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This study aims to explore the utility of anticipatory adaptation to climate variability and related livelihood sensitivities in rural African contexts using the case of Mbire district situated in the mid-Zambezi valley region of Zimbabwe. The provision of decadal climate information (up to ten years), as part of an anticipatory adaptation package, is at the centre of analysis.

The study used semi-structured and key informant interviews, with a total of 45 semi-structured interviews being conducted with randomly selected long-term communal farmers in the case study area. Whilst data from semi-structured interviews was arranged in Microsoft Excel, thematic analysis was used in analyzing all data.

Anticipatory adaptation and decadal climate projections are shown to potentially enhance flexibility in adaptation planning vis- à-vis responding to climate variability and other challenges, as well as reduce chances of maladaptation in responding to climate challenges in the context of multiple and reinforcing stresses and shocks.

Anticipatory adaptation, with its three main pillars of future analysis, flexibility of strategies and proactive action, is emerging as key in assisting adaptation planning, the harnessing of opportunities and decision-making vis- à-vis responding to climate uncertainties and related livelihood sensitivities. Yet there have not been much empirically grounded analyses in understanding the role of anticipatory adaptation in rural Africa. This study therefore adds to evidence-based analyses towards understanding the role and utility of anticipatory adaptation in local communities in Africa.

Climate change will lead to new environmental conditions in winter sport destinations. Even if the motivations of the visitors remain the same, climate change will inevitably influence their behavior. At the same time, tourism destinations try to influence visitor behavior by implementing adaptation strategies and offering new products. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of possible consumer research approaches from a destination's perspective.

In order to study the influence of climate change on winter destinations in Austria, the authors adapted an existing behavioral framework to the model for proactive tourist adaptation to climate change, which is helpful to understand the influencing factors and the individual decision‐making process towards adaptation intention. Thereafter they used the results of a choice experiment (=intended behavior) to calibrate a decision support tool (DST) for a cross‐country skiing destination in Austria.

The paper presents a DST based on the choice experiment. The DST shows the changing market shares for three segments as a destination and its entrepreneurs attempt to identify the best opportunities for the various adaption strategies they can possibly consider. The authors suggest this as a suitable market research tool for proactive destination management.

Compared to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), Choice experiments (CE) are less suitable to contribute to the understanding of behavior; at the same time, CEs are well suited to model intended behavior, and to predict the demand for currently non‐existing alternatives when past behavior might be a poor predictor.

The authors propose a conceptual framework that explicitly combines the modeling of behavior and behavioral intention with relevant concepts of the individual customer's cognitive process. The authors want to ensure that destination managers are able to understand, and eventually direct and influence travel behavior as it relates to their local conditions, which in the context of climate change implies that the destination must lay the foundation for tomorrow's success while competing today.

The paper focuses on two main challenges related to destination choice in the context of climate change: tourists encounter a rather unique decision context, as their decision to visit is completely voluntary, and predicting visitor reactions to climate change enters uncharted waters as clients have not encountered these situations before.

This study aims to examine the extent to which farmers are aware of climate change and how they have modified their growing practices in response to perceived climate changes.

A logit model was used to explore farmers’ awareness and a binary logistic model was used to analyze their adaptive responses. Data from 335 farm households were collected from three provinces of Northwest Vietnam with different climate change vulnerability.

Farmers’ awareness of climate change was related significantly to household and farm characteristics. Farm experience, education level, location, tenancy status, soil fertility, access to credit, climate information, agricultural extension services, farmer groups, non-agriculture income, distance to market and house and climate change experience influence adaptation measure choices.

These findings suggest that investment strategies must promote adaptation to climate change by supporting technological and institutional methods, such as education, markets, credit and information.

This study is the first study that uses econometric models to analyze farmers’ perception effect and adaptation to climate change aspect in Northwest Vietnam

This paper aims at understanding how smallholder farmers are adapting to drought and what shapes their vulnerabilities and ability to adapt. Considering that their capacity to adapt to climate change has been undermined not only by the natural vulnerabilities due to their geographic location but also by the social context, gender and institution that interact to influence and determine household and individual vulnerability and responses to drought.

Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data were collected by use of structured questionnaires from 128 male-headed households and 122 female-headed households in eight villages in the Nguru Local Government Area, as well as from key informant interviews and focus group discussions.

