Addressing the adaptation learning gap: a strategic role for university-based climate service hubs

Abstract

Learning is crucial for climate adaptation because adaptive management depends on using implementation experience to test, refine, and improve decisions under uncertainty. Yet multiple efforts to institutionalize a national adaptation learning agenda, including proposals for a sustained U.S. National Climate Assessment, have failed to establish durable mechanisms for evaluating what works, under what conditions, and why. A persistent adaptation learning gap therefore limits the ability of practitioners to identify and apply climate services that meet their needs. This article argues that university-based climate service hubs can play a strategic role in closing this gap and offers options for fostering collaborative learning, knowledge management, and dissemination of leading practices. Climate service centers and regional partnerships hosted at universities are well positioned to convene communities of practice, compare experience across cases, evaluate climate service approaches, and curate knowledge for wider use. Although funding, incentives, facilitation, and governance remain significant constraints, modest and intentional investments could enable university-based hubs to address the adaptation learning gap. This approach offers a practical and immediate way to strengthen adaptation effectiveness, accelerate climate resilience, and build durable capacity for climate action during periods of variable federal leadership.