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Article
Publication date: 23 August 2013

Ian Smith, Katie Williams, Diane Hopkins, Jennifer Joynt, Catherine Payne and Rajat Gupta

This paper presents new research on the potential pathways for integrated adaptation that could make England's suburbs more resilient to future climate conditions. It focuses on…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper presents new research on the potential pathways for integrated adaptation that could make England's suburbs more resilient to future climate conditions. It focuses on the role of central government, local agencies and householders in making adaptations to the built and natural environment.

Design/methodology

This paper uses evidence from three facilitated workshops run with built environment and policy professionals associated with climate change adaptation in three cities in England: Oxford, Bristol and Stockport. The workshop contributions are presented in relation to the potential role that central government, local agencies and residents could play in adapting suburbs.

Findings

Central government, local agencies and householders form an interconnected network of agents responsible for adaptive action in suburbs. Professional and institutional stakeholders expect central government to take a lead and ensure planning policies and building regulations support effective adaptation. However, those local authorities and agencies that are expected to offer leadership locally do not have the resources to make adaptation happen on the ground. Overall, the stakeholders in this research believe that effective adaptation in suburbs may only happen once householders and government have experienced worsening climatic conditions. This could be a very costly stance in the long term.

Originality/value

This paper provides empirical evidence on how stakeholders engaged in suburban adaptation are making changes now, and on how they envisage change in the future. It reveals clearly the challenges involved in integrating mitigation and adaptation actions and highlight the complexities around implementation on the ground.

Details

Structural Survey, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-080X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 11 October 2021

Phuong T.A. Huynh, Ngoan D. Le, Sen T.H. Le and Thang N. Tran

This paper aims to examine adaptive livelihood strategies used by small-scale fishing households in the two coastal communities in Central Vietnam under the context of climate…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine adaptive livelihood strategies used by small-scale fishing households in the two coastal communities in Central Vietnam under the context of climate change-related stressors.

Design/methodology/approach

Field data were collected through mixed quantitative and qualitative methods including a review of secondary data, key-informant interviews, group discussions and household surveys with 300 sampled fishing households. The qualitative data support the analysis and discussion of quantitative data.

Findings

The results showed local households’ perception of the presence and influence of multiple non-climate and climate stressors on their fishery-based livelihoods in terms of employment and income in many ways. The affected households exerted to develop a diversity of adaptation methods within and out of fishing to sustain their livelihoods and cover a deficit in household income. The household socio-demographic characteristics particularly education, labour force, fishing equipment and social support played significant importance in characterising the categories of adaptation strategies among the survey households. The role of local governments in creating an enabling environment for local-level adaptation, as well as protecting marine and coastal ecosystems was rather limited despite their recognized importance.

Originality/value

The paper provides an empirical case of how small-scale fishing households in coastal communities in Central Vietnam are adapting to climate-related stressors. It suggests policy should promote livelihood diversification opportunities and address household-level constraints for adaptation. Fisheries management plan is urgently needed to control illegal fishing activities for sustainable use of coastal and marine fishery resources and the appropriate mechanism is important to stretch local governments’ resources for better supporting local-level adaptation.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 13 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2010

Saleem Janjua, Ian Thomas and Darryn McEvoy

The purpose of this paper is to identify and critically examine a framing of key characteristics for climate change adaptation learning and action in the context of urban…

710

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify and critically examine a framing of key characteristics for climate change adaptation learning and action in the context of urban Pakistani local government.

Design/methodology/approach

The research employed a combination of approaches; predominantly literature review and interview methodologies. Recognising the need to understand climate change adaptation as an iterative learning process, the literature review concentrated on organisational and policy learning, with special consideration given to those characteristics most pertinent to urban governance in the Pakistani context. This analysis was then furthered through primary data collated through a series of interviews, with the City District Government of Lahore as the chosen case study for this piece of research. Initial scoping interviews were followed up by a series of in‐depth, semi‐structured, interviews with local government officials, an assessment process used to examine conceptual evidence and findings in the Pakistani urban context. A total of 21 Pakistani professionals, working in a variety of roles for local government, were subject to the interview process.

Findings

From a critical analysis of conceptual and real world evidence, the authors identified six discrete characteristics that could be used to frame the context of climate change adaptation learning and action in the Pakistani urban local government context. These have been categorised as: leadership for adaptation, vision for adaptation, culture for adaptation, good governance for adaptation, innovation and creativity for adaptation and resources for adaptation.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is several‐fold: it applies a learning perspective to the climate change adaptation debate, identifies a framing of key characteristics for climate change adaptation learning and action, and uses an actor‐based approach to examine some of the key conceptual ideas in the Pakistani urban context.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2016

Sirkku Juhola

In the past 10 years, most countries and cities have published a national adaptation strategy that outlines the strategic approach to reduce the vulnerability to climate change…

Abstract

Purpose

In the past 10 years, most countries and cities have published a national adaptation strategy that outlines the strategic approach to reduce the vulnerability to climate change and to adapt to the impacts of it. The existence of an adaptation strategy does not, however, equal implementation of adaptation and the fact that adaptation is taking place across multiple levels also poses new challenges to its efficient implementation. The literature on barriers of adaptation has been increasing rapidly, questioning whether there is a misconception that barriers to implementation can be solved at the local level.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper analyses the implementation of adaptation strategies across multiple levels of governance by focusing on the land use planning in Finland. The case study examines the implementation of adaptation in the metropolitan region of Helsinki through a policy document analysis.

