scholarly journals Challenges to Climate Planning in Rural Inland Florida and Recommendations for Future Actions

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lacey Anne Lingelbach
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Discussion Section ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Rural Florida ◽  
Investment Capacity ◽  
External Connections

Despite being farther away from direct impacts of sea-level rise, Florida’s rural inland localities, like those across the nation and world, can be as vulnerable to a changing climate as coastal ones. However, unlike their urban coastal peers, many have not addressed or acknowledged climate change. Few existing research projects have explored the reasons why. To begin filling the knowledge gap and understanding the complexities of the rural Florida climate story, this research aims to answer the question: What challenges are preventing rural inland communities in Florida from addressing climate change, and what do they need to overcome them? To characterize these obstacles and identify next steps, a combination of primary (i.e. surveys) and secondary sources from the author, government agencies, scientists, universities, and other expert organizations were analyzed holistically. The four challenges identified include: community sentiment, investment capacity, gaps in climate literacy, and external connections and coordination. These challenges are linked to numerous underlying issues characteristic of rural communities, such as socioeconomic levels, physical and social isolation, the availability of human capital, and cultural values and perceptions. Based on this information, the discussion section reviews how various stakeholders - local governments, community members, and external supporting agents - can actively curtail disparities in climate preparedness.

scholarly journals Addressing climate change from a social development approach: Small cities and rural communities’ adaptation and response to climate change in British Columbia, Canada

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Lynne Drolet ◽  
Tiffany Sampson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Small Cities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Development Approach ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Climate change is having a very real impact, affecting not only ecosystems but also the socio-economic systems of small cities and rural communities. Globally, climate change is a consequential concern, since it is contributing to an increase in global temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, raising sea levels, and natural hazards. Locally, the effects of climate change vary, depending upon the region, with communities experiencing the impacts of climate change differently and at various degrees. This article presents research findings from a study on climate change, disasters, and sustainable development that provide insight into the diverse perspectives of community members on climate change in six communities in the Interior and Northern regions of British Columbia, Western Canada. A common denominator between these six communities is how social development is being applied to address climate change. The concept of social development encompasses social and economic well-being. The social development approach involves processes, activities, and institutions working together to develop the social and economic capacities of individuals and communities. In particular, for social workers working with individuals, families, and communities impacted by climate change, the social development approach is effective in addressing social and economic needs. This article will examine the differing perspectives and attitudes of affected community members and the role of social development with respect to climate change adaptation and response. It will also provide suggestions on how social workers can support and apply the social development approach in communities experiencing the impacts of climate change.

scholarly journals An Integrated Assessment of Community Ecological Based Adaptation (CEBA) Options in Agriculture for Climate Change Adaptation, Resilience Building and Sustainability in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Central Zambia

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-80
Author(s):  
Stephen Chitengi Sakapaji
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Local People ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
Wide Range

Climate change remains a serious global problem posing a wide range of challenges and impacts which will likely hinder the attainment of the widely discussed sustainable development goals (SDGs). The impacts and threats from a changing climate have the potential to significantly impact all sectors of the global economy and will largely be multifaceted, multidimensional, and multi-sectoral. These adverse impacts will to a greater extent, be manifested at the local and community level where the adaptability capacity is weak and resources are scarce. In the last two decades, there has been growing support and evidence that suggests that local people and communities in partnership with their local governments and NGOs are undertaking community ecological based adaptation (CEBA) practices at both the local and community level which are enhancing their adaptability and resilience capacities to a changing climate. CEBA mechanisms are initiatives and practices that local and rural communities across the developing world are sometimes adopting in partnership with their local government and non-governmental organizations to adapt to a changing climate. However, over the years, these initiatives, experiments, and activities have been poorly actualized, communicated, and there is uncertainty on whether these practices and mechanisms are enhancing the adaptability and resilience capacities of the many poor people in these communities. It is from this background that this paper seeks to assess and analyze present and future climate change impacts on agriculture in Central Zambia and further seeks to appraise the effectiveness of CEBA mechanisms being adopted and utilized in this region. Using community assessment and rural appraisal tools this research paper found that indeed some CEBA practices are innovative and effective and are enhancing the adaptability and resilience of the local people in agriculture in this region. The paper recommends that the advancement, funding, and integration of innovative and effective CEBA practices with scientific knowledge and the ultimate replication and incorporation of these practices into developmental and climate change policies can be one of the most beneficial and effective ways for a sustainable, adaptive, and resilient agriculture sector in the face of a changing and unpredictable climate.

