Exploring the factors and actors that contribute to the co-production of climate adaptation plans: a comparison of three municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorZiervogel, Ginaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDavies, Juliaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-16T13:42:25Z
dc.date.available2017-01-16T13:42:25Z
dc.date.issued2016en_ZA
dc.description.abstractLocal governments are increasingly responding to climate change by developing formal institutions for adaptation. However, given the relative novelty of the adaptation planning field, there is insufficient practice-related research to inform these processes. The aim of this dissertation is therefore to assess the factors and actors that affect climate adaptation planning at the municipal level. Whilst numerous studies have identified the barriers to and opportunities for adaptation, less is known about what the underlying institutional, political and social conditions are that cause these factors to arise. This dissertation adopts a placebased perspective to comparatively analyse the adaptation planning processes that were undertaken in the Bergrivier, Drakenstein and Eden Municipalities between 2012 -2013, under sponsorship from the Western Cape Government's Climate Change Municipal Support Programme (CCMSP). The CCMSP upholds an ethos of participation and multistakeholder engagement, and the theoretical concepts of knowledge co-production and collaborative governance are therefore drawn on as a framing device to guide the analysis. The results highlight the various factors that can inhibit the success of collaborative adaptation planning in municipalities, as well as the multiple opportunities that exist to overcome or avoid these barriers. The barriers that emerged most strongly included: the prioritisation of local socio-economic development needs, restricted financial and human capacity resources, information and time constraints, an absence of mandatory legislation, a lack of political will to prioritise adaptation, limited cross-sectoral integration, poor representation and continuity at multi-stakeholder workshops, unclear employee roles within an organisation, strong power dynamics and misrepresented perceptions around compound environmental, climate change and development issues. The most prominent opportunities that were found for overcoming these barriers included: sound leadership from driven local champions, locating champions in departments other than, or in addition to, environmental departments, the presence of political will and support for the adaptation agenda, drawing on and/or building relationships and networks to co-explore and co-produce knowledge and policy, embracing experimentation and innovation, using informal communication channels, finding alternative devices through which to frame climate change and mainstreaming adaptation into overall municipal planning. Whilst some of the barriers and opportunities that were identified were common across the three case studies, others were specifically related to causes internal to the municipal environment and were thus highly context-specific. In light of these findings, the dissertation concludes that future municipal adaptation planning processes should focus on addressing the need for strong political will and effective local leadership, remain cognizant of the municipal context, call attention to the invisible factors that influence municipal climate governance, capitalize on opportunities for partnership-building, view adaptation as an iterative process rather than an end-point and embrace a flexible, 'learning by doing' approach.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationDavies, J. (2016). <i>Exploring the factors and actors that contribute to the co-production of climate adaptation plans: a comparison of three municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22720en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationDavies, Julia. <i>"Exploring the factors and actors that contribute to the co-production of climate adaptation plans: a comparison of three municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22720en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationDavies, J. 2016. Exploring the factors and actors that contribute to the co-production of climate adaptation plans: a comparison of three municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Davies, Julia AB - Local governments are increasingly responding to climate change by developing formal institutions for adaptation. However, given the relative novelty of the adaptation planning field, there is insufficient practice-related research to inform these processes. The aim of this dissertation is therefore to assess the factors and actors that affect climate adaptation planning at the municipal level. Whilst numerous studies have identified the barriers to and opportunities for adaptation, less is known about what the underlying institutional, political and social conditions are that cause these factors to arise. This dissertation adopts a placebased perspective to comparatively analyse the adaptation planning processes that were undertaken in the Bergrivier, Drakenstein and Eden Municipalities between 2012 -2013, under sponsorship from the Western Cape Government's Climate Change Municipal Support Programme (CCMSP). The CCMSP upholds an ethos of participation and multistakeholder engagement, and the theoretical concepts of knowledge co-production and collaborative governance are therefore drawn on as a framing device to guide the analysis. The results highlight the various factors that can inhibit the success of collaborative adaptation planning in municipalities, as well as the multiple opportunities that exist to overcome or avoid these barriers. The barriers that emerged most strongly included: the prioritisation of local socio-economic development needs, restricted financial and human capacity resources, information and time constraints, an absence of mandatory legislation, a lack of political will to prioritise adaptation, limited cross-sectoral integration, poor representation and continuity at multi-stakeholder workshops, unclear employee roles within an organisation, strong power dynamics and misrepresented perceptions around compound environmental, climate change and development issues. The most prominent opportunities that were found for overcoming these barriers included: sound leadership from driven local champions, locating champions in departments other than, or in addition to, environmental departments, the presence of political will and support for the adaptation agenda, drawing on and/or building relationships and networks to co-explore and co-produce knowledge and policy, embracing experimentation and innovation, using informal communication channels, finding alternative devices through which to frame climate change and mainstreaming adaptation into overall municipal planning. Whilst some of the barriers and opportunities that were identified were common across the three case studies, others were specifically related to causes internal to the municipal environment and were thus highly context-specific. In light of these findings, the dissertation concludes that future municipal adaptation planning processes should focus on addressing the need for strong political will and effective local leadership, remain cognizant of the municipal context, call attention to the invisible factors that influence municipal climate governance, capitalize on opportunities for partnership-building, view adaptation as an iterative process rather than an end-point and embrace a flexible, 'learning by doing' approach. DA - 2016 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2016 T1 - Exploring the factors and actors that contribute to the co-production of climate adaptation plans: a comparison of three municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa TI - Exploring the factors and actors that contribute to the co-production of climate adaptation plans: a comparison of three municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22720 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/22720
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationDavies J. Exploring the factors and actors that contribute to the co-production of climate adaptation plans: a comparison of three municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, 2016 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22720en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Environmental and Geographical Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherClimate Change and Sustainable Developmenten_ZA
dc.titleExploring the factors and actors that contribute to the co-production of climate adaptation plans: a comparison of three municipalities in the Western Cape Province, South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
thesis_sci_2016_davies_julia (1).pdf
Size:
1.93 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
Collections
Masters