Knowledge Coproduction for Transformative Climate Adaptation: Building Robust Strategies

Abstract

Adaptation is a process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. Most adaptation options are scalable and applicable but may result in inequitable tradeoffs stemming from maladaptation. Thus, climate adaptation and maladaptation are inseparable and are equally likely. Adaptation has been commonly envisioned as coping mechanisms or incremental adjustments from existing strategies. However, both coping and incremental adaptations have failed in explicitly address the underlying drivers of systemic inequalities. Enabling and catalyzing conditions for transformative adaptation, both locally and regionally (i.e. strengthening collaborative governance, building capacities, promoting iterative multi-stakeholder engagement), is, therefore, crucial in building robust climate change adaptations under deep uncertainty. However, the lack of approaches entailing decision analytics, stakeholder engagement/deliberation, and interactive modeling and evaluation may hinder transformative adaptation success. Combining robust decision-making approaches with collaborative research and co-production processes can be constructive in illuminating the decision-rule systems that undergird current adaptation decision-making. This chapter offers some insights into how knowledge coproduction can be used to inform robust climate adaptation strategies under contexts of deep uncertainty while facilitating transformative system change.