Institutionalising Community-based Adaptation in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This article reflects on policy-relevant lessons learned through participatory action research to enable community-based adaptation in four community settings in the Manawatü-Whanganui and Taranaki regions of Aotearoa New Zealand. Each setting is distinctive, with specific insights relevant for institutionalising community-based adaptation. Here, we focus on ten overarching policy- and practice-relevant lessons based on our reflections on working with these communities. Adaptation is ultimately a pact-making process which begins with community mobilisation, before proceeding to building shared understanding about risk, identifying plausible adaptation responses and pathways, and negotiating institutionalisation of adaptation actions as an integral part of ongoing, reflexive community-based adaptation.