Findings

The conclusions highlight that there are barriers at the local level that emerge from the existing governance structures and cannot be solved by the local level alone. There needs to be a further recognition that coordination across levels of governance is a factor in overcoming barriers.

Originality/value

So far, there are very few studies that have analysed barriers in relation to the implementation of adaptation in a multi-level setting, and none in the land use sector, which is inherently hierarchical in nature.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 November 2015

Caroline Schaer

The number of poor and informal urban settlers in the world is rapidly growing, and they are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate. Therefore, understanding…

Abstract

Purpose

The number of poor and informal urban settlers in the world is rapidly growing, and they are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate. Therefore, understanding the nature and sustainability of locally adopted coping and adaptation strategies are key, yet still under-researched areas.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on ethnographic research conducted in two poor, flood-prone municipalities in Pikine/Dakar, this paper identifies such coping and adaptation strategies and examines their prospects for maladaptation.

Findings

The paper shows that poor urban dwellers are not mere passive spectators of climate change. With the very limited resources they have at their disposal, it is found that local actors respond to perennial flooding with very diverse strategies, which have varying degrees of success and sustainability. A key finding is that local coping and adaptation strategies are mainly maladaptive because they divert risks and impacts in time and space and have detrimental effects on the most vulnerable. Unless there is a broad assimilation of all groups in decision-making processes locally, individual and even collective coping and adaptation strategies may easily put the most vulnerable households at greater risk. The findings reveal that community-based adaptation is not a panacea per se, as it may not, by itself, compensate for the lack of basic services and infrastructure that is forcing the urban poor to cope with disproportionate levels of risk.

Originality/value

The paper, hence, contributes to address a central question in scholarly debates on climate adaptation, vulnerability and disaster risk management: Are local coping strategies a stepping stone towards adaptation or are they on the contrary likely to lead to maladaptation?

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 25 September 2012

Geneviève Cloutier and Florent Joerin

Purpose – Adapting local areas to climate change is a wicked challenge for local administrations. A participatory research is applied to explore how local experience shared by…

Abstract

Purpose – Adapting local areas to climate change is a wicked challenge for local administrations. A participatory research is applied to explore how local experience shared by local experts can inform decision and adaptation planning by taking into account local area characteristics and their interrelationships.

Methodology/approach – We turned to local actors, who live or work in the city and who can be seen as urban experts. Their experiential knowledge has given us a better understanding of the characteristics of their communities. These experts are likely to possess a representation that reflects the local territorial sensitivities, which can help us determine how these characteristics might be impacted by climate change.

Findings – A participatory approach bears many benefits such as mobilizing local stakeholders to find collective solutions. It also allows us to focus on common practices in the urban context, which are likely to be altered by changes in mean temperatures, precipitations, etc. It offers the additional benefit of putting into perspective the relations between a variety of urban issues.

Research limitations – A participatory approach means relying on subjective assessments of the possible effects of climate change, which could challenge the relevance of perceived risks and the scope and types of actions taken.

Originality/value of paper – The number of the available adaptation planning processes involving community stakeholders and assessments of these processes is very limited. A participatory process such as the cross-sectoral initiative organized in Québec City can have significant repercussions on local engagement in climate change adaptation. This provides evidence of the potential of deliberation or interaction of territorial actors to improve their understanding of the issues and their adaptive capacity. On a methodological level, the participatory process in itself and the steps to organize it offered a planning frame that can be reproduced.

Details

Urban Areas and Global Climate Change
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-037-6

Article
Publication date: 28 January 2022

Dario Miocevic, Antonija Kvasina and Biljana Crnjak-Karanovic

Extant literature informs that expatriates develop a natural inclination towards host country food with increased acculturation. However, this study argues that expatriates might…

Abstract

Purpose

Extant literature informs that expatriates develop a natural inclination towards host country food with increased acculturation. However, this study argues that expatriates might have divergent goals in different domains of food adaptation (private vs public), which eventually sheds new light on their acculturation process. This paper aims to investigate how expatriate's adaptation in private vis-a-vis public domain influences their food consumption behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

This study draws on the optimal distinctiveness theory and domain-specific view of adaptation and tests the food adaptation outcomes of expatriates’ acculturation through social interactions with the local community. A survey was conducted among 120 expatriate newcomers currently living and working in the Middle East.

