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While systemic leverage points have been identified as a powerful approach for planning and assessing policies and interventions for sustainability transformations, few studies have explored how leverage points interact and how this affects the desired change. In this study, we explored how the interlinkages between leverage points enable or constrain adaptive capacity to climate change of food system actors. We found 24 interlinkages when drawing on results from semi-structured interviews and a participatory visual art method used in focus groups in a case study in the Northern Region of Ghana. Nine interlinkages were identified as barriers to the adaptive capacity of the communities and actors of the local food system. For example, when studying the interlinkages between the place-specific leverage point of agricultural extension services and the generic leverage point of gender equality, we found that women have less access to agricultural extension services compared with men. Fifteen interlinkages were presented as enabling adaptive capacity; for example, women's savings groups had many enabling interlinkages with gender equality such as creating unity and empowering the members. We argue that interlinkages between a set of leverage points (1) play a pivotal role in enabling or hindering the leverage points, (2) may instigate a chain of leverage and (3) may affect the system including the related leverage points in a deep or shallow way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riverbank erosion incidence and consecutive flood disasters have increased because of extreme climatic dynamics in the current couple of decades. Farming community livelihood particularly inhabited in flood-prone area has become more vulnerable due to these consecutive riverbank erosion and disasters. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of climate change on livelihood vulnerability in riverbank erosion Bait community flood-prone area of Punjab, Pakistan. Livelihood vulnerability index approach is comprised of LVI-IPCC with major and subpotential components which were applied for empirical estimation of 240 Bait area respondents of the study area. Livelihood vulnerability index estimated value 0.47 indicated lower socioeconomic conditions caused widen gap among community networking in the study area. Climate vulnerability index estimated value -0.0176 illustrated as study district is higher vulnerable due to calculated values of sensitivity 0.44, exposure 0.50 while with lower adaptive capacity 0.46. Inhabited population in the study area is mostly vulnerable of climate change due to high value of ecological degradation 0.49 in outward appearance of deforestation and riverbank erosion. Bait communities of flood-prone area have limited and traditional adaptive capacities owing to future disasters, inadequate awareness, low level of education and higher poverty as such scenario exposes not capable of adapting environmental changes. These significant estimates of the study are earth-shattering to policy makers to scrutinize the root grounds of livelihood vulnerability and develop the agricultural adaptation for flood-prone rural population. In local scenario there is need to application of such feasible measures as enhancing off-farm income sources, construction of concrete banks and water reservoirs on rivers, developing overhead infrastructure and provision of awareness and training to upcoming hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is now one of the most formidable threats to the livelihoods of resource-poor communities in low-income developing countries world-wide. Addressing this challenge continues to be undermined by the conspicuous absence of actionable adaptation strategies that are potentially capable of enhancing our capacities to realize the Millennial Sustainable Development Goals that seek to securitize access to adequate food supplies for everybody. This paper attempts to address this limitation by providing an improvised geostatistical methodology that integrates multi-source data to map the adaptive capacities of vulnerable communities in a selected South African local municipality, whose livelihoods are largely dependent on rain-fed agriculture. The development of this methodology was based on the use scripts that were compiled in Python and used to test-try its usefulness through a case-study-based assessment of the climate-change-adaptive capacities of local communities in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality (RMLM), Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A Bayesian maximum entropy framework-based technique was used to overcome the lack of missing soil moisture data, which we included because of its reliable usefulness as a surrogate indicator of climate-change-driven variations in this variable on the sustainability of rain-fed agriculture. Analysis of the results from a sampling universe of 124 communities revealed that 65 and 56 of them had high and medium adaptive capacities, respectively, with the remaining 3 having low adaptive capacities. This finding indicates that more than half of the communities in the municipality's communities have limited capabilities to cope with climate change's impacts on their livelihoods. Although our proposed methodology is premised on findings from a case-study-based investigation, it is still extremely useful because it demonstratively shows that there is tremendous scope for the scientific community to provide objectively informed insights that can be used to enhance the adaptive capacities of those in need of the badly needed but difficult-to-access information. Added to this is the fact that our proposed methodology is not only applicable for use under different environmental settings but also capable of allowing us to cost-effectively tap into the rich, wide-ranging, freely accessible datasets at our disposal. The aim of this submission is to show that although we have the information, we need to address these persevering challenges by exploring innovative approaches to translate the knowledge we have into actionable climate-change-adaptation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses a community-based assessment in conjunction with the integrated catchment management and community capitals frameworks to explore the iTaukei (indigenous Fijian) knowledge systems relative to the management of natural resources in the villages in the Waimanu Catchment. The iTaukei knowledge systems encompassing traditional beliefs, values, customs, and social relations within the villages were used to devise adaptive strategies to improve the physical, financial, human, cultural, social, and political capitals in order to enhance the natural capital in the Waimanu Catchment. Improving the health of local ecosystems would increase the adaptive capacity of the local communities, which would ultimately, make the communities resilient to the impacts of climate change and human activities. It is therefore, essential to implement an integrated management plan on a catchment scale which considers the interconnectedness between people and the ecosystems as well as the upstream–downstream connectivity since land use changes undertaken upstream affect the resilience of downstream communities. The study emphasized that the enrichment of human capital, social bonding, and collaboration among the internal and external stakeholders consisting of government, quasi-government and non-government organizations, industries and businesses, and landowners located both within and outside of the catchment served as the key principles to help achieve community resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals and communities socially construct risk, and societies with greater risk perception may be more apt to mobilize or adapt to emergent threats like climate change. Increasing climate change awareness is often considered necessary in the first stages of the adaptation process to manage its impacts and reduce overall vulnerability. Since agriculture is affected by climate change in several ways, farmers can provide first-hand observations of climate change impacts and adaptation options. This paper aims to identify the current research trends and set the future research agenda on climate change awareness, perceived impacts, and adaptive capacity from farmers' experiences and behavior. We analyzed a portfolio of 435 articles collected from WoS and Scopus databases between 2010 and 2020 using bibliometrics. From the original portfolio, we select 108 articles for a more comprehensive and systematic review. Publication trends and content analysis have been employed to identify influential work, delineate the mental structure of farmers' beliefs and concerns, and identify main research gaps. The comprehensive analysis reported (1) farmers' socio-demographic characteristics influencing farmers' perceptions; (2) awareness and changing climate evidence due to human activity; (3) the main perceived effects (rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and extreme events); (4) the most relevant adaptation measures (crop changing and soil/water conservation techniques); and (5) factors and barriers limiting adaptation (lack of information, credit, and expertness). The review outlines the main gaps and their drivers to help future researchers, managers, and decision-makers to prioritize their actions according to farmers' concerns and their adaptive capacity to reduce farming vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of community-based conservation (CBC) and natural resource management (CBNRM) in protecting ecosystems and improving socioeconomic well-being has received considerable attention, but its contribution to climate adaptation is less understood. Using a mixed-method case study approach, the current study compares two sites (Khyber and Khudaabad) in northern Pakistan with comparable socioeconomic features but varying levels of effectiveness of CBC/CBNRM programmes. The CBC in Khyber has been proactive than that of Khudaabad. The data was collected through household surveys (n = 220, 110 at each site), key informant interviews (n = 8 office-bearers of community-based organizations, 4 at each site), and extensive document review. In comparison to Khudaabad, the findings revealed that the local communities in Khyber demonstrated improved resilience to climate change because of a proactive community-based governance system, improved practices, access to social services, disaster preparedness, and improved knowledge of climate change. The study concludes that CBC/CBNRM contributes to building climate resilience among vulnerable mountain communities by strengthening social and ecological systems. The study suggests that for building the climate resilience of vulnerable communities, instead of investing in stand-alone adaptation measures, the governments must focus on ecosystem-based adaptions or integrate the specific adaptation or mitigation actions into the existing CBC/CBNRM programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mapping the elderly population exposure to heat hazard in urban areas is important to inform adaptation strategies for increasingly-deadly urban heat under climate change. However, fine-scale mapping is lacking, because global climate change projections have not previously been integrated with urban heat island effects especially with urban three-dimensional characteristics for within-city heat risk analyses. This study compared the spatial patterns of deadly heat exposure for elderly populations in two East Asian megacities, Seoul and Tokyo, using current climate (2006–2015) and two future periods (2040s and 2090s). We integrated global warming projections (the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 5 based on Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5) with local urban characteristics and demographics. We found that, for the historical period, the overall hotspots of elderly population exposure to urban heat was larger in Tokyo because of relatively higher maximum air temperatures and lack of green spaces, whereas in the future periods, Seoul will have larger hotspots because the elderly population density will have increased. About 20% of the area in Seoul and 0.3–1% of Tokyo will be hotpots in the 2040s, and the size of these hotspots increases to 25–26% and 2–3%, respectively, in the 2090s. The spatial patterns of hotspots identify different types of priority areas and suggest that alternative adaptation strategies for two cities are appropriate. The approach introduced here will be useful for identifying sustainable thermal environments in other cities with high density elderly population and severe heat hazard.

