Title: Mainstreaming action on climate change through participatory appraisal

Authors: Paul M. Weaver, Alex Haxeltine, Marleen Van De Kerkhof, J. David Tabara

Addresses: Wolfson Research Institute, University of Durham, UK. ' Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. ' Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ' Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain

Abstract: Climate change is a complex phenomenon. Responses in the form of decisions and actions on mitigation and adaptation measures, what balance among these should be preferred and how preferred options might be implemented are needed across many different levels in the governance structure and across many contexts of application. These will have to be developed from a very low starting position, often in conditions of ignorance of the urgency of the issues, uncertainty and dispute. If society is to respond effectively, climate change will need to be |mainstreamed| into routine forward planning and decision-making activities. We argue that this calls for a generic |capacity| that would be applicable across scales and contexts to explore responses. Most usefully, this should be built around principles of participation, experimentation and social learning, with appraisal conceptualised as an active process used instrumentally to transform the prospects for responding effectively to climate change.

Keywords: climate change; mitigation; adaptation; participatory appraisal; social learning; integrated sustainability assessment; ISA; MATISSE; adaptation strategies; mitigation strategies; ADAM; forward planning; decision-making.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISD.2006.012425

International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 2006 Vol.1 No.3, pp.238 - 259

Published online: 12 Feb 2007 *

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