Embedding or mainstreaming adaptation into the operations and service delivery of organisations is deemed the most affective preparation to the impacts of climate change (Berkhout, 2006; Fuenfgeld, 2012; Dovers, 2009). In Australia, local governments have been at the forefront of climate change adaptation, and taking much of the lead (Fuenfgeld, 2012; Inglis et al., 2014), but are these largely experimental responses or planned and thoroughly embedded across the organisation? What does ‘embedding adaptation in an organisation' mean in a practical sense, and what are the support mechanisms required to effectively achieve this?Building on knowledge gained through developing the Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit, co-created by the City of Greater Geelong, Net Balance and RMIT University, the ‘Embedding Adaptation' project, funded by the Victorian State Government, investigates the underlying organisational support context required to successfully embed adaptation planning across the operations of municipalities in Victoria. The overarching project aim is to develop a program for embedding adaptation for wider application in the local government sector, building organisational capacity for change and learning in the context of a changing climate.

Acknowledging that adaptation is largely context specific, a process of ‘contextualising adaptation' at the organisational level has been undertaken with the City of Greater Geelong and the City of Yarra. This presentation reports the status of the two-year project to date, outlines key findings of the contextualising process, and discusses their implications for ongoing development of a program for embedding adaptation in local governments.