Purpose – The authors examine the factors affecting households' resilience capacities and the impacts of these capacities on household consumption and crop commercialization. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use panel data of 1,648 households from Thailand collected in three years, 2010, 2013 and 2016. The authors employ an econometric model with an instrumental variable approach to address endogenous issues. Findings – The study results show that the experience of shocks in previous years positively correlates with households' savings per capita and income diversification. Further, a better absorptive capacity in the form of better savings and a better adaptive capacity in the form of higher income diversification have a significant and positive influence on household expenditure per capita and crop commercialization. Practical implications – Development policies and programs aiming to improve income, increase savings and provide income diversification opportunities are strongly recommended. Originality/value – The authors provide empirical evidence on the determinants of resilience strategies and their impacts on local food commercialization from a country in the middle-income group.

Purpose – This paper brings together the literature on theories of complexity adaptive systems (CAS), develops an analytical framework, applies this framework to the development of tourism destinations and critically reflects on the use of this perspective. Design/methodology/approach – This paper elaborates on a CAS perspective on destination development, to further develop complexity thinking in tourism studies. This approach enables to identify policy avenues geared towards improving destination governance and contributing to sustainable tourism development. Findings – Theories of CAS offer an analytical lens to better understand destination development, drawing explicit attention to (1) the levels of the individual, (emergent) structures, the structure-agency interface and the system level, (2) the steps related to the process of adaptation that is critical for systems to survive and thrive in times of change and (3) the undervalued importance of considering the factor of time. Originality/value – Applying CAS theories help to address a range of (policy) avenues to improve destination governance, contributing to a shift in focus from reactively fixing problems to proactively addressing the structural issue of adaptive capacity building. It shows that managing tourism destination as complex systems involves a set of conditions that are critical as well as difficult to meet in tourism practice.

Quantifying livelihood vulnerability to wildland fires in the United States is challenging because of the need to systematically integrate multidimensional variables into its analysis. We aim to measure wildfire threats amongst humans and their physical and social environment by devel-oping a framework to calculate the livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) for the top 14 American states most recently exposed to wildfires. The LVI is computed by assessing each state’s contributing factors (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) to wildfire events. These contributing factors are determined through a set of indicator variables that are categorized into corresponding groups to produce an LVI framework. The framework is validated by performing a principal component analysis (PCA), ensuring that each selected indicator variable corresponds to the correct contributing factor. Our results indicate that Arizona and New Mexico experience the greatest livelihood vulnerability. In contrast, California, Florida, and Texas experience the least livelihood vulnerabil-ity. While California has one of the highest exposures and sensitivity to wildfires, results indicate that it has a relatively high adaptive capacity, in comparison to the other states, suggesting it has measures in place to withstand these vulnerabilities. These results are critical to wildfire managers, government, policymakers, and research scientists for identifying and providing better resiliency and adaptation measures to support states that are most vulnerable to wildfires.

