Maps, laws and planning policy: Working with biophysical and spatial uncertainty in the case of sea level rise

Best Practices for Elevation-Based Assessments of Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Exposure

“…Le Cozannet et al (2015, 2017 and Stephens et al (2017) discuss the importance of considering uncertainties from all sources in assessments of sea-level change, but they do not specifically mention vertical uncertainty of topographic data used to map potential impact zones on the land surface. A number of studies address the effects of input elevation data uncertainty (Gesch, 2009;Kettle, 2012;Bell et al, 2014;Hinkel et al, 2014;Valentine, 2014) and conclude that higher resolution data with better vertical accuracy significantly improve assessment results. The choice of elevation model for an assessment study can also have a substantial effect on results owing to combined uncertainties of input datasets, especially elevation and population distribution (Lichter et al, 2011;Mondal and Tatem, 2012;Wolff et al, 2016).…”

Steering Social Outcomes in America’s Energy Heartland: State and Private Meta-Governance in the Marcellus Shale, Pennsylvania

“…100 Such actions can include exposing asymmetric power dynamics through new information, advocating changes to societal norms or government and industry policies or rules, mobilising new interest groups and coalitions, and generating other forms of countervailing power. 48,102,103 For example, in the Brazilian water management example, técnicos have been able to use climate information as leverage to curb both economic and political power within river basin committees. 90 Fung 104 also describes, for example, the generation of a 'civic immune system' whereby an ecology of transparency, accountability, and monitoring mechanisms and associations can monitor and disclose information to enhance democracy and seek to limit major abuses of power.…”

Risky spaces: Creating, contesting and communicating lines on environmental hazard maps

“…Although risk profiles vary widely between countries, the managerial approach is more consistent, commonly comprising an investment in science to build an evidence base for improving policy responses (UNISDR, ). It is in this context that hazard maps have become an important tool of government, used to help inform policy about which areas are most susceptible to hazards (Bell et al., ; Thompson, Lindsay, & Galliard, ), and to communicate this information to the public so that they too can make better‐informed decisions. Flood risk maps, for example, are now widespread, with national coverage required in the USA, Canada and in the European Union with the consequence that an increasingly sophisticated capacity for modelling and mapping has emerged (de Moel, Van Alphen, & Aerts, ; Landström, Whatmore, & Lane, ).…”

“…For government authorities, maps are often valued because they help project a sense of “objectivity and certitude” (Monmonier, , p. 373), since they are expected to have been compiled by experts in positions of trust. In the process, hazard maps become part of an instrumental, managerialist framework for managing risk and with this comes a responsibility regarding the quality of information and how it is used (Bell et al., ; Gustafson, ; Lane, ).…”

“…This emphasises citizen science and the contribution that lay knowledge can have in challenging, ground‐truthing or adding to expert knowledge (Hulme, ; Lane, ; Lane et al., ). Despite considerable progress in this area, long‐standing tensions remain: while scientists work with uncertainty and complexity, citizens and decision‐makers are often inclined to prefer certain or deterministic solutions (Bell et al., ; White & Haughton, ).…”