Adaptation Strategies and Case Studies

 

  1. Best Practice Approaches for Characterizing, Communicating and Incorporating Scientific Uncertainty in Climate Decision Making. U.S. Climate Change Science Program, Draft January 2009

 

Summary: This publication provides a summary of tools and strategies that are available to characterize, analyze, and otherwise deal with uncertainty in characterizing, and doing analysis of, climate change and its impacts.


Other supplemental resources for adaptation strategies and case studies

 

  1. Adapting to Coastal Climate Change: A Guidebook for Development Planners. USAID, May 2009 (PDF 5.4MB)

 

Summary: This guidebook provides a detailed treatment of climate concerns in coastal areas. The guidebook proposes an approach for assessing vulnerability to climate change and climate variability; developing and implementing adaptation options; and integrating options into programs, development plans and projects at the national and local levels.

 

  1. Coastal No Adverse Impact Handbook. NOAA/ASFPM. May 2007 (PDF 2.8MB)

 

Summary: No Adverse Impact (NAI) as outlined by the Association of State Floodplain Managers provides a new and effective coastal management philosophy, and also identifies its legal underpinnings. NAI floodplain management is essentially a “do-no harm” policy based on the concept that everyone benefits when the actions of every community or property owner does not adversely affect others.

 

  1. Coastal Resilience Index: A Community Self-Assessment. MASGP 2011 (PDF 2.1MB)

 

Summary: The Resilience Index is a self-assessment which provides community leaders with a method of predicting if their community will reach and maintain an acceptable level of functioning and structure after a disaster. The goal is for every community to become highly resilient.

 

  1. Local Government Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit. Australian Government Department of Climate Change. ICLEI, 2008 (PDF 1.5MB)

 

Summary: The toolkit includes tools and exercises tested by five pilot councils and reviewed by several observer councils. The tools and exercises are designed to help councils navigate through an enhanced risk management process or adaptive management process. This helps them identify aspects of their internal decision-making processes that need to be enhanced to appropriately and routinely plan for the impacts of climate change, as well as to generate and implement a plan to manage the risks.

 

  1. Model Bylaw Effectively Managing Coastal Floodplain Development. Woods Hole Sea Grant Program, Cape Cod Commission, University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program, and the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, 2009 (PDF 352KB)

 

Summary: The document contains two sections. The first section relates to the technical information that supports the model coastal floodplain bylaw/ordinance. The second section contains the model coastal floodplain regulation.

 

  1. Preparing for Climate Change: A Guidebook for Local, Regional and State Governments. ICLEI, September 2007 (PDF 5.7MB)

 

Summary: Preparing for Climate Change: A Guidebook for Local, Regional and State Governments is designed to help local, regional and state governments prepare for climate change by recommending a detailed, easy-to-understand process for climate change preparedness based on familiar resources and tools.

 

  1. Resource Management in a Changing and Uncertain Climate. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2010 8:1, 35-43 (417KB)

 

Summary: This article discusses the uncertainty inherent in different types of data on potential climate impacts and explores climate projections and potential management responses at three sites in North America.

 

  1. Smart Growth for Coastal and Waterfront Communities. EPA, September 2009 (PDF 2.5MB)

 

Summary: The coastal and waterfront elements presented on this website augment the existing smart growth principles to reflect the specific challenges and opportunities characterizing the waterfront - be it on a coast, a river, or a lake. These elements provide guidance for communities to grow in ways that are compatible with their natural assets, creating great places for residents, visitors, and businesses.

 

  1. Urban Planning for Climate Change. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy 2007 (PDF 2.7MB)

 

Summary: This paper outlines the risk climate change poses to urban planning such as human settlement, insurance, construction and other risks associated with atmospheric conditions.

 

  1. Working Together with Water: A Living land Builds for its Future. Delta Committie, September 2008. (PDF 856KB)

 

Summary: The government requested the Delta Committee present advice on protecting the coast and the

entire low lying part of the Netherlands against the consequences of climate change. The issue is whether arrangements can be made so that over the very long term the Netherlands can be climate proof: safe against flooding, while still remaining an attractive place to live, to reside and work, for recreation and investment.

 

  1. 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy: A Report to the Governor of the State of California in Response to Executive Order S-13-2008. California Natural Resources Agency, 2009 (PDF 4.4MB)

 

Summary: The 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy report summarizes the best known science on climate change impacts in the state to assess vulnerability and outlines possible solutions that can be implemented within and across state agencies to promote resiliency. This is the first step in an ongoing, evolving process to reduce California’s vulnerability to climate impacts.