Empowering citizen-led adaptation to systemic climate change risks

Oliver, T. H. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4169-7313, Bazaanah, P., Da Costa, J., Deka, N., Dornelles, A. Z., Greenwell, M. P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5406-6222, Nagarajan, M., Narasimhan, K., Obuobie, E., Osei, M. A. and Gilbert, N. (2023) Empowering citizen-led adaptation to systemic climate change risks. Nature Climate Change, 13. pp. 671-678. ISSN 1758-6798 doi: 10.1038/s41558-023-01712-6

Abstract/Summary

The increasing impacts of climate change instigate the need for adaptation. However, most adaptation initiatives focus on actions by government or businesses, despite growing calls for communities on the frontline of climate risks to be involved in planning and selecting strategies. Here, we appraise a pilot process using participatory systems mapping with citizens to identify 1) diverse threat vectors for local climate impacts and 2) context-relevant interventions to protect households and communities while 3) considering synergies and tradeoffs with other socially desirable outcomes. We tested the pilot process in communities in the lower Volta Basin in Ghana, the Assam region in India, and Southern England. From participants' perspectives, the process increased awareness of- and preparedness for climate change impacts and raised essential learning points for upscaling citizen-led adaptation approaches. These include understanding multiple outcomes of interventions, barriers, and enablers to implementation, and sensitivity of co-design to regional geography and socio-cultural context.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/112301
Identification Number/DOI	10.1038/s41558-023-01712-6
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Biological Sciences > Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Publisher	Nature Publishing Group
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