Abstract
Adapting to the impacts of climate change is such an all-encompassing problem that it is beyond the capacity of the entire public sector, let alone a single local government or agency. If a policy is to be effective, it will therefore need to constructively empower the local community to participate in building its own resilience . This chapter is based on a synthesis of findings from three research projects that were conducted over the last fifteen years and included comparative case studies from Australia , the USA, and the UK. A three-step policy proposal is derived from this synthesis that uses climate change knowledge to inform, engage, and support democratic local community-based adaptation. It entails the strategic use of the Internet, public participation events, and targeted local community grants. If adopted, this three-step policy could help to develop effective, efficient, and appropriate adaptation responses that tackle some of the unique challenges inherent in applying climate change knowledge by empowering local communities.
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Notes
- 1.
The author would like to thank the following colleagues for their collaboration on the later stages of this project: Peter Thorning (Queensland Department of Environment) and Professor Jago Dodson (RMIT, Australia), as well as Dr. Deanna Tomerini, Dr. Leila Eslami-Endargoli, and Dr. Johanna Nalau (Mustelin) at Griffith University. This research was funded by Griffith University and the Commonwealth Department of Environment.
- 2.
The author would like to thank Dr. Peter Tangney (Flinders University, Australia) who undertook much of this research as part of his PhD and his co-supervisor Associate Professor Michael Heazle (Griffith University, Australia). The research was supported by funding from Griffith University and the Commonwealth Government of Australia.
- 3.
The author would like to thank his research team for this project: Dr. Deanna Grant-Smith (Queensland University of Technology, Australia), Dr. Kimberly Reis (Griffith University, Australia), Dr. Peter Tangney (Flinders University, Australia), Associate Professor Michael Heazle (Griffith University, Australia), Professor Darren McEvoy (RMIT, Australia), Dr. Karen Bosomworth (RMIT, Australia), and Professor Paul Burton (Griffith University, Australia). This project was funded by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Griffith University, and the Queensland Department of Community Safety.
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Acknowledgements
The research on which this chapter is based was funded by the Australian government, the Queensland government, and Griffith University, Australia. The opinions expressed in this chapter are those of the author alone and do not represent those of any of the funding organizations nor the named coresearchers.
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Howes, M. (2018). Transforming Climate Change Policymaking: From Informing to Empowering the Local Community. In: Serrao-Neumann, S., Coudrain, A., Coulter, L. (eds) Communicating Climate Change Information for Decision-Making. Springer Climate. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74669-2_10
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