New Policy Approaches for Increasing Response to Climate Change in Small Rural Municipalities

Abstract

Although nearly half of the world population lives in rural small municipalities, research on climate change policy at this level is widely neglected. Frequently climate change adaptation is not a policy field in these small municipalities, which is both a problem and a risk. This paper aims at analyzing the climate policy of small and medium-sized local authorities with specific focus on adaptation. It presents results from a comprehensive survey among approximately 400 small municipalities in Bavaria, Germany. The study analyzes the perception of climate change risks and the perceived need for response, the fields of action, the triggering and influencing factors in the political process, and the people and bodies involved. Our findings reveal that in most cases small municipalities do not follow a strategic and holistic approach for climate change adaptation. Especially among small and very small municipalities, the study shows a gap between discussing climate change and setting up mitigation or adaptation measures. In conclusion, we present three policy implications for increasing the adaptive capacity of small municipalities. These address the increase of awareness of adaptation needs, effective management structures and the mandatory integration of a climate strategy into the long-term local political agenda.

Population mobility and sustainable development in the Mamminasata Metropolitan South Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…The polarization of socioeconomic activities in line with urban agglomeration impacts population mobility and circular migration. Furthermore, the effect of population mobility, of "chasing" in low urbanisation areas, is greater than the effects of agglomeration in high urbanisation areas, which promotes sustainable convergence of urbanisation between regions (Bausch & Koziol, 2020).…”

The diffusion of climate change adaptation policy

“…These initiatives typically see knowledge exchange as one of their core missions (see Box 1). In Germany, Bausch and Koziol (2020) found that participation in municipal networks was one of the…”

“…For instance, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its 2015 Paris Agreement “rel[y] on soft instruments and mechanisms, such as learning and mimicry, and so seek […] a gradual diffusion of adaptation across space and time” (Lesnikowski et al, 2017, p. 828). Many scholars have indeed begun to detect evidence of the growing spread of adaptation policies at various levels of governance, including the municipal level (Aguiar et al, 2018; Bausch & Koziol, 2020; Hunt & Watkiss, 2011; Otto et al, 2021; Reckien et al, 2014), the subnational or state level (Rai, 2020), the national level (Massey et al, 2014), the international level (Dellmuth & Gustafsson, 2021; Remling, 2018), and combinations thereof (Tompkins et al, 2010). In so doing, adaptation scholarship frequently engages with the established diffusion mechanisms implicitly and partially, rather than explicitly and systematically with support of the available theoretical diffusion perspectives—a gap that we begin to address with this review.…”

Revitalization of Public Spaces in Cittaslow Towns: Recent Urban Redevelopment in Central Europe

“…Recent trends in revitalization policies take into account the need to apply naturebased solutions [70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78], as critical components of sustainability transitions [71], climate change mitigation, and adaptation strategies [79][80][81][82][83][84], important also for small municipalities [85][86][87][88][89][90]. The benefits of nature-based solutions are still not recognized enough in urban planning policies of cities [74].…”