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An integrated framework for assessing coastal community vulnerability across cultures, oceans and scales

An integrated framework for assessing coastal community vulnerability across cultures, oceans and scales
An integrated framework for assessing coastal community vulnerability across cultures, oceans and scales

Coastal communities are some of the most at-risk populations with respect to climate change impacts. It is therefore important to determine the vulnerability of such communities to co-develop viable adaptation options. Global efforts to address this issue include international scientific projects, such as Global Learning for Local Solutions (GULLS), which focuses on five fast warming regions of the southern hemisphere and aims to provide an understanding of the local scale processes influencing community vulnerability that can then be up-scaled to regional, country and global levels. This paper describes the development of a new social and ecological vulnerability framework which integrates exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity with the social livelihoods and food security approaches. It also measures community flexibility to understand better the adaptive capacity of different levels of community organization. The translation of the conceptual framework to an implementable method is described and its application in a number of “hotspot” countries, where ocean waters are warming faster than the rest of the world, is presented. Opportunities for cross-cultural comparisons to uncover similarities and differences in vulnerability and adaptation patterns among the study’s coastal communities, which can provide accelerated learning mechanisms to other coastal regions, are highlighted. The social and ecological framework and the associated survey approach allow for future integration of local-level vulnerability data with ecological and oceanographic models.

adaptation framework, climate change, coastal communities, marine hotspots, social vulnerability
1756-5529
1-18
Aswani, S.
1a174367-e616-480a-b92f-40e95c7c9bf6
Howard, J.A.E.
9b05105d-997a-4932-b896-2136bb2567e5
Gasalla, M.A.
c0a79f09-6bc2-4c8e-9e78-9b1a2b911723
Jennings, S.
8af80c00-451e-42ad-a398-5cbd34656ed6
Malherbe, W.
f14d9f9a-7d1f-4838-a98c-ca8363acdbf9
Martins, I.M.
597109bb-5521-447a-b152-becf055f5fc8
Salim, S.S.
ee2bd022-6b45-4459-bd51-91219b74d7e8
Van Putten, I.E.
2660709f-156a-4cd1-83d6-6b098f042bdc
Swathilekshmi, P.S.
39f505ff-ad40-4111-a718-2c18ce9f78ba
Narayanakumar, R.
d3dded90-0f47-4593-b40b-474ad247eaab
Watmough, G.R.
6ed84a4f-0106-4665-b810-4fa71baefb8c
Aswani, S.
1a174367-e616-480a-b92f-40e95c7c9bf6
Howard, J.A.E.
9b05105d-997a-4932-b896-2136bb2567e5
Gasalla, M.A.
c0a79f09-6bc2-4c8e-9e78-9b1a2b911723
Jennings, S.
8af80c00-451e-42ad-a398-5cbd34656ed6
Malherbe, W.
f14d9f9a-7d1f-4838-a98c-ca8363acdbf9
Martins, I.M.
597109bb-5521-447a-b152-becf055f5fc8
Salim, S.S.
ee2bd022-6b45-4459-bd51-91219b74d7e8
Van Putten, I.E.
2660709f-156a-4cd1-83d6-6b098f042bdc
Swathilekshmi, P.S.
39f505ff-ad40-4111-a718-2c18ce9f78ba
Narayanakumar, R.
d3dded90-0f47-4593-b40b-474ad247eaab
Watmough, G.R.
6ed84a4f-0106-4665-b810-4fa71baefb8c

Aswani, S., Howard, J.A.E., Gasalla, M.A., Jennings, S., Malherbe, W., Martins, I.M., Salim, S.S., Van Putten, I.E., Swathilekshmi, P.S., Narayanakumar, R. and Watmough, G.R. (2018) An integrated framework for assessing coastal community vulnerability across cultures, oceans and scales. Climate and Development, 1-18. (doi:10.1080/17565529.2018.1442795).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Coastal communities are some of the most at-risk populations with respect to climate change impacts. It is therefore important to determine the vulnerability of such communities to co-develop viable adaptation options. Global efforts to address this issue include international scientific projects, such as Global Learning for Local Solutions (GULLS), which focuses on five fast warming regions of the southern hemisphere and aims to provide an understanding of the local scale processes influencing community vulnerability that can then be up-scaled to regional, country and global levels. This paper describes the development of a new social and ecological vulnerability framework which integrates exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity with the social livelihoods and food security approaches. It also measures community flexibility to understand better the adaptive capacity of different levels of community organization. The translation of the conceptual framework to an implementable method is described and its application in a number of “hotspot” countries, where ocean waters are warming faster than the rest of the world, is presented. Opportunities for cross-cultural comparisons to uncover similarities and differences in vulnerability and adaptation patterns among the study’s coastal communities, which can provide accelerated learning mechanisms to other coastal regions, are highlighted. The social and ecological framework and the associated survey approach allow for future integration of local-level vulnerability data with ecological and oceanographic models.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 15 December 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 3 April 2018
Keywords: adaptation framework, climate change, coastal communities, marine hotspots, social vulnerability

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 422500
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/422500
ISSN: 1756-5529
PURE UUID: 280f50a9-95d7-4ae6-83c9-649a5bdd057c

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Date deposited: 24 Jul 2018 16:31
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 19:27

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Contributors

Author: S. Aswani
Author: J.A.E. Howard
Author: M.A. Gasalla
Author: S. Jennings
Author: W. Malherbe
Author: I.M. Martins
Author: S.S. Salim
Author: I.E. Van Putten
Author: P.S. Swathilekshmi
Author: R. Narayanakumar
Author: G.R. Watmough

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