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Special Issue "The Role of Coastal Residents in Adapting to Climate Change: Social, Political, Cultural and Economic Dimensions"

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Air, Climate Change and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2022) | Viewed by 10578

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Carmen Elrick-Barr

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Guest Editor

Sustainability Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD, 4558, Australia
Interests: human-environment interactions; environmental governance; social values; coasts; climate change adaptation, monitoring and evaluation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Coastal zones are at the forefront of climate impacts while also being the locus of human activity and development. While much research attention has been placed on the role and capacity of governance authorities in responding to climate challenges on the coast, coastal residents who are key actors in the adaptation process are less frequently addressed. Coastal residents, however, play an integral role in adaptation which shapes, and is shaped by, institutional, political, economic, social, and environmental conditions. This Special Issue focuses on the ways local coastal residents engage in climate change adaptation. We are interested in papers that address:

The role of coastal residents in planning and implementing topical adaptation responses, such as managed retreat;
The collaborative governance approaches residents engage in to drive or shape local, regional or national adaptation;
The interrelations between hazard management, climate change adaptation, and sustainability-related household responses;

as well as papers that contribute new understanding toward:

The nature of household adaptive capacity in coastal communities;
The factors affecting household level adaptation decision-making;
The processes that facilitate and inhibit adaptation by residents of coastal communities.

Coastal adaptation assessments often treat householders as a unit requiring management—focusing on the policy tools and approaches that can be applied ‘on’ communities to reduce their exposure to climate risks. Coastal residents are, however, autonomous agents capable of change, and this Special Issue particularly invites papers that explore the processes through which coastal residents manage their exposure to climate risks, for example, via direct personal action, collective action, collaborative governance models, and/or other mechanisms to leverage the resources (e.g., political, human, or financial) necessary for adaptation in coastal areas.

Dr. Carmen Elrick-Barr
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

household
community
coastal management
adaptation
resilience
governance
adaptive capacity
co-management
transformation
responsibilization

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Engaging Communities in Adaptation to Climate Change by Understanding the Dimensions of Social Capital in Atlantic Canada

Liette Vasseur

Mary J. Thornbush

and

Steve Plante

Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 5250; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095250 - 26 Apr 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1027

Abstract

This paper examines the role of social capital and its influence on the capacity of coastal communities in Atlantic Canada to respond and adapt to climate change, especially when dealing with extreme weather events. Three elements of social capital—social trust, institutional trust, and social networks—were considered. They were analyzed based on four questions targeting social capital during semi-structured interviews on climate change adaptation in 10 rural coastal communities located in three Canadian provinces (Quebec, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island). Results showed that these communities exhibited strong social capital, mainly because of a high level of social trust. People were ambivalent in the way they connected to institutions, especially with governments. They often felt isolated and left to themselves to deal with climate change adaptation decisions. The research conveys the difficulties and challenges of multilevel governance, where coastal communities generally ensure trust within the community first before trusting higher levels of government. Initiatives to improve public engagement and participation in decision making should be supported for further adaptation, although they would require greater accountability and transparency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Coastal Residents in Adapting to Climate Change: Social, Political, Cultural and Economic Dimensions)

Open AccessArticle

Building Resilience through Collaborative Management of Coastal Protection and Restoration Planning in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, USA

Scott A. Hemmerling

Christine A. DeMyers

and

Tim J. B. Carruthers

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2974; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052974 - 03 Mar 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1354

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a collaborative planning process to develop an integrated coastal restoration plan for Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana that recognizes the knowledge, experience, and priorities of residents and local stakeholders. To achieve this goal, the research team convened a broad group of stakeholders who live and work in Plaquemines Parish, including representatives of the seafood, navigation, and oil and gas industries, as well as residents, landowners, and those who are indigenous to the region, all of whom rely upon the ecosystem services provided by the wetlands, bays, and waterways for sustenance and wellbeing. Using a combination of local knowledge mapping and participatory modeling, the group worked with scientists to develop a restoration plan consisting of a suite of interlinked natural and nature-based solutions. The approach was intentionally interactive and iterative, creating a venue for open dialogue between residents, scientists, and resource users where no one source of knowledge was given primacy over another. Residents were able to contribute information regarding coastal restoration planning within their own communities, and a consensus plan for prioritizing restoration efforts in clusters was submitted for consideration as part of the State of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan process. Providing local stakeholders with direct access to scientists allowed their local knowledge to be translated into data products that could be more readily ingested into numerical models and other scientific planning tools. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Coastal Residents in Adapting to Climate Change: Social, Political, Cultural and Economic Dimensions)