Groundwater-influenced ecosystems (GIEs) are increasingly vulnerable due to groundwater extraction, land-use practices, and climate change. These ecosystems receive groundwater inflow as a portion of their baseflow or water budget, which can maintain water levels, water temperature, and chemistry necessary to sustain the biodiversity that they support. In some systems (e.g., springs, seeps, fens), this connection with groundwater is central to the system’s integrity and persistence. Groundwater management decisions for human use often do not consider the ecological effects of those actions on GIEs. This disparity can be attributed, in part, to a lack of information regarding the physical relationships these systems have with the surrounding landscape and climate, which may influence the environmental conditions and associated biodiversity. We estimate the vulnerability of areas predicted to be highly suitable for the presence of GIEs based on watershed (U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Unit Code 12 watersheds: 24–100 km2) and pixel (30 m × 30 m pixels) resolution in the Atlantic Highlands and Mixed Wood Plains EPA Level II Ecoregions in the northeastern United States. We represent vulnerability with variables describing adaptive capacity (topographic wetness index, hydric soil, physiographic diversity), exposure (climatic niche), and sensitivity (aquatic barriers, proportion urbanized or agriculture). Vulnerability scores indicate that ~26% of GIEs were within 30 m of areas with moderate vulnerability. Within these GIEs, climate exposure is an important contributor to vulnerability of 40% of the areas, followed by land use (19%, agriculture or urbanized). There are few areas predicted to be suitable for GIEs that are also predicted to be highly vulnerable, and of those, climate exposure is the most important contributor to their vulnerability. Persistence of GIEs in the northeastern United States may be challenged as changes in the amount and timing of precipitation and increasing air temperatures attributed to climate change affect the groundwater that sustains these systems.

This study identified the practices of adaptation strategies to climate change in Jimma, Bedelle, Bonga, and Sokorru urban centers using a survey of 384 households, 55 key informant interviews, 4 focus group discussions, and field observations. A cross-sectional study design was employed from 2019 to 2021. The adaptive capacity of municipalities to reduce climate extreme events was rated as poor by the majority (51%), mostly reactive measures (76%). The climate hazards identified in four urban centers were riverine and flash floods, urban heat waves, landslides, and windstorms. The urban households practiced lifestyle modification, reduce paved surfaces, the use of air conditioner, planting trees, and multiple windows. The adaptation strategies practiced by municipalities include the relocation of prone areas, the support of basic amenities, the construction of protection walls, diversion ditches, the clearance of waterways and rivers, greenery, and park development. The adaptation actions were constrained by a lack of awareness, commitment, cooperation and coordination, adaptive capacity, and participation. Gray/physical infrastructures (costly but important) as adaptation actions were hampered by the low municipal capacity. We recommend that urban authorities should incorporate climate change adaptation strategies into urban planning and development proactively to ensure future resilient climate smart urban centers of southwest Ethiopia.

The behavior of ruminants can influence their productive efficiency. The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavior of young zebu and composite bulls kept in pasture production systems, either in a crop-livestock-forest integration or without afforestation. The work was carried out in São Carlos, Brazil (21°57′42″ S, 47°50′28″ W), in a high-altitude tropical climate, from March to July, 2022. Forty young bulls were evaluated, being 20 Nelore (Bos indicus) (342.5 ± 36.6 kg BW; 16.9 ± 1.8 months) and 20 Canchim (5/8 Bos taurus × 3/8 Bos indicus) (338.4 ± 39.8 kg BW; 19.1 ± 1.9 months), equally distributed in full-sun (FS) and integrated crop–livestock–forestry (ICLF) production systems. Behavior was monitored uninterruptedly by an acoustic sensor and accelerometer attached to a collar, and complemented by direct visual assessment, in two one-day campaigns per month. Serum cortisol concentration was assessed monthly. Statistical analyses were conducted using a general linear model at a 5% significance level (SAS, version 9.4). The ICLF system had a milder microclimate and favored thermal comfort. Natural shading influenced grazing, resting, and rumination time. The Canchim bulls were more active when moving and grazing (p < 0.05), even at the hottest times of the day. In turn, the Nelore bulls spent more time resting at all times (p < 0.001), which was shown to be an adaptive strategy in response to environmental stimuli. The Canchim bulls had a longer rumination time than the Nelore bulls (p < 0.001), due to their longer grazing time. The frequency of water and mineral mixture intake did not differ between genotypes, regardless of the production system (p > 0.05). There was no difference in the serum cortisol concentrations of the Nelore and Canchim bulls kept in FS or ICLF (p = 0.082). Thus, young bulls of the different genotypes showed different behaviors, regardless of whether they were kept on pasture without afforestation or in an integrated crop–livestock–forestry system.

This editorial discusses the challenges that climate change poses to agricultural production in Asia and the need for adaptation strategies. It emphasizes the vulnerability of the agricultural sector to climate dynamics and the detrimental effects of global warming on agricultural systems. The document also mentions two studies included in the issue that address climate change adaptation in agriculture in Asia. The first study focuses on heat stress in wheat and explores the plant's adaptations, while the second study examines the potential use of garlic husks as a source of phytonutrients. The document highlights the importance of customized approaches, stakeholder involvement, genetic progress, and resource efficiency in ensuring the sustainability of cropping systems in Asia and beyond. [Extracted from the article]

This study aims to conduct an importance-performance evaluation framework under the theoretical aspects of adaptive capacity for community-based plastic waste management (CBPWM). Additionally, we identified the matrix of the importance-performance levels of CBPWM, and estimated the community’s adaptive behavior towards CBPWM. The results indicate that residents have a high perception of the importance of all adaptation indicators in CBPWM, but perceive the indicators’ implementation is plagued by poor performance. The respondents emphasize the significance of several adaptation indicators that can enhance the adaptive capacity for CBPWM, namely, “developing waste collection systems”, “building connections between resident associations”, “collaborating among stakeholder’s groups”, “adopting a zero-waste lifestyle”, and “empowering independent waste collectors”. The study also reveals that socioeconomic, perceptual, and behavioral factors related to adaptation indicators impact residents’ willingness to participate in CBPWM strategies. This study is valuable as a starting point for building community adaptive capacity for plastic waste management. It is relevant to addressing both current and future plastic pollution problems in Vietnam, as it is based on actual assessments of the community. Determining the importance and performance of adaptive indicators provides valuable insights for policymakers in developing mechanisms and promoting opportunities for CBPWM.

