The problem of fit: : scenario planning and climate change adaptation in the public sector

• Autores: Lauren Rickards, John Wiseman, Taegen Edwards, Che Biggs
• Localización: Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, ISSN-e 1472-3425, Vol. 32, Nº. 4, 2014, págs. 641-662
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Adapting to climate change is a new responsibility for state and local government. Yet there is little clarity about what is involved, beyond an expectation of acting in a rational, informed manner. This paper presents a study from Victoria, Australia into public servants� perceptions and experiences of using scenario techniques for adaptation. It suggests that while scenario development is often positive for those involved, utilising scenarios to directly �inform� adaptation decision making is more difficult. It seems that scenarios are a valuable but awkward form of evidence in the contemporary environment of evidence-based adaptation, introducing new substantive knowledge in an unfamiliar form, easily dismissed on credibility, legitimacy, and salience grounds. While scenario thinking is a good fit with climate change adaptation, it clashes with the predictive paradigm underlying the evidence-based decision-making model. This suggests that, for adaptation to better fit the institutional environment, alterations to the latter are needed.