ADAPT-LOCKIN Climate adaptation policy lock-ins: A 3 x 3 approach
Humangeographie
Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse
Adapt Lock-in examined the extent to which current adaptation gaps can be attributed to underlying lock-in dynamics. The research investigated the lock-in dynamics observed in Germany, the UK (England), and the Netherlands across six problem domains, where adaptation is constrained to different degrees – these include coastal adaptation, water resource management, forestry, biodiversity, mental health and heatwave adaptation. Analysing lock-ins. Many barriers and challenges to implementing adaptation agendas have been documented, including resource constraints, absence of leadership, fragmented governance, suboptimal incentive structures, institutional cultures and gaps in the evidence. The lock-in perspective introduces a new way of examining the adaptation gap: by understanding deeper causal processes that can reinforce the status quo, maintain ‘business as usual’ and constrain adaptation decisions. Central to this approach is the process of identifying mechanisms - propositions about cause and effect - to explain how and why a certain outcome was produced. Mechanisms describe how different parts of the story fit together and operate in a self-reinforcing way through positive feedback effects. Lock-ins are identified by the presence of these self-reinforcing dynamics (forged through one or more mechanisms), which stabilise a specific path and create resistance to change. Lock-in dynamics can be intentional or unintentional, and desirable or undesirable; however, in the context of climate adaptation we are particularly interested in the undesirable lock-ins and how we might ‘unlock’ these to accelerate adaptation. The value of the lock-in approach: Improved understanding – The lock-in approach improves our understanding of how and why adaptation (non)responses to climate change are designed and implemented. It takes us beyond simply describing barriers and draws attention to the complex dynamics at play. Identifying and explaining how different types of mechanisms - including institutional, behavioural, infrastructural and technological - interact and change over time, helps us to understand how and why resistance to adaptation continues. Opportunities for 'unlocking' and accelerating transformative change – The ability to identify where lock-ins exist, and why, is crucial for targeting and tailoring interventions to overcome adaptation deficits. The lock-in approach could be used to help anticipate and prevent detrimental lock-ins from occurring in the future and locking-out maladaptive pathways. It can also help reveal opportunities for transformative change and specific ‘unlocking’ mechanisms.
Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)
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Lock-Ins in Climate Adaptation Governance. Adaptiveness: Changing Earth System Governance, 127-146. Cambridge University Press.
Siebenhüner, Bernd; Grothmann, Torsten; Huitema, Dave; Oels, Angela; Rayner, Tim & Turnpenny, John
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New challenges and established policy fields – Assessing stability and change in climate adaptation policy through a lock-in perspective / Neue Herausforderungen in etablierten Politikfeldern – Eine Analyse von Stabilität und Wandel in der Klimaanpassungspolitik anhand einer Lock-in-Perspektive. dms – der moderne staat – Zeitschrift für Public Policy, Recht und Management, 15(2), 394-412.
Jager, Nicolas W.; King, Julie & Siebenhüner, Bernd
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Re-examining policy stability in climate adaptation through a lock-in perspective. Journal of European Public Policy, 30(3), 488-512.
Groen, Lisanne; Alexander, Meghan; King, Julie P.; Jager, Nicolas W. & Huitema, Dave
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Sixteen ways to adapt: a comparison of state-level climate change adaptation strategies in the federal states of Germany. Regional Environmental Change, 22(2).
King, Julie P.