Blue water (irrigation water) and green water (soil moisture), as natural bases in crop production, are vulnerable to natural and socioeconomic disturbances. However, quantitative resilience assessments of blue and green water for crop production are still lacking. Here we constructed a social-ecological based general water resilience assessment framework that distinguishes blue and green water for crop production in four dimensions, including resistance, absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity and transformative capacity. The framework was applied to quantify the spatiotemporal characteristics of water resource resilience for three staple crops (rice, wheat, and maize) at provincial level in mainland China over 2000–2017. Results indicate that water resilience related to crop production of China as a whole was at the lower-middle level over the study period. The green water resilience had higher initial performance, while the blue water resilience had a faster growth rate (>50%). The performance of adaptive and transformative capacity was 8.9∼153.7% better than resistance and absorptive capacity. There were significant heterogeneities in the water resilience score among crops and in time and space. Wheat had the highest resilience of green water, while its blue water resilience was the lowest among the three crops. The water resilience for crop production varied by up to 2.4-fold across provinces. Synergies and trade-offs among the four dimensions of water resilience were further evaluated. The current study provides an effective approach for assessing the state and progress of resilience of regional water resources for crop production.

The disaster-resilient village programme, which aims to develop settlements with the autonomy to adapt and deal with disasters aims to promote disaster awareness. Several questions arise regarding the contribution of the programme to the development of the adaptive capacity of village communities, including: what types of adaptive capacity emerge as a result of the programme’s implementation, and what factors promote and inhibit the development of adaptive capacity? This study employs a comprehensive literature review. The initial step is to do a keyword search using Publish or Perish 8.2.3944.8118. This study includes a range of search phrases, including the phrase ‘disaster-resilience’ and keywords: community resiliency, disaster preparedness and disaster policy. The type of adaptive capacity that emerges from the implementation of the disaster response village programme incorporates the topic of flexibility predominantly, showing that this programme raises a diversity of adaption practices and possibilities in the community. This approach is influenced by the disaster-prone geographical characteristics of Indonesia. Practical gaps exist in the form of evaluating values in the development of similar disaster programmes, while theoretical gaps exist in the form of conceptual identification of cultural characteristics that may occur as a result of efforts to build adaptive ability through the programme. This article examines societal values that are affected by programmes. Contribution: This manuscript aims to add to the variety of disaster programme design initiatives requiring community resilience and sustainability. This sociocultural and disaster-related field is pertinent to the scope of this publication.

Resilience, when defined as the capacity of an animal to respond to short-term environmental challenges and to return to the prechallenge status, is a dynamic and complex trait. Resilient animals can reinforce the capacity of the herd to cope with often fluctuating and unpredictable environmental conditions. The ability of modern technologies to simultaneously record multiple performance measures of individual animals over time is a huge step forward to evaluate the resilience of farm animals. However, resilience is not directly measurable and requires mathematical models with biologically meaningful parameters to obtain quantitative resilience indicators. Furthermore, interpretive models may also be needed to determine the periods of perturbation as perceived by the animal. These applications do not require explicit knowledge of the origin of the perturbations and are developed based on real-time information obtained in the data during and outside the perturbation period. The main objective of this paper was to review and illustrate with examples, different modelling approaches applied to this new generation of data (i.e., with high-frequency recording) to detect and quantify animal responses to perturbations. Case studies were developed to illustrate alternative approaches to real-time and post-treatment of data. In addition, perspectives on the use of hybrid models for better understanding and predicting animal resilience are presented. Quantification of resilience at the individual level makes possible the inclusion of this trait into future breeding programmes. This would allow improvement of the capacity of animals to adapt to a changing environment, and therefore potentially reduce the impact of disease and other environmental stressors on animal welfare. Moreover, such quantification allows the farmer to tailor the management strategy to help individual animals to cope with the perturbation, hence reducing the use of pharmaceuticals, and decreasing the level of pain of the animal.

This study aimed to evaluate the adaptation efforts of food-aid-reliant smallholder farmers in the drought-prone area of northern Ethiopia. The study involved mixed approaches to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from the randomly selected 398 respondents. The study employed a household survey method to collect quantitative data, while to gather qualitative data focus group discussions and key informant interview methods were used with the help of semi-structured and unstructured questions, respectively. The primary data were gathered focusing on food aid and the opinion of the farmers, perceived causes for food shortage and aid dependence, approaches of improving and sustaining adaptive capacity, options and practice of livelihood diversification, the role of local institutions in building adaptive capacity, and factors influencing the efforts to build adaptive capacity and sustain livelihood. While descriptive statists and econometric models were used to analyze quantitative data, content analysis was used to summarize the qualitative data. The results showed that 100% of the farm households reported that they have been suffering from food insecurity. As a result, about 67% of the respondents were dependent on external support for their livelihood. Climate variability, frequent droughts, low productivity, land degradation, and low technology adoption were the major causes of food insecurity and reliance on aid. To build adaptive capacity and livelihood resilience of the rural poor, implementing integrated watershed management activities was taken as a key approach to improve the productivity of the land, ensure food security, and avoid reliance on external aid coming from abroad. The model was checked for its validity before the analysis. Active community participation, awareness of climate change, social transfer, access to credit service, use of organic fertilizer, and community engagement in off-farm income activities is factors that have a positive and significant influence on adaptive capacity. Therefore, policymakers and planners should focus on improving land productivity, enhancing household income, lessening the vulnerability of households, and increasing the adaptive capacity of aid-dependent poor farmers’.