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Open AccessArticle

Current Information Provision Rarely Helps Coastal Households Adapt to Climate Change

Carmen E. Elrick-Barr

and

Timothy F. Smith

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2904; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052904 - 02 Mar 2022

Viewed by 1669

Abstract

Households play an important role in reducing coastal vulnerability through individual and collective action. Information provision is a key strategy adopted by governments to support household adaptation. However, there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of the different types of information and their influence on coastal household response. Drawing on case study research in two Australian coastal communities, we explore the types of information shaping household responses to three hazard scenarios: a heatwave, a severe storm, and sea-level rise. We find that passive information informs action in fewer than half of all households. Furthermore, even current attempts at more action-oriented information only informs coping strategies. If coastal adaptation is to achieve the transformational changes vital to manage the impacts of climate change, information provision must transition from passive and generic delivery via traditional modes, to actively communicating adaptation as the ‘glue’ between hazard management and household resilience through context-relevant and household-driven communication modes. Further research into the types of information that promote more-than-coping responses, such as information to facilitate collective action, is also recommended. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Coastal Residents in Adapting to Climate Change: Social, Political, Cultural and Economic Dimensions)

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Open AccessArticle

Eroding Land and Erasing Place: A Qualitative Study of Place Attachment, Risk Perception, and Coastal Land Loss in Southern Louisiana

and

Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6269; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116269 - 01 Jun 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2573

Abstract

Southern Louisiana and its coastal bayous are sites of both frequent flooding and rapid coastal land loss, exacerbated by the increasing effects of climate change. Though much work has examined flood risk perceptions in coastal areas, few studies have considered the qualitative and contextual dimensions of perceptions of coastal land loss and its associated impacts, and how these perceptions relate to local culture, place, and intentions to mitigate personal exposure to risk. We conducted six focus groups in areas with distinct exposure to coastal land loss. Participants expressed strong attachment to community, culture, and place. Personal ties to land loss through family or social connections, experiences with fishing and water-based activities, and indirect impacts on Louisiana’s seafood industry and cuisine provided a lens for understanding the immediate impacts of coastal land loss. Participants felt that exposure to the risks of land loss was inevitable and that mitigation was beyond individual efforts, a feeling that manifested both as pessimism and as a resilient focus on collective action. Considering state history with political corruption, participants generally distrusted state-level mitigation initiatives. These findings shed light on the qualitative dimensions of coastal land loss perceptions in southern Louisiana and their relation to place attachment, mitigation intentions, and sources of risk information. While participants with personal ties to risk report feelings of exposure and inevitability, they are also embedded in communities with strong ties to place. This nuance only complicates the meanings that individuals associate with land loss and the actions that they are motivated to take; impacts of coastal land loss on the landscape and distinct place characteristics of southern Louisiana may lead to significant disruption to identity and well-being, but also provide a pathway for risk awareness and potential motivation of collective mitigation actions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Coastal Residents in Adapting to Climate Change: Social, Political, Cultural and Economic Dimensions)

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Review

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Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Understanding Preferences for Coastal Climate Change Adaptation: A Systematic Literature Review

and

Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8594; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158594 - 01 Aug 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2601

Abstract

Lack of public support for coastal adaptation can present significant barriers for implementation. In response, policy makers and academics are seeking strategies to build public support for coastal adaptation, which requires a deeper understanding of peoples’ preferences for coastal adaptation and what motives those preferences. Here, we conduct a systematic literature review to understand preferences for coastal adaptation options and the factors influencing these preferences. Ninety peer-reviewed publications meet the inclusion criteria. The findings revealed that hard protection options were often the most frequently preferred, likely due to a desire to maintain current shoreline, for the protection of recreational spaces and private property, and a perceived effectiveness of hard protection options. Soft protection, including nature-based approaches, accommodation, and no action were the next most preferred options. Finally, retreat options were the least preferred, often due to strong place attachment. We identify twenty-eight factors that could influence preferences, with risk perception, place attachment, and financial considerations occurring most frequently in the literature. In the conclusion, we outline the most significant research gaps identified from our analysis and discuss the implication for adaptation research and practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Coastal Residents in Adapting to Climate Change: Social, Political, Cultural and Economic Dimensions)

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