Findings

The findings show that acculturation positively influences food adaptation in the private (local food consumption), whereas its relationship with food adaptation in the public domain (local restaurant visits) assumes an inverted U-shape. Furthermore, the authors find that the latter relationship is negatively moderated by expatriate’s overall experience and positively moderated by uncertainty avoidance, which also unfolds situations when an expatriate follows social identification vis-à-vis differentiation pattern.

Originality/value

This work goes beyond the traditional focus on acculturation through social identification and provides evidence that differentiation effects must also be accounted for. The authors argue and provide empirical evidence that expatriates’ greater social interactions with the local community result in different food adaptation outcomes when private vs public consumption domains are considered. In addition, by analyzing the moderating effects of expatriate experience and uncertainty avoidance, the authors further provide evidence on when social identification vis-à-vis differentiation prevails.

Article
Publication date: 17 February 2012

Henry F.L. Chung, Cheng Lu Wang and Pei‐how Huang

Although the relation between standardization/adaptation strategy and performance has been extensively examined in the international marketing literature, the findings concerning…

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Abstract

Purpose

Although the relation between standardization/adaptation strategy and performance has been extensively examined in the international marketing literature, the findings concerning these factors are still inconclusive. The conflicting results might relate to the analysis approach adopted in prior research, which tends to focus on the direct effect of marketing strategies. By utilizing the contingency theory, the purpose of this paper is to uncover the moderation factors for the strategy‐structure‐performance paradigm in the export sector. Internal, external and product‐related factors are explored.

Design/methodology/approach

This study focuses on four strategy and structure combinations: The global approach (standardization‐centralization); the glocal approach (standardization‐decentralization); the regcal approach (adaptation‐centralization); and the local approach (adaptation‐decentralization). The interactive effect of the four approaches and a set of contingent factors are examined based on the experience of 151 exporting firms operating in the EU region. The respondent firms operate in various manufacturing and service industries.

Findings

It is revealed that firm size, international business experience, consumer characteristics, the legal environment, cultural distance and the nature of the products play a moderating role between a firm's adoption of a particular approach and its performance, as measured by market share and sales growth, dependent on the relevant marketing program elements (i.e. product, price, promotion and place).

Originality/value

The research findings presented in the paper have significant implications for future research and strategic application.

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2017

Jeroen De Waegemaeker, Eva Kerselaers, Maarten Van Acker and Elke Rogge

As policy makers address the issue of climate adaptation, they are confronted with climate-specific barriers: a long-term horizon and a high degree of uncertainty. These barriers…

Abstract

Purpose

As policy makers address the issue of climate adaptation, they are confronted with climate-specific barriers: a long-term horizon and a high degree of uncertainty. These barriers also hamper the development of spatial planning for climate adaptation. So how can spatial planners encompass these barriers and steer the general debate on climate adaptation? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This research analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of an international design workshop on climate adaptation, and drought issues in particular. Design workshops are originally an educational setting but they are increasingly employed as a tool to explore alternative futures on a complex, real-life design problem. The case study illustrates how climate-specific barriers emerged throughout the design workshop and clarifies how they were encompassed by the participating design students.

Findings

The research clarifies the added value of a design workshop on climate adaptation. The paper highlights specific promising characteristics of the design workshop: the visualization of future adaptation challenges and the current water system, the focus on a regional project instead of sectoral adjustments and the integration of the adaptation challenge with other socio-economic goals. In the case study Flanders, however, the necessary participation of climate experts and policy makers of other domains proved challenging.

Originality/value

The paper argues that a design workshop has the potential to enrich the debate and policy work on climate adaptation. In many countries with low-planning tradition, however, additional tools are needed to help set the “adaptation agenda.”

Details

Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-6099

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 August 2022

Jie Gao, Tao Wang, Yu Jia and Cheng Lu Wang

Drawing on institutional theory, this study seeks to advance the understanding of how the indirect effect of exporters' adoption of an international adaptation strategy on export…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on institutional theory, this study seeks to advance the understanding of how the indirect effect of exporters' adoption of an international adaptation strategy on export performance via enhanced legitimacy is differently moderated by formal and informal institutional distances from the host country market.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected from a sample of 251 exporters in China and analyzed with a multiple regression model to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Exporters' use of an international adaptation strategy affects their perceived legitimacy, which in turn influences their export performance. Moreover, formal institutional distance strengthens the indirect effect of an international adaptation strategy on export performance via legitimacy, whereas informal institutional distance weakens this indirect effect.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the knowledge of how and when adoption of an international adaptation strategy by exporters benefits export performance from an institutional perspective.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 39 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

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