Harmful and toxic algal blooms (HABs) are an increasing concern for marine social-ecological systems. These unpredictable events threaten human health and may affect the viability of economic activities such as shellfish fisheries due to harvesting bans. Monitoring and early warning systems are developed to support management decisions to mitigate and reduce impacts. Nevertheless, HAB alert systems currently only focus on the environmental dimensions to identify the risk of bloom occurrences. Other socioeconomic dimensions associated with HABs are generally not taken into account to support decision making. Integrating information on the economic risk of HABs and on adaptive strategies of impacted communities would provide essential insights for decision makers. This study presents an analysis of how the potential impacts of HAB-related restrictions on economic activities can be effectively assessed to support decision making. A vulnerability-based approach is developed and applied to the case study of the French scallop fishery in the eastern English Channel. The results showed clear differences in vulnerability patterns between the studied fishing fleets despite their similar exposure. This is associated with the heterogeneity in individual characteristics in terms of sensitivity level and adaptive strategies. This research highlights the important effect of social factors such as adaptation in the magnitude of HAB impacts and supports the relevance of the vulnerability approach in the assessment of socioeconomic impacts of such events. Combining environmental and socioeconomic factors through a composite index can bridge the existing gaps in addressing and mitigating HAB impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding households' resilience-building strategies is vital for the domains of humanitarian assistance, economic development, and poverty reduction, especially in the places where are vulnerable to shocks. In this study, we offer the first trial that takes into account the correlation between households' risk attitude and their resilience-building strategies, namely savings as an absorptive capacity and income diversification as an adaptive capacity. We examine the effects of these resilience strategies on reducing the impacts of shocks and poverty. We use a panel data of 1227 identical households for Vietnam in two waves of the Thailand–Vietnam Socio-Economic Panel project to investigate the above issues. We address the endogenous problems of households' risk attitude, savings, and income diversification. Our results show that more risk-averse households tend to save more and diversify their income portfolios. These precautionary strategies to build up their resilience capacity help prevent them from reducing consumption caused by shocks and from falling into poverty in absolute, relative, and multidimensional measures. We suggest that rural development policies in developing countries should focus on facilitating more income generation and employment opportunities. Furthermore, the development of rural education and infrastructure for information and communication technology should be taken into account of designing poverty reduction programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and anthropogenic pressure are among the main drivers of coastal environment degradation in Mauritius, a small island developing state. Globally, mitigation and adaptation strategies applied to the complex socio-ecological coastal systems offer effective solutions in curbing the adverse impacts. In environmental protection, Non-Governmental Organisations' (NGOs) role was first recognised in the 1992 UN Agenda 21 for Sustainable Development, and they are now integrated with most coastal environmental rehabilitation programmes. This paper describes two climate-based adaptation projects undertaken about a decade ago by an NGO in Mauritius. The projects were community-driven in all phases of implementation. The first project focussed on the Ecosystem-based-adaptation (EbA) approach of restoring a mangrove ecosystem and improving community life at Le Morne Village. The second project aimed at the rehabilitation of a historical site and the consolidation of a degraded coastline at Poudre d'Or Village. Components of 'hard' and 'soft' adaptive measures were applied as pathways to guide project implementation. The projects required extensive field visits, focus group interviews, and participatory inputs from all stakeholders. A 10-year assessment of the processes applied in the conceptualisation, implementation, and in evaluating the outcomes was gleaned from regular visits to local inhabitants, stakeholders, and NGO members since the completion of the projects. In 2022, an informal interview at Le Morne and a survey at Poudre d'Or showed that both projects resulted in positive outcomes. Good governance capacity and rigour in the management of the project team were highlighted as crucial attributes to the success of the projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Certain factors contribute to healthcare professionals' adaptive capacities towards risks, challenges, and changes such as attitudes, stress, motivation, cognitive capacity, group norms, and teamwork. However, there is limited evidence as to factors that contribute to healthcare professionals' adaptive capacity towards hospital standardization. This scoping review aimed to identify and map the factors contributing to healthcare professionals' adaptive capacity with hospital standardization. Methods: Scoping review methodology was used. We searched six academic databases to September 2021 for peer-reviewed articles in English. We also reviewed grey literature sources and the reference lists of included studies. Quantitative and qualitative studies were included if they focused on factors influencing how healthcare professionals adapted towards hospital standardization such as guidelines, procedures, and strategies linked to clinical practice. Two researchers conducted a three-stage screening process and extracted data on study characteristics, hospital standardization practices and factors contributing to healthcare professionals' adaptive capacity. Study quality was not assessed. Results: A total of 57 studies were included. Factors contributing to healthcare professionals' adaptive capacity were identified in numerous standardization practices ranging from hand hygiene and personal protective equipment to clinical guidelines or protocols on for example asthma, pneumonia, antimicrobial prophylaxis, or cancer. The factors were grouped in eight categories: (1) psychological and emotional, (2) cognitive, (3) motivational, (4) knowledge and experience, (5) professional role, (6) risk management, (7) patient and family, and (8) work relationships. This combination of individual and group/social factors decided whether healthcare professionals complied with or adapted hospital standardization efforts. Contextual factors were identified related to guideline system, cultural norms, leadership support, physical environment, time, and workload. Conclusion: The literature on healthcare professionals' adaptive capacity towards hospital standardization is varied and reflect different reasons for compliance or non-compliance to rules, guidelines, and protocols. The knowledge of individual and group/social factors and the role of contextual factors should be used by hospitals to improve standardization practices through educational efforts, individualised training and motivational support. The influence of patient and family factors on healthcare professionals' adaptive capacity should be investigated. Trial registration: Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/ev7az) https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/EV7AZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Resilient healthcare research studies how healthcare systems and stakeholders adapt and cope with challenges and changes to enable high quality care. By examining how performance emerges in everyday work in different healthcare settings, the research seeks to receive knowledge of the enablers for adaptive capacity. Hospitals are defined as complex organizations with a large number of actors collaborating on increasingly complexity tasks. Consequently, most of today’s work in hospitals is team based. The study aims to explore and describe what kind of team factors enable adaptive capacity in hospital teams. Methods: The article reports from a multiple embedded case study in two Norwegian hospitals. A case was defined as one hospital containing four different types of teams in a hospital setting. Data collection used triangulation of observation (115h) and interviews (30), followed by a combined deductive and inductive analysis of the material. Results: The study identified four main themes of team related factors for enabling adaptive capacity; (1) technology and tools, (2) roles, procedures, and organization of work, (3) competence, experience, knowledge, and learning, (4) team culture and relations. Discussion: Investigating adaptive capacity in four different types of teams allowed for consideration of a range of team types within healthcare and how the team factors vary within and across these teams. All of the four identified team factors are of importance in enabling adaptive capacity, the various attributes of the respective team types prompt differences in the significance of the different factors and indicates that different types of teams could need diverse types of training, structural and relational emphasis in team composition, leadership, and non-technical skills in order to optimize everyday functionality and adaptive capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local observations of climate change can be a critical resource for understanding the impacts of climate change, particularly in data-scarce areas. This study examines local observations of climate change in two montane areas of Kenya- Mt. Kenya and Mt. Elgon. Household questionnaires, focus group discussions, and interviews were used to explore local perceptions of ecosystem services and changes to those services. Results showed that communities had a strong appreciation for ecosystem services and had witnessed major changes in those services. Water provision was seen as the most important service and the one that had changed the most. Other observations of changes included shifts in species ranges, weather patterns, temperature, and soil properties. These changes are consistent with predictions from climate models, but they provide context-specific nuance that the models cannot provide. Spatial variables, such as distance to road and the alpine zone, played as large or larger role in affecting perceptions as demographics, which further points to the importance of context in understanding climate changes. Those that interacted with the mountains the most—the mountain guides—had particularly revealing observations of changes; these types of observations can be critical to understand and prepare for changes in the alpine areas of Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An innovative methodology for characterizing Coping Capacity (CC), Adaptive Capacity (AC), and Transformative Capacity (TC) resilience determinants in a multi-hazard territorial context is applied to the Soccavo district (Naples, Italy), located in the Campi Flegrei caldera and exposed to volcanic eruptions, ground deformations (bradyseism), earthquakes, geomorphological processes (landslides, rock falls, erosion), and climate change-related hazards (heat waves, pluvial floods). The method allowed for the identification of the CC, AC, and TC parameters that can be easily converted into qualitative–quantitative variables. Among all parameters, the method focused on multi-stakeholder and civil society engagement, which is representative of TC and variable relating to the risk perception and awareness, the urban space perception, or the people's ability to activate bottom-up urban transformation processes within resilient development pathways. Therefore, qualitative tools such as collaborative mapping and co-design processes, pertaining to the urban planning and design fields, and quantitative tools such as surveys, from the social science field, were harmonized and combined to collect and analyze data on these site-specific topics. Considering people's priorities and needs, the study was useful to define shared sustainable and resilient solutions in order to holistically integrate Disaster Risk Reduction/Climate Change Adaptation urban planning and design approaches and simultaneously deliver social, environmental, and economic co-benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing realization of the inadequacies of the conventional approach to climate change adaptation has generated interest in sustainable forms of adaptation that could promote long-term ecosystem health and social equity. In this regard, the concept of ecosystem-based adaptation has been receiving attention as an integrative framework for maintaining healthy ecosystems, with the aim of building the resilience and reducing the vulnerability of social–ecological systems to climate change impacts. However, there is currently an inadequate understanding of the institutional requirements for the transition towards ecosystem-based adaptation. A promising institutional mechanism for addressing these governance challenges is adaptive governance, a governance mechanism that relies on flexible, multi-level institutions to connect actors across multiple scales in managing conflicting values and uncertainties in ecosystem-based management processes. This paper discusses four roles of adaptive governance in the transition of water resource systems towards ecosystem-based adaptation: (1) creating awareness about climate change through social learning and the integration of diverse sources of knowledge; (2) generating interest for policy change through the provision of economic and non-economic incentives; (3) creating opportunities for change through the promotion of vertical and horizontal interactions among actors; and (4) building capacities for change through enhanced access to relevant institutions and resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparing communities around mines to face the impacts of mine closures is crucial in order to reduce disruptions to their livelihoods. Building the adaptive capacity of these communities will alleviate the burden on governments or mining companies in the future. Unfortunately, adaptive capacity has not yet been integrated into post-mining planning policies. This research aims to develop an adaptive capacity framework for post-mining planning in local