Studies exploring climate change adaptation in the private sector have seldom investigated the effect of business network interactions on climate vulnerability and adaptation outcomes. This paper proposes a novel theoretical framework to explore how business-network dynamics affect risk perceptions and adaptive behaviours in business firms. The framework is empirically grounded in a comparative analysis of business-network dynamics from three agricultural value chains in Jamaica that are vulnerable to climate change impacts. The results illustrate how the exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of value chain actors are influenced by business interdependencies and interfirm relationships. We find that the level of formality of business exchanges (contractual or noncontractual), the level of resource interdependency, and the ability to diversify access channels to critical resources can influence the propagation of climate-related risks and influence actors' exposure and sensitivity to those risks. The study also offers evidence of the role played by bonding and bridging relational ties on adaptive capacity. The framework and findings provide a foundation for a new research agenda exploring a relational view of firm adaptation strategy in response to climate risks.

This paper describes the findings of a novel participatory geographic information systems (PGISs) methodology designed to support vulnerability and disaster risk management (DRM) efforts in small Caribbean communities. The methodology combines community vulnerability mapping with geo-referenced household data through a step-by-step approach to record information on household vulnerability and community hazards. We used "partial" PGIS to demonstrate the benefits of implementing a participatory mapping technique with an external facilitator who undertook the technical geographic information system aspects of the mapping process. Results show that as a tool for knowledge co-production and stakeholder engagement, PGIS can be useful to record local spatial knowledge on vulnerability and hazards whilst supporting the development of risk and vulnerability reduction measures. By helping community members understand and manage vulnerability, this approach has the potential to become an important mechanism to support vulnerability reduction and DRM strategies in small Caribbean communities. Following the approach described in this paper, similar activities can be easily replicated in other parts of the world.

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In advancing relational understandings of resilience and adaptive capacity, this paper explores how business networks influence value chain climate resilience and the ability of small businesses to adapt to climate change. The relationship between value chain network attributes (i.e. connectivity and an actor's centrality) and indicators of value chain resilience (e.g. information sharing, flexibility and redundancy) is investigated through the analysis of qualitative data derived from field interviews and from the quantitative assessment of network metrics characterising information, financial and material flows of three agricultural value chains in Jamaica. The study illustrates how network analysis offers a systematic approach for understanding value chain resilience and the adaptive capacity of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and supports strategy development in business value chains. The study concludes that mixed-methods networked approaches provide valid methods for exploring a relational understanding of climate resilience in value chains, opening up new research opportunities for scholars interested in private sector climate adaptation.