Overcoming knowledge barriers to adaptation using a decision support framework

Abstract

A decision support and information delivery framework, CoastAdapt, has been built to support the coastal adaptation community in Australia to take action to address climate change and sea-level rise. For such frameworks to be useful, used and long-lived, their development requires collaboration between creators and potential users. Therefore, we undertook extensive consultation throughout the design, build and evaluation. In this paper, we explore those aspects of the consultation that focused on understanding and addressing user needs and how CoastAdapt could best provide support to effectively carry out adaptation planning and action. The first step was to identify, through an online survey and workshops, the knowledge gaps and barriers that could be addressed by CoastAdapt. The responses fed into the design and build, together with additional feedback from users on the layout and content. Following release of the beta version, further comments from users were collected and scrutinised to identify modifications that could increase relevance and utility. Finally, test cases were carried out to understand whether CoastAdapt is truly fit for purpose in addressing 'real-world' adaptation situations. The end result is a supportive framework for coastal adaptation that will require constant monitoring and updating to ensure it remains fit for purpose given Australia's rapidly evolving adaptation landscape.Climatic Change

A three-tier risk assessment process for climate change adaptation at a local scale

“…NCCARF partnered with NQA to test the extent to which the three-tiered risk assessment process, CoastAdapt data and guidance could help NQA understand their climate change-related risks. A project facilitator was engaged (Palutikof et al 2019c) and, to begin the process, helped NQA conduct a first-pass risk screening using existing national and CoastAdapt datasets, guidelines and templates. This identified major potential issues for both airports to 2030 and 2050 under a high-emission scenario (e.g.…”

“…Particularly, at the second and third tiers of assessment, the services of an independent workshop facilitator are likely to improve outcomes (see Box 1). The advantages of this are outlined by Palutikof et al (2019c).…”

“…Second, following completion and release of CoastAdapt, a number of test cases were carried out (Palutikof et al 2019c). These were 6-week projects to explore an adaptation problem, undertaken by local municipalities, infrastructure operators and businesses such as aquaculture companies.…”

CoastAdapt: an adaptation decision support framework for Australia’s coastal managers

“…We undertook a number of activities to understand what was wanted from CoastAdapt in terms of content and mode of delivery. These included a national meeting, 13 regional workshops in all state capitals and some large regional centres, and an online survey (Leitch et al submitted;Palutikof et al 2018). Letters were sent to all coastal local councils in Australia to inform them of opportunities to participate, and activities were publicised through the NCCARF website and newsletter.…”

“…Following initial user consultation (Leitch et al submitted;Palutikof et al 2018), and at the point where we had a clear idea of the likely content to be carried in CoastAdapt and an outline structure of how this content might fit together, external consultants were hired to perform user experience design and testing of the website structure. NCCARF used external consultants because of a lack of in-house expertise in this specialised area.…”