communities, focusing on a case study conducted in Indonesia. We developed this framework using the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) method. The findings indicate that the adaptive capacity framework provides a comprehensive approach to building the capacity to adapt and thrive in post-mining situations. This highlights the importance of continuing to disseminate post-mining plan information, prioritizing access to capital and former mine sites, fostering collaboration, and creating job opportunities. Simultaneously, efforts to increase skills should be reduced, and reallocation of efforts towards community institution building, establishing information centers, and improving community bonds should be prioritized in more important fields and programs. By adopting this framework, communities around mines in Indonesia are expected to enhance their resilience and ability to effectively respond to changing circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Human development seeks to enlarge freedoms by building capacity and is integral to achieving sustainable development, particularly in the era of the Anthropocene. However, the efficiency and effectiveness of capacity building is limited. First-generation adaptive capacity emphasizes a deficit model. Second-generation adaptive capacity focuses on mobilization by individuals. Neither adequately address the issue of scale, nor recognize how stocks of capacity are enhanced or diminished through interactions between individuals and groups. Addressing these shortcomings and realizing climate-resilient development, is contingent upon a next (third) generation of adaptive capacity that incorporates the transfer of capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation is crucial for addressing current and future climate change challenges in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and climate finance instruments, such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) can play a key role in increasing their adaptive capacity and supporting the integration of adaptation into policy and programmes. Few studies have analysed the linkages between climate finance, adaptation mainstreaming, and institutional adaptive capacity; however, assessments of the impacts of climate finance on adaptation and adaptive capacity, particularly at the institutional level, are still limited. This research assesses how climate finance may promote institutional change through the mainstreaming of adaptation policies at the national level, and may contribute to more institutional adaptive capacity. Through reviewing the documentation of approved Green Climate Fund Readiness Preparatory Support Grants, and through semi-structured interviews focusing on three Caribbean SIDS (Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and Haiti), this paper shows that the grants had a positive impact on several processes, though sometimes limited by the strength and role of the institutions in place. These results demonstrate that access to climate finance can create a window of opportunity for countries to accelerate institutional change and adaptation integration. However, further studies are needed to examine the complementary influence of the different climate finance flows (multilateral or bilateral), and their interplay with national institutional mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Safety has been described as a dynamic non-event and as constantly present in professionals' work processes. Investigating management of complex everyday situations may create an opportunity to elucidate safety management. Anaesthesia has been at the frontline of enhancing patient safety – testing and implementing knowledge from other high-reliability industries, such as aviation, in the complex, adaptive system of an operating room. The aim of this study was to explore factors supporting anaesthesia nurses and anaesthesiologists in managing complex everyday situations during intraoperative anaesthesia care processes. Methods: Individual interviews with anaesthesia nurses (n = 9) and anaesthesiologists (n = 6) using cognitive task analysis (CTA) on case scenarios from previous prospective, structured observations. The interviews were analysed using the framework method. Results: During intraoperative anaesthesia care, management of everyday complex situations is sustained through preparedness, support for mindful practices, and monitoring and noticing complex situations and managing them. The prerequisites are created at the organization level. Managers should ensure adequate resources in the form of trained personnel, equipment and time, team and personnel sustainability and early planning of work. Management of complex situations benefits from high-quality teamwork and non-technical skills (NTS), such as communication, leadership and shared situational awareness. Conclusion: Adequate resources, stability in team compositions and safe boundaries for practice with shared baselines for reoccurring tasks where all viewed as important prerequisites for managing complex everyday work. When and how NTS are used in a specific clinical context depends on having the right organizational prerequisites and a deep expertise of the relevant clinical processes. Methods like CTA can reveal the tacit competence of experienced staff, guide contextualized training in specific contexts and inform the design of safe perioperative work practices, ensuring adequate capacity for adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definition: Climate change has resulted in negative impacts upon rural communities, notably in the Global South; these impacts expose vulnerabilities that exist on individual and societal levels, necessitating consideration of adaptive capacity given the climate change threat, as well as the role of government in responding to hazards, and encouraging resilience and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interactions between household size, capital, and adaptation to social-ecological change has been widely studied; however, little is known about the differences in everyday adaptation to social-ecological change across household structures. Joint family households are increasing in contexts where the nuclear family had previously been the norm, and remains a prevalent structure throughout the world. Thus, it is important to understand how these structures influence adaptation decision-making processes and outcomes. We draw on a survey of 448 self-identified household heads in three communities in northwestern Pakistan to assess everyday adaptation to social-ecological change. We demonstrate that livelihood and adaptation strategies vary across joint and nuclear family household structures because, in part, of joint family households' greater access to natural and human capital in comparison to nuclear family households. Finally, household livelihood decision makers often include other family members to expand beyond the oftenassumed husband-wife dyad. Our work highlights how everyday adaptations are expressions of existing opportunities in the space in which households are located, access to capital and resources that differ across household structures, and of various dynamics associated with household decision making. This points to the need for a nuanced understanding of how household structure influences everyday adaptation to social-ecological change and thereby shows the ways in which adaptive capacity is embedded within existing social systems and relationships, such as household structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Projecting the effects of climate change on net reef calcium carbonate production is critical to understanding the future impacts on ecosystem function, but prior estimates have not included corals' natural adaptive capacity to such change. Here we estimate how the ability of symbionts to evolve tolerance to heat stress, or for coral hosts to shuffle to favourable symbionts, and their combination, may influence responses to the combined impacts of ocean warming and acidification under three representative concentration pathway (RCP) emissions scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). We show that symbiont evolution and shuffling, both individually and when combined, favours persistent positive net reef calcium carbonate production. However, our projections of future net calcium carbonate production (NCCP) under climate change vary both spatially and by RCP. For example, 19%–35% of modelled coral reefs are still projected to have net positive NCCP by 2050 if symbionts can evolve increased thermal tolerance, depending on the RCP. Without symbiont adaptive capacity, the number of coral reefs with positive NCCP drops to 9%–13% by 2050. Accounting for both symbiont evolution and shuffling, we project median positive NCPP of coral reefs will still occur under low greenhouse emissions (RCP2.6) in the Indian Ocean, and even under moderate emissions (RCP4.5) in the Pacific Ocean. However, adaptive capacity will be insufficient to halt the transition of coral reefs globally into erosion by 2050 under severe emissions scenarios (RCP8.5). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study develops and assesses the application of a livelihood vulnerability index (LVI), LVI-IPCC and livelihood effect index for the natural and agricultural resources in Northwestern Pakistan. By using structured questionnaire, primary data were collected from the targeted households in the study region. Data on socio-demographics, water security, health, social networks and climate variability were collected from the targeted respondents in this study area, and combined into indices. The IPCC framework was utilized that characterizes vulnerability into exposure, sensitivity and its adaptive capacity. Findings of our study showed that tehsil Shabqadar was more vulnerable among three studied tehsils particularly in natural disasters, health, water and land holding status. Tehsil Tangi was the second high vulnerable tehsil followed by tehsil Charsadda relative to other LVI components with the exclusion of livelihood strategies and financial constraints. Findings of this study provide a better understanding of the social and behavioral trends as well as an integrated and holistic view of the agriculture, climate change and livelihoods process in assessing the vulnerability. The findings and this pragmatic approach will be helpful in intending specific strategies and policy effectiveness to lessen susceptibility of households to climatic variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation has been discussed as a mechanism to help markets adapt to the consequences of climate change but the adoption of innovation is shaped by a set of formal and informal institutions, one of which is national culture norms. In this empirical study, we examine the impact of innovation on adaptive capacity to climate change then investigate how national culture norms enhance or weaken this relationship, using a database of 42 countries across the period of 2009–2020. We find that innovation has a positive effect on countries' adaptive capacity to climate change and the culture dimensions of Uncertainty Avoidance and Future Orientation moderate this relationship, such that countries scoring high on Uncertainty Avoidance and Future Orientation are better able to channel innovation into the adaptive capacity to climate change. Furthermore, while we found that Uncertainty Avoidance and Future Orientation had a direct positive impact on adaptive capacity, the dimension of institutional collectiveness had no significant impact. Implications for policy makers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many risks for local people related to resettlement schemes and compensation measures caused by different development projects. In Buseruka sub-county, Hoima district in Western Uganda, land was expropriated for an oil refinery project. A vulnerability assessment was conducted for this scheme. Households could choose between cash compensation as a resettlement measure, or a relocation to an established site with a house and some agricultural land and other inputs. A household survey was carried out involving 187 household heads and various key person interviews. An analysis of overall vulnerability among the resettled households was based on indices constructed from carefully selected indicators for exposure, sensitivity and the adaptive capacity. A principal Component Analysis was used in assigning weights to indicators of the vulnerability of resettled households. Affected households could choose between cash compensation or land /house. In addition we looked at effects of the measures on the host population receiving the relocated households. Cash compensated households were most vulnerable in relocation areas compared to both host community households and to formally resettled households with a house or land respectively. Cash compensation was found to be surrounded by much controversy which challenges the commonly held notion that cash can easily facilitate or restore the livelihoods of displaced people. There is thus a need to critically analyse how or to what extent different resettlement mechanisms restore livelihoods of project affected people and prevent household vulnerability. The findings in this study indicate that cash compensation may not reduce socio-economic vulnerability of affected persons in areas where land is the most important livelihood asset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reality of climate change has an impact on people's lives. People need to pay attention to climate change that is happening. Climate change that occurs needs to be anticipated early on. With climate change, people need to increase their sensitivity to disaster threats. Bilato Village is located in a coastal area vulnerable to climate change's effects. The Bilato village community impacts the livelihood system due to climate change. The aim of holding the outreach is so that the Bilato village community adapts to climate change's impacts by utilizing existing natural resources besides fishing and salt. The subject of community service is the villagers of Bilato. The community service method is carried out in three ways: observation, interviews, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The three findings of community service include a) how to reduce the impact of climate change, b) the village government's efforts to deal with climate change, and c) the fate of fishermen affected by climate change. Based on the results, it can be concluded that climate vulnerability and adaptive capacity with the climatepreneurship strategy of socialization participants understand climate change.