scholarly journals Battling the Tides of Climate Change: The Power of Intangible Cultural Resource Values to Bind Place Meanings in Vulnerable Historic Districts

Heritage ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malorey Henderson ◽  
Erin Seekamp
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Cultural Resources ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Adaptive Planning ◽  
Cultural Resource ◽  
Place Meanings

Climate change increases not only the vulnerability of cultural resources, but also the cultural values that are deeply embedded in cultural resources and landscapes. As such, heritage managers are faced with imminent preservation challenges that necessitate the consideration of place meanings during adaptation planning. This study explores how stakeholders perceive the vulnerability of the tangible aspects of cultural heritage, and how climate change impacts and adaptation strategies may alter the meanings and values that are held within those resources. We conducted semi-structured interviews with individuals with known connections to the historic buildings located within cultural landscapes on the barrier islands of Cape Lookout National Seashore in the United States (US). Our findings revealed that community members hold deep place connections, and that their cultural resource values are heavily tied to the concepts of place attachment (place identity and place dependence). Interviews revealed a general acceptance of the inevitability of climate impacts and a transition of heritage meanings from tangible resources to intangible values. Our findings suggest that in the context of climate change, it is important to consider place meanings alongside physical considerations for the planning and management of vulnerable cultural resources, affirming the need to involve community members and their intangible values into the adaptive planning for cultural resources.

scholarly journals The political ecology of stakeholder-driven climate change adaptation: Case study from Ntalale ward, Gwanda district, in Zimbabwe

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexio Mbereko ◽  
Moses J. Chimbari ◽  
Samson Mukaratirwa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Rainy Season ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Droughts And Floods ◽  
Set Up

Vulnerable rural communities face climate change-related shifts in rainfall patterns, particularly droughts and floods. The study investigated how Ntalale ward households in Gwanda district of Zimbabwe interpret climate change and adapt to its stressors in the context of the Zimbabwean political economy. Focus group discussions and interviews collected qualitative data. The community has experienced the following climate change-related risks: droughts, floods, heatwave and intra-seasonal rainfall variability. Droughts were reported to be occurring more frequent in the past 25 years as compared to the period before 1991. Ntalale area experienced floods in the 2002–2003 rainy season only. Respondents generally perceived that the rainy season had changed in the past 5 years, with the season now beginning in December and ending in March. The households have resorted to shifting cultivation practices, replanting, use of wetlands in preference to upland fields, changing of seed varieties or crops, selling of livestock and informal trading as coping strategies. Although non-governmental organisations have assisted the community to set up irrigation schemes, a few selected community members have benefited from the initiative. The Ntalale community has experienced four climate change-related risks and institutions have assisted the community. It is recommended that cooperation between households and institutions is key in developing stakeholder-driven adaptation strategies.

scholarly journals A Resilience Approach to Community-Scale Climate Adaptation

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 3100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onyinye Prince Choko ◽  
Laura Schmitt Olabisi ◽  
Robert Ugochukwu Onyeneke ◽  
Stella Nwawulu Chiemela ◽  
Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Climate Risk ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Southeastern Nigeria ◽  
Human Power ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
External Assistance

Climate risk is expected to impact rural communities in West Africa in multiple ways. However, most current research addresses resilience and climate adaptation at either the national or the household scale; very little is known about community-scale interventions. We interviewed 934 community members in six communities in southeastern Nigeria about sources of climate risk and community-based actions for climate change adaptation. We found these communities contained multiple active and engaged groups that have implemented a wide range of interventions to reduce climate risk, most of which are seen as effective by community members. Flooding was the most common form of risk in this region, but drought, windstorms, and irregular rainy seasons are also frequent, implying that effective climate adaptation will have to be sensitive to multiple types of risk. Structural interventions (constructing roads, bridges, etc.) were the most common type of intervention, suggesting that communities are capable of marshalling considerable organizational and human power for adaptation efforts, even in the absence of external assistance. Efforts to boost community resilience and adaptation to climate change would benefit from first understanding what community actions are currently underway, and working with the groups implementing these actions to support and extend them.

