How to create and preserve social capital in climate adaptation policies: A network approach

The processes and impacts of climate change require adaptation through what can be described as horizontal and vertical structures of actors' integration. In climate adaptation and natural resource management literature, this structural component is often related to social capital, which is defined in various ways but usually refers to a public good that is built and fostered within a network of social relations. While hypotheses about social capital in networks are well studied in network literature, here, I argue that they should be reflected and tested in the particular context of climate change adaptation policy. I ask: how do communities affected by climate change and the broad range of actors involved in the design of climate adaptation policies build social relationships? And, how do they manage to maintain those relations over time?To answer these questions, climate adaptation policies in six Swiss mountain regions are investigated via social network analysis. Hypotheses about the creation and preservation of weak versus strong ties under the particular setting of Swiss federalism and climate-affected local communities are tested. Results confirm that the creation of weak ties, such as one-way information transfer, can lead to the establishment of mutual collaboration relations over time. Such mutual and reciprocal relations can then more easily be activated by local communities to produce both short-term responses and long-term solutions to climate change impacts.