This book provides a comparative analysis of policy instruments designed to respond to climate change, drought and floods in connection with agricultural producers and their communities in four case study areas: Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada; Coquimbo, Chile; and Mendoza, Argentina. Assessed from the standpoint of effectiveness and adaptive governance, instruments for improving the livelihood capitals of agricultural producers are identified and recommendations to improve the suite of policy instruments are put forward.

This discussion paper aims to help practitioners work in a more informed and politically sensitive way to integrate actions on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) in agriculture. It illustrates some typical governance and political economy-related barriers that may hamper convergence or integration of DRR and CCA actions. It also provides guidance for in-depth governance analysis, putting the analytical focus at national and subnational levels, while considering the international context as an important factor for convergence. The FAO Governance and Policy Support Discussion Paper series provides perspectives and concepts on critical governance and policy issues that are relevant to FAO work at country, regional and global levels. Discussion Papers are often based on work in progress, and we welcome suggestions and ideas by email at: [email protected]. The series is available at: http://www.fao.org/policy-support/resources/

The interconnectedness of global society is increasingly visible through crises such as the current global health pandemic, emerging climate change impacts and increasing erosion of biodiversity. This timely Handbook navigates the challenges of adaptive governance in these complex contexts, stressing the necessarily compounded nature of bio-physical and social systems to ensure more desirable governance outcomes.

Drawing case studies, the authors of this work examine how adaptive governance breaks the gridlock in natural-resource policy. Unlike scientific management, which relies on science as the foundation for policies made through a central authority, adaptive governance integrates other types of knowledge into the decision-making process. The authors emphasize the need for open decision making, recognition of multiple interests in questions of natural-resource policy, and an integrative, interpretive science to replace traditional reductive, experimental science.

The prospect of the adverse effects that global climate change will have on human societies, opened up a discourse about the way adaptation should be managed. In order to finance adaptation measures in the most severe affected countries, the parties of the Kyoto Protocol established the Adaptation Fund in 2007. In view of the limited resources that are available for adaptation, scales for the prioritization of countries that are based on their suspected vulnerability, have been developed in literature. But so far, indicators of vulnerability reflect only the general indicators of human development, and therefore, fail to capture the complex structures of vulnerability. In order to capture the mentioned complexity in a more satisfactory way, this book highlights the theory of collective learning. The collective learning approach assumes that vulnerability can be significantly decreased when governance systems adapt to external changes through collective learning processes. This study connects to this notion, and therefore, it assesses the influence of collective learning processes on the vulnerability of the Bangladeshi and Pakistani society towards flood hazards. This determinant of vulnerability is used to capture the matter's complexity.

The interconnectedness of global society is increasingly visible through crises such as the current global health pandemic, emerging climate change impacts and increasing erosion of biodiversity. This timely Handbook navigates the challenges of adaptive governance in these complex contexts, stressing the necessarily compounded nature of bio-physical and social systems to ensure more desirable governance outcomes. Highlighting the dynamics and diversity of governance systems across the globe, leading experts in the field examine the successes and failures of these systems. Synthesising theory with methodology and practical case studies, chapters explore adaptive governance in forest management, marine environments and open data ecosystems, looking closely at the role of adaptive governance in climate mitigation and disaster risk reduction. Answering the call for large-scale transformations that move societies away from unsustainable development trajectories, this prescriptive Handbook explores the existing adaptive governance measures that have driven reflexive, sustainable change. Reflecting on the past decade of research in the field, it concludes by outlining new areas of contention and inquiry for the next decade of adaptive governance research. Interdisciplinary in scope, this comprehensive Handbook will prove an invigorating read for students and scholars of environmental law, governance and regulation, and political science and public policy. Policymakers looking to innovate their adaptive governance approaches will also find this a beneficial companion.

This book re-considers property law for a future of environmental disruption. As slogans such as “build the wall” or “stop the boats” affect public policy, there are counter-questions as to whether positivist or statist notions of property are fit for purpose in a time of human mobility and environmental disruption. State-centric property laws construct legal fictions of sovereign control over land, notwithstanding the persistent reality of informal settlements in many parts of the Global South. In a world affected by catastrophic disasters, this book develops a vision of adaptive governance for property in land based on a critical re-assessment of state-centric property law. This book will appeal to a broad readership with interests in legal theory, property law, adaptive governance, international development, refugee studies, postcolonial studies, and natural disasters.

