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Christine Wamsler. Photo

Christine Wamsler

Professor, Docent, appointed Excellent Teaching Practitioner (ETP)

Christine Wamsler. Photo

From Adaptive Capacity to Adaptation: Rethinking the Interface between Institutions and Citizens

Author

  • Christine Wamsler
  • Ebba Brink

Summary, in English

There is an increasing consensus that individual adaptive capacities are critical to successfully adapt to climate change and achieve sustainable development. However, little is known about adaptive practices, particularly in developed countries. Against this background, this paper investigates the strategies used by Swedish citizens to adapt to (changing) climatic variability and extremes. It offers critical insights into the positive and negative effects of such strategies, and discusses their relevance in the formulation of development policies and programmes. The paper highlights how connections between climate and institutional development efforts affect individuals and their activities. The paper concludes that individual adaptive capacities do not necessarily translate into adaptation and that, consequently, planned interventions are required. The importance of more people-oriented adaptation planning, that fosters the sustainable transformation of cities is emphasized, together with the role that South-North knowledge transfer can play in this context.

Department/s

  • LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)

Publishing year

2015

Language

English

Pages

1-18

Publication/Series

Input paper for The State of DRR at the Local Level, A 2015 Report on the Patterns of Disaster Risk Reduction Actions at Local Level

Document type

Book chapter

Publisher

United Nations International Office for Disaster Reduction

Topic

  • Other Social Sciences

Status

Inpress