The challenges faced by organic vegetable farmers in California during the COVID-19 pandemic included uncertainty about food safety rules and best practices, availability of workers, and significant changes to their markets. When the pandemic began, we built on an ongoing interdisciplinary research project with organic vegetable farmers on the California Central Coast to track how those growers adapted to the crisis. We conducted surveys in April 2020 and January 2021 to determine impacts on farmers and how farm size, market channels, and management strategies influenced a farm's ability to adapt to and recover from pandemic-induced disruptions. We found that mid-sized farmers with flexible and diverse marketing channels could navigate changes from the pandemic with minimal losses and, in some cases, economic gains. By contrast, smaller farmers with limited resources, especially those with disadvantaged backgrounds and limited access to technology, experienced more drastic impacts, including lost markets, labor shortages, and increased childcare needs. The lessons learned can inform a transition toward more sustainable, resilient agroecological systems.

Climate change's impact on Indonesia's agricultural sector is now increasingly felt. The potential danger of climate change for the agricultural sector is the decline in rice production. District Aceh Utara, the most extensive rice production center in Aceh Province, has a high hazard potential and is one of the criteria for Regional Vulnerability and a High District/City Disaster Risk Index (IRBI). This study aims to determine the level of vulnerability to climate change on the income of rice farmers in District Aceh Utara. This study involved 100 farmers in Baktiya and Lhoksukon sub-districts who were determined using the multi-stage Stratification Random Sampling Technique. The data analysis technique used is the vulnerability level analysis model. The results showed that rice farmers in Aceh Utara District tended to be at a low level of vulnerability. Rice farmers in District Aceh Utara could maintain and save their farms from the stress of climate change.