Climate change is not a concept recognized by most farmers and does not have standard translation in the local language; farmers believe the term refers to change in weather. Drought and crop failure are causing despair and frustration, and farmers reported that they are struggling to adapt. The resources and support inputs required for responding to climate change and variability are socially differentiated by gender, women’s and men’s responses to drought impacts as well as their access to adaptation resources and support differ significantly. Women are in particular unable to access the favored adaptation strategies promoted by Yobe State Agricultural Development Programme as a government support institution assigned with the responsibility of helping farm households adapt to climate change in ways that will increase their adaptive capacity.

These findings are essential for informing policy decisions by ensuring that the experiences of both women and men and the context in which they operate are embedded into policy design.

The purpose of this paper was to examine smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate change risks, adaptation responses and the links between adaptation strategies and perceived/experienced climate change risks in South Gondar, Ethiopia.

This paper used a convergent mixed methods design, which enables us to concurrently collect quantitative and qualitative data. Survey data was collected from 352 households, stratified into Lay Gayint 138 (39%), Tach Gayint 117 (33%) and Simada district 97 (28%). A four-point Likert scale was used to produce a standardised risk perception index for 14 climate events. Moreover, using a one-way analysis of variance, statistical differences in selecting adaptation strategies between the three districts were measured. A post hoc analysis was also carried out to identify the source of the variation. The findings of this paper are supplemented by qualitative data gathered through focus group discussions and key informant interviews of households who were chosen at random.

The standardised climate change risk perception index suggests that persistent drought, delayed onset of rainfall, early termination of rainfall and food insecurity were the major potentially dangerous climate change risks perceived by households in the study area. In response to climate change risks, households used several adaptation strategies such as adjusting crop planting dates, crop diversification, terracing, tree planting, cultivating drought-tolerant crop varieties and off-farm activities. A Tukey’s post hoc test revealed a significant difference in off-farm activities, crop diversification and planting drought-tolerant crop types among the adaptation strategies in the study area between Lay Gayint and Simada districts (p < 0.05). This difference reconfirms that adaptation strategies are location-specific.

Although many studies are available on coping and adaptation strategies to climate change, this paper is one of the few studies focusing on the linkages between climate change risk perceptions and adaptation responses of households in the study area. The findings of this paper could be helpful for policymakers and development practitioners in designing locally specific, actual adaptation options that shape adaptation to recent and future climate change risks.

This paper aims to present an investigation of the climate adaptation planning and implementation process undertaken by the municipal government of Cape Town, South Africa, situating the findings within the broader literature on governance-related barriers to adaptation.

By developing an in-depth case study using methods of organizational ethnography, the research traces phases of climate adaptation planning and implementation in Cape Town. Applied thematic analysis surfaces issues of coordination, decision-making, resource constraints and tracking progress as key constraints to urban climate adaptation.

While considerable progress has been made on developing a citywide climate adaptation plan for Cape Town, implementation is constrained by poor monitoring and feedback within and between departments and a lack of oversight and impetus from central authorities within the government hierarchy.

Further research is needed on the interface between technical and political decision-making, governance arrangements that facilitate coordination and iterative adjustment and the organizational uptake of externally commissioned work on climate adaptation.

The paper points to the need for a climate adaptation coordination function situated higher up in the municipal government structure than the environment department to implement, monitor, evaluate and revise measures to reduce climate risks and vulnerabilities citywide.

The paper is of value to those seeking to understand local government decision-making, as it pertains to climate adaptation and those looking for means to address climate risks and vulnerabilities in cities, especially in South Africa.

A better understanding of the processes that shape households’ adaptation decisions is essential for developing pertinent policies locally, thereby enabling better adaptation across scales and multiple stakeholders. This paper aims to examine the determinants of household decisions to adapt, it is also possible to target factors that facilitate or constrain adaptation. This helps to identify key components of current adaptive capacity, which leads to important insights into households’ competence to adapt in the future.

This paper takes a full-pledged approach examining factors and processes that shape households’ climate adaptation decision-making in rural Cambodia at three levels: adaptation status, adaptation intensity and choices of adaptation strategy. The three-stage analyses are materialized by applying the double hurdle model and multivariate probit model, which provides a potential way to systematically assess household adaptation decision-making in rural settings.

Results show a high level of involvement in adaptation among local households who are facing multiple stressors including climatic risks. The findings suggest that perceived climate change influence households’ decisions in both adaptation status and intensity. Access to financial credit, farmland size, water availability and physical asset holdings are identified as key factors promoting the adoption of more adaptation measures. To facilitate adaptation, collective effort and support at community level is important in providing knowledge based climate information dissemination and early warning systems. Public sector support and development aid programs should focus on positive triggers for targeted community and household adaptation.

