Climate Adaptation 2014 A Local Coastal Adaptation Pathway (968)
This paper describes a socially relevant pathway approach to adaptation to sea-level rise. Adaptation pathways are asequence of linked strategies that are triggered by a change in environmental conditions, and in which initial decisions have low-regrets and preserve options for future generations. Despite their promise, adaptation pathways have yet to be applied in local contexts. We report on a project that empirically sought to test the relevance and feasibility of a local pathway for adapting to sea-level rise. We find that local decision makers and stakeholders attribute greater meaning to the social rather than environmental consequences of triggers, and that the process of developing an adaptation pathway improves local buy-in for adaptation and provides a pragmatic, low-risk, low-cost way in which local governments can incorporate locally relevant frames and values in the long process of adaptation to sea-level rise.
