Adaptation to Climate Change and Regional Planning: A Scrutiny of Sectoral Instruments

Abstract

Adaptation to climate change means adjustment of human and natural systems to climatic actual or expected events, in order to minimize damage or maximize benefit. Adaptation implies involvement, coordination, and cooperation of different actors and sectors. Multi-actor collaboration usually characterizes the drafting of regional plans, which act as bridges between national and local administrative levels. Regional administrations address resilience issues, through spatial planning processes. This study focuses on the regional plans adopted by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (Italy), south European Mediterranean region, an area that will be negatively affected by climate change in the coming decades. We aim at proposing a method for scrutinizing regional plans related to spatial planning issues, by using criteria rooted in the scientific literature and adaptation strategies. We found out that (i) the scientific literature did not sufficiently address the role of regional plans in the context of adaptation to climate change and (ii) the method proposed and applied in this study highlights whether some key adaptation issues are included in the plans, and might make aware planners and policy makers of basic information concerning the interplay ‘regional planning vs. adaptation to climate change’.

Green Infrastructure Planning Principles: An Integrated Literature Review

“…Using Scopus and Web of Science databases, the search query returned a total of 200 documents (at the time this research was conducted), which were then run through a screening and selection process (phase II). This process consisted of the development of specific criteria to scrutinize the papers and, thus, select only the relevant ones [66,73]. The titles, abstracts, and the full text of the resulting sample were screened for relevance according to the criteria presented in Table 1: (1) conceptual and empirical studies on green infrastructure planning practices; (2) inclusion of explicit or implicit green infrastructure planning principles.…”

Climate Change Vulnerability and Key Adaptation Trajectory of the Regional Economic System

“…Petzold et al studied the role of indigenous knowledge on climate change adaptation through a global evidence map of academic literature, and their results showed that there are adaptation knowledge gaps in northern and central Africa, South America, northern Asia, Australia, and urban areas [35]. Ledda et al found out that the current climate adaptation plan in many regions could not fully work because of failing to include key adaptation sectors and actions [36]. To design effective regional climate adaptation plan, decision-makers need a state-of-the-art, regional, and sector-specific knowledge [37].…”

Developing an Integrative Theoretical Framework for Climate Proofing Spatial Planning Across Sectors, Policy Levels and Planning Areas

“…Possibility of joint measures within similar legal structures/exchange of expertise on entry points for consideration of climate change adaptation [26] Non-harmonised or non-binding planning frameworks or strategies may impede integrative climate proofing [57], as well as lacking or diverging levels of detail within specific planning instruments [26], [59]…”

“…Shared cost burden, at least for parts of the risk assessment and adaptation process [48]; Possibility for efficient use of human and financial resources as well as space (in the case of multi-functional measures) [26] Uncertainties/ambiguities regarding cost sharing [48] and limited financial resources [59]; Different internal structures, hierarchies and responsibilities; Asymmetries in political commitment and cultures between different partners may impede uptake of administrative processes [57] This case study area approaches vertical and horizontal cooperation for climate proofing despite very heterogenic planning systems and institutional capacities through cooperation in the PGO. This creates a novel opportunity to develop and discuss a new, integrative planning framework for climate proofing across sectors, planning areas and policy levels that integrates this knowledge on potential barriers in order to enable planners to adequately address them early in the process.…”