The study, to the authors’ best knowledge, is one of the first studies to investigate the determinants of local adaptation decision-making systematically in Cambodia. It also provides a comprehensive approach to improve understanding of adaptation decision-making processes by exploring how various capital assets are associated with different stages of adaptation decisions. The findings contribute to policy implications enlightening adaptation planning at multi-scales with knowledge of key factors, which enhance local adaptive capacity to reduce climate change vulnerability.

This paper aims to present part of the research results in developing an adaptation process to cope with flood risk in coastal cities under the impact of climate change variability and rapid urbanization in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Two main assessment tools applied in this research are rapid vulnerability assessment and tool for environmental assessment and management.

Under the same natural conditions, people living in more urbanized districts suffer with more inundation and risks from polluted floodwater than those who live in less urbanized districts. Notwithstanding, people in lower urbanized districts are more vulnerable since they have a low capacity to cope with flood and pollution due to flood‐prone living conditions, poverty and lack of awareness on the changing variability and water pollution. Gender analysis in this research has found that men and women play different roles in coping with hazards, and women suffer with more risks than men especially in term of health, sexual harassment, and increasing responsibility.

The adaptation process should focus on integrating vulnerability assessment findings appropriately with the assessment tools and gender analysis in order to develop as well as implement adaptation measures effectively and efficiently. This adaptation process should also be applied for other countries having different contexts of development under different levels of projected climate change‐related risks.

This research contributes in developing the process on adaptation to possible hazards related to climate change, especially for coastal communities of Vietnam and developing countries where the urbanization process is increasing rapidly.

The paper aims to identify and assess quantitatively the influences of a few dimensions of climate awareness on people's preference for adaptation against sea level rise (SLR).

From the literature survey “familiarity with”, “perception about” and “intuitive knowledge about” climate change‐sea level rise (CC‐SLR) have been identified as dimensions of “climate awareness”. Empirical research was done through administering questionnaires among 285 respondents selected randomly from three coastal villages in Bangladesh. After principal component analysis, data sufficiency and colinearity test, a total of 18 variables were entered into a multinomial logistic regression model. The reference category “evacuation” was compared with other two choices, i.e. in situ adaptation with “same occupation” and “changed occupation”.

For the SLR scenario of 2050‐2075 occupational engagement, use of radio for climate information, exposure to rainfall, salinity and perception about CC‐SLR appeared as the most significant predictors of people's preference for evacuation or in situ adaptation (LR χ²=183.38, pseudo R²=0.54, p<.001). Similarly, for the SLR scenario of 2080‐2100, in addition to the factors cited above, some other factors such as educational attainment, exposure to flood, climate perception and familiarity appeared as the most significant predictor of respondent's preference (LR χ²=202.08, pseudo R²=0.60, p<0.001).

Two dimensions of climate awareness, i.e. familiarity with and perception about CC‐SLR may significantly influence the people's preference for adaptation choice. Launching a programme to enhance climate awareness without further delay may help people planning for anticipatory in situ adaptation against CC‐SLR.

Climate change and variability are both a developmental and an environmental issue. Adaptation to climate change and variability has gained a prominent place on global and local policy agendas, evolving from mainly climate risks impacts and vulnerability assessments to mainly adaptation action, imposing new defies to higher education (HE). The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Climate Vulnerability, Impact, and Adaptation (VIA) Network (CliVIA-Net), a South American university-based coalition aimed at achieving a science for/of adaptation.

CliVIA-Net is a collaborative effort by academic groups from across the spectrum of the natural, social and health sciences focused on improving climate VIA on education, research and practice. In consonance with international literature and practices, the network shifted from a discipline-oriented approach to an interdisciplinary and Earth System Science (ESS)-oriented one. It seeks to advance fundamental understanding and participatory practice-oriented research and to develop a problem orientation question/solving answering methodology. A set of cases studies illustrates how CliVIA-Net faces adaptation and sustainability challenges in the twenty-first century.

Focusing on interdisciplinary graduate education, practice-oriented research and problem orientation practice on climate threats which are already threatening the environment, population’s well-being and sustainability, allows for the co-production of knowledge and solutions, as well stakeholders’ buy-in and commitment.

CliVIA-Net draws upon the results of evolving interdisciplinary approaches on global change and VIA education, the research partnership with stakeholders and decision-makers to develop environmental and health outcomes, e.g. vulnerability indicators and scenario planning.