Time stories: Making sense of futures in anticipation of sea-level rise

Adjustment to predicted environmental change in a place requires people in that place to consider short- and long-term futures there. These futures are imagined with reference to pasts and presents, remembered and lived. This paper presents the stories-relating possible futures to pasts and presents-of residents in tiny, low-lying coastal communities in Gippsland East, Australia, as they make sense of the uncertain futures they may face. It identifies four time stories, about generational continuity, the temporariness of inundation, endurance and acceptance in older age, and the impermanence of infrastructure. It sets these alongside the time-based practices inherent in existing adaptation policies, which do not satisfy the demands for adaptation arising from residents' time stories. We suggest that understanding local residents' time stories can contribute to a better synchronisation in the timing of local adaptation policies.