Pacific Island countries have among the lowest access to improved drinking water sources and sanitation services in the world. Due to geography, climate, the high frequency, and severity of disasters, transportation difficulties and resource constraints, government and private sector support to rural populations are limited and likely to remain so. However, the unique demographic characteristics of the region see considerable support flowing to rural areas from village kin in urban centres and overseas, hinged on strong socio-cultural norms of reciprocity, self-help, and obligation. Focusing on Fiji, this paper examines how select social networks are being used to support improved rural water and sanitation outcomes. Results demonstrate that kinship-orientated urban–rural linkages, select customary norms, relations and practices, common interest associations (such as village development committees), and select social media groups, all constitute critical components of the WaSH enabling environment in Fiji. Given the unique character of the Pacific Islands region, leveraging existing social networks to support improved rural water and sanitation outcomes may constitute a fruitful community water management ‘plus’ strategy for both governments and non-government organisations seeking to strengthen rural water and sanitation service outcomes. HIGHLIGHTS This is the first study of the relationship between social networks and WaSH in the region.; 'Hybrid' village development committees are an innovative response to social, economic, and environmental changes.; Social media groups are an important post-disaster buffer, providing adaptive capacity to respond to emergency WaSH needs.; Rural water and sanitation services in Fiji have been improved through leveraging social networks.;