Australia's coastal communities are particularly vulnerable to climate change effects. Evaluating appropriate adaptation strategies to address them is a significant analytical and policy challenge. Guidance on appraising specific adaptation options is limited. Many traditional evaluation tools such as cost/benefit analysis do not account for values that are not measured in monetary units, nor do they reflect changes in community values over time.

This project harnessed the regional collaboration model employed by the Sydney Coastal Councils Group to explore multi-criteria analysis (MCA) as an alternative to cost/benefit analysis to help engage and guide practitioners through the unique challenges posed by urban coastal adaptation in Australia. A spatial MCA tool was developed using Bayesian Networks which provided a flexible framework for incorporating multiple qualitative and quantitative criteria into adaptation decision analysis.

The tool considered various coastal adaptation options against weighted economic, social, political and environmental criteria drawing upon regional (coastal Sydney, Bega Valley Council and Sunshine Coast Council) local government values. Results were combined with geospatial landscape data and hazard information on sea-level rise, storm surge and erosion to identify risks to financial, social and environmental assets. Results were displayed graphically via a GIS interface to promote dialogue and help prioritise different place-based adaptation options for selected planning horizons.

This project developed and tested new approaches to evaluating adaptation options for coastal communities. Outcomes demonstrate the potential benefits of MCA for identifying adaptation pathways. The methodology, transferrable across coastal Australia, enables analyses at individual or clustered property levels to support adaptation planning.