Local reality and the climate change adaptation dilemma : beyond technical fixes and 'business as usual' : dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
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Date
2014
DOI
Open Access Location
Authors
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
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Massey University
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Abstract
Climatic
changes
are
being
recorded
and
experienced
and
coastal
communities
are
already
adversely
affected
with
impacts
projected
to
intensify
many
times
over
in
coming
decades.
Adaptation
is
embryonic
at
best
and
needs
to
take
place
in
the
face
of
already
diverse
and
contested
interests
presenting
coastal
communities
with
a
dilemma:
Well-‐intentioned
approaches
dressed
in
the
rhetoric
of
adaptation
(as
legislative
and
guidance
imperatives,
and
case
law)
are
compounding
existing
problems
by
fostering
unsustainable
and
maladaptative
development.
While
‘business
as
usual’
dominates,
the
need
for
an
overcoming
of
conventional
approaches
through
new
governance
modalities
has
never
been
more
urgent
and
will
become
increasingly
compelling
in
the
future.
This
thesis
focuses
on
New
Zealand’s
Coromandel
Peninsula
in
an
ethnographic
case
study
that
underscores
the
need
to
understand
the
messy
local
factors
and
power
networks
encasing
climate
change
adaptation
barriers
and
opportunities.
Drawing
upon
and
combining
insights
from
political
ecology
and
environmental
planning,
and
building
on
a
framework
to
diagnose
barriers
to
climate
change
adaptation,
this
research
discloses
an
urgent
need
for
adaptation
to
dismantle
currently
gridlocked
structures
and
evolve
from
persistent
technical
solutions,
particularly
against
the
background
of
coastal
erosion.
The
findings
show
that
adaptation
must
first
and
foremost
be
addressed
at
the
community
level
and
be
integral
to
creative
(environmental)
governance
approaches.
The
navigational
chart
for
overcoming
barriers
requires
a
new
view
of
the
complexities
involved
as
part
of
the
adaptation
processes.
Description
Keywords
Climate change, Coastal changes, Coastal communities, Coromandel peninsula, Climate change adaptation, Coastal erosion