AdaptNet for 21 September 2010

1. Australia’s NRM Governance System: Foundations and Principles

2. Adaptation to Climate Extremes in Developing Countries

3.  Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change

4. Resilience and Vulnerability: Complementary or Conflicting Concepts?

5. Institutional Challenges to Climate Risk Management in Cities

6. Online Survey – Scenarios for Climate Adaptation 

Australia’s NRM Governance System: Foundations and Principles              

This paper provides an introduction to thinking about NRM (natural resource management) governance across Australia as a connected system of social organisation set within a linked social-ecological system. It sets out 10 principles for future NRM governance arrangements: continuity; subsidiarity; integrated goal settings; holism; systems approach; relationship orientation; resilience; knowledge and innovation; accountability; and responsiveness and adaptability. 

Australia’s NRM Governance System: Foundations and Principles for Meeting Future Challenges, Ryan S, Broderick K, Sneddon Y, Andrews K, Australian Regional NRM Chairs: Canberra, Australia, 2010 [707 KB, PDF]

Adaptation to Climate Extremes in Developing Countries     

The paper assesses the economics of adaptation to extreme weather events. It addresses three primary questions: How will climate change alter the incidence of extreme events, and how will their impact be distributed geographically? How will future socioeconomic development affect the vulnerability of affected communities? And, of primary interest to negotiators and donors, how much would it cost to neutralize the threat of additional losses in this context? 

Adaptation to Climate Extremes in Developing Countries: The Role of Education, Policy Research Working Paper 5342, Environment and Energy Team, The World Bank Development Research Group, June 2010 [741 KB, PDF]

Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change       

This report is part of a congressionally requested suite of studies known as America’s Climate Choices, which looks at how best to provide information on climate change to decision-makers. It recommends several mechanisms for improving communication about climate science and calls for a systematic framework for making and evaluating decisions about how to effectively manage the risks posed by climate change. 

Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change, America’s Climate Choices, US’s National Academy of Sciences, July 2010

Resilience and Vulnerability: Complementary or Conflicting Concepts?     

The paper explores the emerging linkages and complementarities (in relation to theory, methodology and application) between the concepts of ‘resilience’ and ‘vulnerability’ to identify areas of synergy. It demonstrates how researchers are actively engaging with each field to co-produce new knowledge, and suggests promising areas of that are likely to further research and action in the field. 

Resilience and Vulnerability: Complementary or Conflicting Concepts? Miller, F et al., Ecology and Society 15(3): 11, 2010 [139 KB, PDF]

Institutional Challenges to Climate Risk Management in Cities    

The article reviews current research and debate on climate risk management in cities, focusing on the institutional capacity of cities to facilitate planned adaptation. It identifies four key barriers to effective adaptation: understanding scientific information about climate change hazards and their impact on cities; understanding how socio-economic processes influence urban vulnerabilities; integrating information about climate risk into local planning and development processes; and the lack of suitable governance frameworks for urban climate risk management.

Institutional Challenges to Climate Risk Management in Cities, Hartmut Funfgeld, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 201 [136 KB, PDF]

Online Survey – Scenarios for Climate Adaptation     

As part of the Scenarios for Climate Adaptation project, funded by the
Victorian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation Research, an online
survey is currently open to hear about views and experiences using
or developing scenarios to inform decision making. The survey closes 24 September, 2010.      

Online Survey for VCCCAR Research Project – Scenarios for Climate Adaptation, Victorian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation Research (VCCCAR), Melbourne, Australia, 24 September 2010

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For further information, please contact the editor, Saleem Janjua:adaptnet@rmit.edu.au 

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Associate Professor Darryn McEvoy (Program Leader) & Professor Peter Hayes (Program Advisor), Climate Change Adaptation Programme  

Saleem Janjua, editor AdaptNet