As efforts to address the causes of man-made climate change appear unlikely to avoid serious impacts, there is a growing sense that incremental adaptation may not be sufficient for many systems, locations and sectors. Transformational adaptation involves managing a more fundamental change process rather than protecting or restoring a particular environmental and social state. The growing interest in transformational adaptation, however, has yet to be reflected in policy to any significant extent.
Transformational adaptation – next steps
As a practice-based organisation, we are interested in discovering if transformational adaptation is a useful concept and if there is collaborative work we can do to develop it further.
Through a review of recent literature, Transformational adaptation – what it is, why it matters and what is needed (pdf, 770 KB), and discussions from a workshop for practitioners and academics, we examine the concept of transformation, how it might be applied and priorities for future research and practice.
This paper is a starting point for exploring what is required to move transformation from an attractive concept to something more tangible and policy-relevant. If you are interested in pursuing the idea further, please get in touch.
