TCA are limited and often result in vague and diffuse meanings, hindering transformative action. This study synthesizes existing literature to introduce a framework consisting of six dimensions for evaluating transformative climate adaptation actions: (1) depth, (2) scope, (3) scale, (4) speed, (5) social vulnerability, and (6) ecological vulnerability. We applied this framework to 51 climate change adaptation cases in the Netherlands. Our results show that no single case scored high on all dimensions, suggesting there are trade-offs between the six dimensions. Most trade-offs exist between depth, speed, and scale; however, they sometimes extend to the interplay between social and ecological vulnerability. We identify multiple clusters of cases that display varying degrees and characteristics of transformative change. Our results strengthen the call for a multidimensional and continuous change perspective of TCA to address the gap between transformative theory and transformative actions. The framework proposed here could guide future empirical research on the drivers of TCA and help governance actors work towards building more socially and environmentally resilient futures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":328,"journal":{"name":"Global Environmental Change","volume":"89 ","pages":"Article 102948"},"PeriodicalIF":8.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Global Environmental Change","FirstCategoryId":"6","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378024001523","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Globally, researchers and policymakers are calling for transformative climate adaptation (TCA) to fundamentally change the attributes of social, economic, and ecological systems to deal with climate risks. However, attempts to conceptualize, assess, and implement TCA are limited and often result in vague and diffuse meanings, hindering transformative action. This study synthesizes existing literature to introduce a framework consisting of six dimensions for evaluating transformative climate adaptation actions: (1) depth, (2) scope, (3) scale, (4) speed, (5) social vulnerability, and (6) ecological vulnerability. We applied this framework to 51 climate change adaptation cases in the Netherlands. Our results show that no single case scored high on all dimensions, suggesting there are trade-offs between the six dimensions. Most trade-offs exist between depth, speed, and scale; however, they sometimes extend to the interplay between social and ecological vulnerability. We identify multiple clusters of cases that display varying degrees and characteristics of transformative change. Our results strengthen the call for a multidimensional and continuous change perspective of TCA to address the gap between transformative theory and transformative actions. The framework proposed here could guide future empirical research on the drivers of TCA and help governance actors work towards building more socially and environmentally resilient futures.
期刊介绍:
Global Environmental Change is a prestigious international journal that publishes articles of high quality, both theoretically and empirically rigorous. The journal aims to contribute to the understanding of global environmental change from the perspectives of human and policy dimensions. Specifically, it considers global environmental change as the result of processes occurring at the local level, but with wide-ranging impacts on various spatial, temporal, and socio-political scales.
In terms of content, the journal seeks articles with a strong social science component. This includes research that examines the societal drivers and consequences of environmental change, as well as social and policy processes that aim to address these challenges. While the journal covers a broad range of topics, including biodiversity and ecosystem services, climate, coasts, food systems, land use and land cover, oceans, urban areas, and water resources, it also welcomes contributions that investigate the drivers, consequences, and management of other areas affected by environmental change.
Overall, Global Environmental Change encourages research that deepens our understanding of the complex interactions between human activities and the environment, with the goal of informing policy and decision-making.