Papers by Christine Wamsler
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in The Built Environment, Apr 11, 2016
People’s accumulated local capacity is increasingly recognized to be critical in enhancing disast... more People’s accumulated local capacity is increasingly recognized to be critical in enhancing disaster resilience and transformation. Nevertheless, citizens’ coping strategies are little known or documented, and hardly considered in city authorities’ and aid organizations’ work. Against this background, this study provides an overview and systematization of citizens’ strategies to cope with increasing disasters and climate change, presents critical insights on the positive and negative effects of such strategies, and discusses the relevance of taking them into account when formulating development policies and projects. The study shows that coping should not automatically be seen as being maladaptive. The success or failure of urban societies in building disaster resilience, and moving beyond towards sustainable transformation, is not dependent on the effectiveness of single coping strategies, but the level of flexibility and inclusiveness of individuals’, households’ and communities’ coping systems (i.e. their combined set of used strategies). Supporting citizens to negotiate their needs and rights in order to increase the flexibility and inclusiveness of these systems, and make them more viable in today’s context, is thus crucial. (Less)
Environmental Policy and Governance, Dec 27, 2017
urban climate, Mar 1, 2014
ABSTRACT Climate change poses a serious challenge to sustainable urban development, placing many ... more ABSTRACT Climate change poses a serious challenge to sustainable urban development, placing many cities at risk. Climatic conditions are changing to such an extent that the capacity of urban institutions and associated governance systems to deal with climatic extremes and variability is being reduced. New approaches for urban climate change adaptation are thus urgently needed. There is an increasing consensus that local-level capacities are critical for successful adaptation to climate change and the achievement of sustainable development. However, knowledge about local-level capacities is scarce, and regulatory frameworks are often ambiguous in terms of assigning (complementary) responsibilities for adaptation to institutions and citizens. Against that background, the paper investigates the adaptive practice of Swedish citizens and how this relates to local municipalities’ adaptation efforts and to the ‘interface’ between citizens’ and institutions’ legal responsibilities. By theorising the interplay between the adaptive practice of citizens and institutions, it demonstrates that adaptive capacity at the local level does not automatically translate into adaptation itself, thus showing the requirement for planned and more complementary interventions. The outcomes suggest the need for more distributed urban risk governance systems and people-oriented planning to foster an adaptive and sustainable transformation of cities. The potential scope of action for more people-oriented adaptation planning is presented.
International Journal of Disaster Resilience in The Built Environment, Feb 9, 2015
Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the strategies used by Swedish citizens to adapt to chan... more Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the strategies used by Swedish citizens to adapt to changing climate variability and extremes. There is an increasing consensus that individual adaptive capacities are critical to successfully adapt to climate change and achieve sustainable development. However, little is known about individual adaptive practices, particularly in developed countries. Design/methodology/approach – The study covered a variety of geographical areas and included single-case studies of specific locations, cross-case studies and country-wide studies. Data were collected through literature review, interviews with at-risk people, observation and group discussions with municipal staff. Findings – The paper provides an overview of Swedish citizens’ adaptive practices and highlights how institutional development efforts affect individuals and their activities, including the equitable distribution of adaptation needs and resources. The paper concludes that individual adaptive capacities do not necessarily translate into adaptation. Practical implications – The results show that planned interventions are required. They emphasise the importance of more people-oriented adaptation planning that fosters the sustainable transformation of cities, together with the role that South-North knowledge transfer can play in this context. Originality/value – The paper offers critical insights into the positive and negative effects of citizens’ adaptation strategies (based on criteria such as effectiveness, sustainability and equity), and it discusses their relevance in the formulation of development policies and programmes.
Journal of Cleaner Production, Feb 1, 2019
8th ESP (Ecosystem Services Partnership) World Conference, 9-13 November 2015, Stellenbosch, Sout... more 8th ESP (Ecosystem Services Partnership) World Conference, 9-13 November 2015, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Ekosystemtjanstbegreppet : en historisk tillbakablick och den forvantade rollen i svensk miljopol... more Ekosystemtjanstbegreppet : en historisk tillbakablick och den forvantade rollen i svensk miljopolicy.
Climate, Society and Elemental Insurance
Challenges
Researchers and practitioners increasingly emphasise the need to complement dominant external, te... more Researchers and practitioners increasingly emphasise the need to complement dominant external, technological approaches with an internal focus to support transformation toward sustainability. However, knowledge on how this internal human dimension can support transformation across individual, collective, and systems levels is limited. Our study addresses this gap. We examined the narratives of participants in the sustainability course “One Year in Transition”, using micro-phenomenology and thematic analysis. Our results shed light on the dynamics of inner–outer change and action and the necessary capacities to support them. This related to changes regarding participants’ perspectives, which became more relational and interconnected. We also showed that participants increasingly seek an inner space that provides direction and freedom to act. The data suggested that this, over time, leads to increasing internalisation, and the embodiment of a personal identity as a courageous and prin...
Annals of the American Association of Geographers
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Papers by Christine Wamsler
Adaptation mainstreaming is the inclusion of climate risk considerations in sector policy and practice. It is motivated by the need to challenge common ideas, attitudes, or activities and change dominant paradigms at multiple levels of governance. It seeks to increase sustainability and resilience by expanding the focus – from preventing or resisting climate hazards – to a broader systems framework in which we learn to live and cope with an ever-changing, and sometimes risky, environment. It aims to address the root causes of risk (including power structures) and failed …