Climate adaptation at what scale? Multi-level governance, resilience, and coproduction in Saint Louis, Senegal

Abstract

This paper utilizes a multi-level governance framework to explain how and at what scale climate adaptation, exemplified by flood risk management, was governed in the medium-scale city of Saint Louis, Senegal. It explores how this policy sector worked toward a ''resilient city'' pointing to gaps between governance as prescribed and as practiced. The paper suggests that strong coordination of climate change adaptation and flood risk management should take place at city level, reflecting the ''place-based'' character of these policy sectors. However, adaptation cannot be addressed successfully at any single geographic scale or by any one category of actor. Effective collaboration across politico-administrative boundaries at multiple scales is required in order to address tensions between competing policy agendas and tackle socio-spatial inequality and vulnerability. We found that public officials at the city and regional state level encouraged some degree of citizen participation in planning and input into adaptation. However, despite emerging networks for city-level coordination and capacity to adapt to flood risks among local residents, there were limitations in how higher-level government and institutions supported the lower levels in vertical and horizontal coordination. In particular, services and investments within poor and vulnerable settlements were lacking. This undermined the capability of municipal staff for local engagement and for diverse groups of residents to become really effective partners with the government in coproducing services required to enhance resilience. More so, it limited opportunities to bring local actions to scalebeyond the city boundaries and toward transitional adaptation and transformation.

Community Resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaption: Learning with Coastal Communities in Central Vietnam

“…In brief, discussions with Tuong Van residents and governmental staff revealed weak collaboration among actors across multiple levels, which in turn limited efforts to reduce climate risks at the community level over the last three decades. These findings not only add to the knowledge about shortcomings of weak collaboration on climate risk management, but also support a growing body of research that highlights the importance of strong collaboration in producing mutual and collective supports to address complex issues stemming from a changing climate (Djalante et al 2013, Vedeld et al 2015.…”

“…Research elsewhere concluded weak coordination as a critical barrier to climate risk management (Vedeld et al 2015). For example, devastating losses from the 2005 Hurricane Katrina resulted from the disarray in emergency management systems (Waugh Jr and Straib 2006).…”

“…In contrast, strong coordination could provide various benefits to the efforts to reduce climate risks. For instance, coordination amongst actors across multiple levels could reduce overlaps of mandates and promote collaboration among actors in design and implementation of DRR and CCA policies (Djalante et al 2013, Vedeld et al 2015). Experiences shared by Tuong Van villagers and staff from Quang Tri governmental agencies not only demonstrated weak coordination across multiple scales as a barrier to CR and the success of DRR and CCA efforts, but also supported research that highlight the importance of strong coordination in climate risk management.…”

Measuring Subjective Flood Resilience in Suburban Dakar: a before-after Evaluation of the “Live with Water” Project

“…As a matter of fact in other sub-Saharan countries, our results suggest the project-based interventions such as the LWW programme tend to put more emphasis on short-term impacts on absorptive capacity aspects, while adaptive and anticipatory capacity components require longerterm approaches to be consolidated [11,22,43]. This explains why their effects are difficult to appreciate in the longer term, especially because monitoring of impacts usually end with the interventions themselves in such international programmes.…”

Integrated modelling of urban spatial development under uncertain climate futures: A case study in Hungary

“…required at regional to local levels to tackle 'vulnerability hotspots' where climate change impacts are particularly significant (Rannow et al, 2010). The capacity of, and interplay between, regional and local level institutions often plays a role in the functioning of multilevel governance and actions to promote such targeted policy (Hanssen et al, 2013;Vedeld et al, 2016). These considerations have resulted in a rapidly growing number of initiatives to develop lower level climate change responses, e.g., the 'Mayors Adapt' (http://mayors-adapt.eu/) and the '100 Resilient Cities initiative' (http://www.100resilientcities.org/).…”