scholarly journals Religious beliefs and climate change adaptation: A study of three rural South African communities

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Schuman ◽  
Jon-Vegard Dokken ◽  
Dewald Van Niekerk ◽  
Ruth A. Loubser
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
South African ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Members ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Education Data

This article argues that religious beliefs significantly influence a community’s understanding and experience of climate change adaptation, indicating the need for an inclusion of such information in climate change adaptation education. Data were collected using the Q-method, whereby recurring statements were identified from semi-structured interviews with participants from three rural communities in the North-West province of South Africa: Ikageng, Ventersdorp and Jouberton. The research found that community members who regard themselves as religious (overall of the Christian faith) fall under two groups: the religious determinists or fatalists, who see climate as a natural process that is governed by God, and religious participants who deny this ‘naturalness’ and acknowledge humans’ impact on the climate.

scholarly journals Climate Change and Rural Livelihoods in the Lawra District of Ghana. A Qualitative Based Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 160
Author(s):  
Abdul-Rahim Abdulai ◽  
Marshal K. Ziemah ◽  
Paul Boniface Akaabre
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
The People ◽  
Development Programming ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Climate change is a growing threat to the world's poorest and most vulnerable living in rural areas. The impacts of climate change challenge efforts to reducing poverty and hence, will require new approaches to focus development programming on the changing realities of the world. Understanding how the impacts of climate change affect the people, and their knowledge and experience in coping with it will assist in identifying appropriate strategies for adaptation to it. This paper thus examined the impacts of climate change on livelihoods of rural communities in the Upper West region of Ghana and the challenges posed to efforts at reducing poverty in the area. Discussions on vulnerability to climate variability and adaptation issues in this paper focused on evidence observed by 10 communities in the Lawra District. Adopting a qualitative approach, ten focused group discussions were organized to gather data. Specific issues discussed surrounded evidence of climate change in the communities, its impacts, underlying causes of vulnerability to climate and coping strategies employed by community members. Based on the discussions, the paper recommends the need to develop and intensify effective institutional mechanisms to facilitate community adaptation measures, awareness raising (creation) on anti-environments practices in communities, institution of bye and customary laws to regulate human anti-environmental activities, and the implementation of adaptation projects to aid communities cope with the major impacts of climate change in the district and world at large.

The Help-Yourself City

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon C.C. Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Urban Political Economy ◽  
Important Trend ◽  
Do It Yourself

When cash-strapped local governments don’t provide adequate services, and planning policies prioritize economic development over community needs, what is a concerned citizen to do? In the help-yourself city, you do it yourself. The Help-Yourself City presents the results of nearly five years of in-depth research on people who take urban planning into their own hands with unauthorized yet functional and civic-minded “do-it-yourself urban design” projects. Examples include homemade traffic signs and public benches, guerrilla gardens and bike lanes, even citizen development “proposals,” all created in public space without permission but in forms analogous to official streetscape design elements. With research across 17 cities and more than 100 interviews with do-it-yourselfers, professional planners, and community members, the book explores who is creating these unauthorized improvements, where, and why. In doing so, it demonstrates the way uneven development processes are experienced and responded to in everyday life. Yet the democratic potential of this increasingly celebrated trend is brought into question by the privileged characteristics of typical do-it-yourself urban designers, the aesthetics and cultural values of the projects they create, and the relationship between DIY efforts and mainstream planning and economic development. Despite its many positive impacts, DIY urban design is a worryingly undemocratic practice, revealing the stubborn persistence of inequality in participatory citizenship and the design of public space. The book thus presents a needed critical analysis of an important trend, connecting it to research on informality, legitimacy, privilege, and urban political economy.

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