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The Role of Ecosystem-based Adaptation in the Swiss Mountains

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Climate Change Adaptation Strategies – An Upstream-downstream Perspective

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Abstract

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) to climate change addresses the links between ecosystem services, climate change adaptation and sustainable resource management. This study explores the role of EbA in the mountain areas of Switzerland by looking at existing and potential EbA interventions, their effectiveness, opportunities and challenges. It analyses the Swiss policy context and how this can be conductive to EbA. EbA interventions in the Swiss mountains are identified in the area of disaster risk management, water management and agriculture. The research highlights some characteristics of these interventions. Challenges and opportunities of EbA are attributed in general to knowledge, acceptance and socio-economic factors. The Swiss policy context appears to be poorly conductive to EbA, with the Swiss adaptation strategy promoting sectoral approaches at the expense of more integrative interventions. The role of new cross-sectoral institutions in the form of boundary organisations is suggested as a way to better integrate EbA into Swiss policy and practice.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.cbd.int/ecosystem/description.shtml.

  2. 2.

    http://www.cbd.int/climate/doc/cop-10-dec-33-en.pdf.

  3. 3.

    The Swiss political system is organised as a federal parlamentary republic consisting of 26 Cantons (e.g. equivalent of states).

  4. 4.

    More details about NVivo and its features can be found here: http://www.qsrinternational.com/.

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Acknowledgments

The elaboration of this article has been supported by the University Research Priority Program on Global Change and Biodiversity (URPP GCB) of the University of Zurich and by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). We acknowledge contribution of all our informants for the interesting information they provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland

    Veruska Muccione

  2. Centre for Development, Environment and Policy (CeDEP), SOAS, University of London, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG, UK

    Ben Daley

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  1. Veruska Muccione
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Correspondence to Veruska Muccione .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland

    Nadine Salzmann

  2. Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Christian Huggel

  3. Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Samuel U. Nussbaumer

  4. Department of Environmental & Geographical Science and African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Gina Ziervogel

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Muccione, V., Daley, B. (2016). The Role of Ecosystem-based Adaptation in the Swiss Mountains. In: Salzmann, N., Huggel, C., Nussbaumer, S., Ziervogel, G. (eds) Climate Change Adaptation Strategies – An Upstream-downstream Perspective. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40773-9_9

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