Community engagement on adaptation: Meeting a growing capacity need

Climate change adaptation - to be politically feasible and socially acceptable - will not happen without broad public support. Yet, to date, the public has been barely engaged in finding effective solutions. Municipal and county staff, as well as community organizations that have taken the lead to date with climate planning, list building political and public support as one of the greatest barriers they face. As climate change impacts increase, and as adaptation measures move from the planning to the implementation stage, those affected by climate risks and adaptation strategies cannot be ignored. The community level is where climate change impacts manifest, where appropriate solutions are needed, and where synergies and trade-offs between mitigation and adaptation, and between climate and nonclimate-policy choices play out. It is in specific locales where people live with the consequences of adaptation choices, and where a sense of place can be a motivation or hindrance to action. Local adaptation experts face a growing need to build capacity in effective stakeholder engagement in responding to climate impacts yet opportunities for doing so have been limited to date. This critical gap must be filled and training programs rapidly brought to scale for adaptation efforts to advance successfully.