The world is experiencing more frequent, deadly and costly disasters. Disasters are increasingly uncertain and complex due to rapid environmental and socio-economic changes occurring at multiple scales. Understanding the causes and impacts of disasters requires comprehensive, systematic and multi-disciplinary analysis. This paper introduces recent multidisciplinary work on resilience, disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate change adaptation (CCA) and adaptive governance and then proposes a new and innovative framework for adaptive and integrated disaster resilience (AIDR). AIDR is defined as the ability of nations and communities to build resilience in an integrated manner and strengthen mechanisms to build system adaptiveness. AIDR provides the ability to face complexities and uncertainties by designing institutional processes that function across sectors and scales, to engage multiple stakeholders and to promote social learning. Based on the review of existing academic and non-academic literature, we identify seven pathways to achieve AIDR. These pathways are a conceptual tool to support scholars, policy makers and practitioners to better integrate existing DRR strategies with CCA and more general development concerns. They describe institutional strategies that are aimed at dealing with complexities and uncertainties by integrating DRR, CCA and development; strengthening polycentric governance; fostering collaborations; improving knowledge and information; enabling institutional learning; self-organisation and networking; and provision of disaster risk finance and insurance. We also examine the implications of these pathways for Indonesia, one of the most vulnerable countries to natural hazards and climate change impacts. Our findings suggest that there is an urgent need to commit more resources to and strengthen multi-stakeholder collaboration at the local level. We also argue for placing the community at the centre of an integrated and adaptive approach to DRR and CCA.

Connections between resources and migration operate as a complex adaptive system rather than being premised in linear, causal mechanisms. The systems thinking advocated within this Element increases the inclusion of socio-psychological, financial, demographic, environmental and political dimensions that mediate resource-(im)mobility pathways. The Earth Systems Governance paradigm provides a way to manage global migration flows more effectively, allowing for consideration of networks and interdependencies in addition to its inherent adaptiveness. Resource rushes, hydropower displacement, and climate-induced retreat from coastal areas are all examples of circumstances linking resources and human mobility. Movement can also ameliorate environmental conditions and hence close monitoring of impacts and policies which harness benefits of migration is advocated. Green remittance bonds, and land tenure policies favoring better arable resource usage are key ingredients of a more systems-oriented approach to managing mobility. The Global Compact on Migration offers an opportunity to operationalize such adaptive governance approaches in the Anthropocene.

Worldwide, disasters and climate change pose a serious risk to sustainable urban development, resulting in escalating human and economic costs. Consequently, city authorities and other urban actors face the challenge of integrating risk reduction and adaptation strategies into their work. However, related knowledge and expertise are still scarce and fragmented. Cities, Disaster Risk and Adaptation explores ways in which resilient cities can be ‘built’ and sustainable urban transformations achieved. The book provides a comprehensive understanding of urban risk reduction and adaptation planning, exploring key theoretical concepts and analysing the complex interrelations between cities, disasters and climate change. Furthermore, it provides an overview of current risk reduction and adaptation approaches taken by both city authorities and city dwellers from diverse contexts in low, middle and high income nations. Finally, the book offers a planning framework for reducing and adapting to risk in urban areas by expanding on pre-existing positive actions and addressing current shortfalls in theory and practice. The importance of a distributed urban governance system, in which institutions’ and citizens’ adaptive capacities can support and complement each other, is highlighted. This book takes a holistic approach; it integrates perspectives and practice from risk reduction and climate change adaptation based on a specific urban viewpoint. The text is richly supplemented with boxed case studies written by renowned academics and practitioners in the field and ‘test yourself’ scenarios that integrate theory into practice. Each chapter contains learning objectives, end of chapter questions, suggested further reading and web resources, as well as a wealth of tables and figures. This book is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of geography, urban studies and planning, architecture, environmental studies, international development, sociology and sustainability studies.